Delta V 600 to Über Delta V!

[JohnnyD]

I decided to bite the bullet and pick up a "new" bike to rebuild for 2022. So today I picked up a bare Delta V 600 frame. I'll post some pictures once I get it.. Let the madness(or is it sickness) begin!!

I decided to bite the bullet and pick up a "new" bike to rebuild for 2022. So today I picked up a bare Delta V 600 frame. I'll post some pictures once I get it.. Let the madness(or is it sickness) begin!!

 

[black lightning 1987]

I think 1994 was the only year for the DV600. It came with 7 speed STX and an LX rear derailleur. How are you planning to build it?

 

[JohnnyD]

I think 1994 was the only year for the DV600. It came with 7 speed STX and an LX rear derailleur. How are you planning to build it?

That's what I've been able to discover from looking at the catalogs as well. From the pictures of it the date code is FB which puts it as a Feb 94.
I haven't totally decided on what direction to take the build. I will make a decision once the bike is here and I can look it over more. Pictures can only tell you so much. I'd like to restore the paint 100% but I don't think I can tackle the factory fade. Then it's finding correct decals/stencils.. you know the rabbit hole that that can become. I say that about the paint because SOMEONE really wants and all white bike.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I wouldn't even want to attempt to duplicate the Diamond Black Metallic, much less the fade. Paint has to be really bad for me to go to the trouble to repaint. I usually just touch things up enough to prevent corrosion. I've repainted a Basso Loto that was super ugly before painting but turned out well - and have a Serotta Nova Special, a Merckx MX Leader, and a Cannondale 3.0 MTB frame all stripped for repainting. I keep putting them off because I don't like painting but am too cheap to hire it done.

 

[JohnnyD]

I don't like to hire anyone else to do anything. Sometimes though I have no choice, like having to have the bottom bracket rethreaded on my M700. The correct tools to do it myself are just way over-priced and I can't justify it so I had no choice but to pay to have it done. I would like to have found the person who messed up the threads.

 

[black lightning 1987]

That was the last thing I spent money on at a bike shop also. I bought several NOS steel road frames from an Italian builder and two of them needed the bottom brackets chased and faced. It was tough to find a shop that had Italian taps.

 

[JohnnyD]

Yeah that would be impossible to find here too. Worst thing is that the only thing that keeps me from doing it myself is the cost of the tools.. It's super easy to do, well to me its easy when you compare it to some of the custom fabrication work I've done on 4x4's and working on fighter aircraft. Titanium and Inconel are B***H to work with.

 

[JohnnyD]

Quick update: The headshock rebounds nicely, holds air pressure and the visible portions of the needle bearing races are smooth and covered in nice grease still. The boot obviously needs to be replaced, but that is no big deal. It's starting to look like the build will be decently trouble free. Well except for wheels, but I have a plan for that it's called the trickle down effect. I want to upgrade the Jekyll's wheelset anyways.
Now let's see what goodies I can find on e-bay for this bike. I need a saddle,seat post,clamp,Headshok stem,handlebars,brakes and of course the drive train. I am debating using the trickle down effect on that as well, since I am going to be reinstalling the orginal LX crank(all polished up with new decals!!) and with new chainrings on the M700.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I wondered about the fork as you said it was a bare frame. Did you have one on hand or did it come with the frame? Did you see the recent post from a UK member who is reproducing the boots?

 

[JohnnyD]

What can I say I was an ID10T! I didn't see the final two pictures which showed the fork as well. Needless to say, I got super lucky on this purchase despite being dumb. Since it has the fork I am really rethinking most of my original plans for the bike. One of my original ideas was to move the 1x9 setup from the Jekyll (making it a 1x10) when I upgraded the wheelset on it. Now I think I will keep it and make the Delta V 3x9.
I also think I am going to sadly have to repaint this frame.. there are some bubbles in the paint that have tiny bits of corrosion under them. Plus I need to fix the minor gouges on the chainstay near the bottom bracket. Oh well, I love a challenge! I am going to copy the Cannondale paint forumlas and send them to my friend in FL that works in a body shop..Hopefully, he can mix up small batch and paint test sample for me to see if it can be matched. I have to find is the frame decals for a 1994 Cannondale as well.. I DO NOT want to repaint the fork. It doesn't have the standard Headshok logo's on it.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I'm guessing that those decals may be hard to find. Any chance of cleaning up the trouble spots and touching up the paint?

 

[JohnnyD]

The small spots are doable ..its the larger one on the chain-stay that really concerns me as it is gouged into the metal. You can sort of see it in this picture, just not how deep the gouges are. From the looks of them it looks like someone bent a chainring and rode it for a while. The seller bought it from the original owner and thought it was pretty much still stock. However, he told me that the drivetrain,shifters and brakes were Suntour, not the mix of STX and LX it should have been.

Also it appears that the fork is missing the plastic indexing plate and washer(item #100957 and #100956 in fig. 4 of the headshok service manual)that controls the damping settings. That might be a tougher problem to find than fixing the paint.
I'll have to see if Craig the Lefty/Headshok guru can replace that or upgrade the fork to DD50.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Touch up on the stay wouldn't be too noticeable behind the rings. Hope that Craig can help you out with the fork.

 

[JohnnyD]

Touch up on the stay wouldn't be too noticeable behind the rings. Hope that Craig can help you out with the fork.

We'll see on the touch up working. I am going to wait until my friend gets back to me about the paint information I sent him before I commit to repainting. Unlike the Jekyll, I gave myself a bit longer of a timeline to build this bike back up. So I have time to do my research and find the parts I need and want.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Always best not to be in a hurry. Details will work out in time.

 

[JohnnyD]

Always best not to be in a hurry. Details will work out in time.

So very true, plus the end results tend to always look a lot nicer in the end. I am really considering going all out on this bike and getting it as close as it was when new, maybe with a few "upgrades" like a 9 speed XT groupset and brakes from the 94-95 era. As I play with the fork more, it really does need to be rebuilt with new needle bearings, seals etc... Know anyone with a complete NOS DD50 kit????

 

[black lightning 1987]

As I remember, Campagnolo was first with 9 speed in 1997 but only road bike groups. Shimano was close behind with 9 speed road groups in 1998 but the MTB groups were still 8 speed.

 

[JohnnyD]

As I remember, Campagnolo was first with 9 speed in 1997 but only road bike groups. Shimano was close behind with 9 speed road groups in 1998 but the MTB groups were still 8 speed.

That sounds about right after doing some research on Shimano XT product history. I thought it was earlier but the XT line went to 9 speed in '99 with the M750. The M760 I was/am planning to use is from '03.
On a side note, I noticed that the inside of my bottom bracket is painted on the '94 , yet it is raw aluminium on my '92. Have you noticed something similar in the bikes you've seen. It's no big deal since the paint can only help prevent moisture from accelerating corrosion in that part of the bike, so I am glad it's there. This bike came from the NY/NJ area originally (according to the seller who is the second owner) but it's spent the last few years in FL and there is a lot of (10-15 spots) salt water induced corrosion under the paint that have to be fixed as well...AH the joys of owning a second/third hand vintage bike.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Are you saying paint inside the bottom bracket shell? I don't recall that as being normal but after checking a few handy frames I did find a 2.8 road frame with paint inside the shell. It's an obvious repaint though. I only have one more frame to check. It's a 3.0 MTB frame that I'm sure was never repainted. Don't hesitate to remind me if I don't follow up on this.

 

[JohnnyD]

Paint inside the bottom bracket shell, between the threads. I found it curious because it's not on my '92 or '04 frames so that's why I mentioned it. There is no need to rush to check your other frames, but I would be interested in knowing if you find it on another, especially a 3.0 frame since that is what they based this Delta V frame on.