Hope this is of interest to some folk on here, but I'm really pleased with the results so I thought I'd share them.

Frame arrives back from Argos Racing (The colour is "Tango" orange)

Crud bosses added as requested. (hate using zip ties, Cy should do this)

hose guides changed from cylinder to "C" clip type to avoid having to break hoses when it comes to fitting brakes (newer Souls now have this)

Seat stay guides mounted on top of the stay to give a cleaner hose exit from the caliper. (standard souls run underneath and have to kink around the stay)

Paul at Cotic managed to dig out a real early set of decals and headbadge, and I found an 853 decal too that I'd squirrelled away.


Colour co-ordinated CK spacer set and a Carbon RS branded spacer (Tart)

Half built


Fully built

Outside
Front

3/4

Close up

Thanks to Mark at Argos and Paul and Cy at Cotic for their help with this resto.

Lovely! I like to see people spending money on restoring old things rather than buying new ones. 🙂

very nicely done.

Gawd thats nice. Never said this before about a Cotic but I want to w&nk over it.

How much for the paint? Is there a RAL or is it a special mix they did?

Superb! That's a lovely job. I wouldn't have thought of orange as a colour beforehand, but it works really well.

Impressive shed/garage/workshop, too.

I want to w&nk over it.

You are such a class act hora. 🙄 😀

i was thinking about getting my pomp done that very same colour, actually. looks very nice. when i'm a bit less skint i may have to do so!

Beautiful but sorry I don't like the spacers.

All lovely until I saw the bendy post… they always ruin the look of bikes 😉

It was just shy of £200 all in, that included removal of the old hose guides, adding the new ones and the Crud bosses.

The colour was in their standard range but I paid the extra to upgrade to their 2 pack DH finish whih they reckon is a bit more durable. It's pretty thick stuff when you see it up close but all the cable end ferrels still slotted straight in without any need for filing.

I always liked this colour scheme on the early Souls so that's why I was really chuffed that Paul managed to dig out an original decal set for me.

mmmm… nice and new…

not my cup of tea – orange, blue and silver but hay ho!

i thought about using argos with the very same colour for a restoration project; it that the no.77 enamel orange? is it much brighter in the flesh? as your photos appear slightly duller than the argos one

I know what you mean about the seatpost I tried the inline one but I'm quite tall and the extra bit of layback just works for me. Straight does look better though I agree.

If I was being honest, I'd say it's slightly duller in the flesh. In some lights it has almost a "milky" tone to it so it's not as vivid as it appears on their chart.I think most companies have a problem re-producing their colurs on a website. It might be worth asking if they can send you a tube sample or caling in if you're local.

Wow – love it! 8)

I think, when my white Orange is abit too marked etc I'll go for that Orange. Stunning.

Very nice indeed, well done.

As an aside, I'm starting to design a shed for when we move to Australia and I have room to build one. Any chance you could send me a couple of pics of your garage and how you've got it laid out? Maybe a few dimensions as well? Thanks in advance. adammonline AT gmail DOT com.

Wow. Yum.

Thats so nice I want to run around naked 😀

Just had my I*br*d sprayed orange by Bob Jackson Cycles – not the colour I initially decided on but had a rush of blood to the head once in the shop looking at colour swatches. Very pleased with it (can't access Photobucket @ work, so no pics, I'm afraid) 🙂

That's lovely. Really really nice. I've been very tempted to get a Cotic as it was and seeing one being rejuvenated tells me they're a good buy. How old was yours?

Good shout on getting the crud guard bosses put on. That'll tidy things up a lot. Haven't seen many frames with those as standard. Only one I can remember was my (really) old Giant Martin Hawes trials frame.

Only ruined by the hideous Thomson stem 🙁

Had one on my bike for about 20 mins then took it off and sold it.

I've just picked mine up fromteh powder coaters this morning, will need polishing to get a super smooth glossy finish and then waxed once all the decals are applied. I've got one of those original blue decals kicking about but really want the white wrap one. The finishing kit is blue though so it might look ok. Have you purposefully left the Soul decals for the top tube off, looks nice and clean without them on.

I didn't manage to get a set of the top tobe decals,but I wasn't too fussed really. I may get a set knocked up at a sign wrighters in the future though.

Guitarmanjon, I got the frame second hand.It had a cartridge BB seized in it when I got it. It was super cheap so it was worth spending the money on. It was matt black but I had it re-coated by a local firm last Autumn but it was a poor job, £30 but I guess you get what you pay for.

Adam M, It's a double garage, that has a 10ft bench down one side. This has a parts washer droped into one end (cheapo from Machine Mart but it does the job)I've got storage under the bench for spares and tyres. I have a bank of locking cabinets above it for tools, and shelves to the left for cleaning stuff, spares, manuals,and niknaks. The back wall has me and the Mrs's bikes hung up by those wall mouted brackets that you hang your bike from your front wheel. Don't really want to put pics up of everything for security reasons. Hope you understand. The best bits of advice I can give is:
A) have good lighting above the bench and your bike stand so you don't cast a shadow on what you are working on.
B) invest in a work stand or make one coz I don't know how folks manage without.
C) Be creative with your storage, hang stuff from the ceiling, make good use of shelve space. use storage boxes with lids so you can stack stuff or chuck it in your car/van for trips away.Don't try and do it all at once either, spend a bit of time thinking about what you need where and why. Sounds obvious but I've changed the layout a few times to make it work for me.

The nice thing is now, my riding mates come to me for repairs because it looks organised, I stick the odd few quid coins I get off them in a box to spend on boring stuff eg tubes, brake pads, lubes etc and consumables that aren't that exciting to buy.

Some classy work by Argos. Very encouraging for buying a 2nd hand frame and getting it tuned to personal choice.

I think it looks nice with the decals as they are I hate it when makers have to slap decals all over every tube of the frame.

That looks great 😉

I too have just had my Cotic Soul painted….Orange!
Had it powdered in a ral code bright orange for £35

I went down the silver thomson route with brown king headset, brown charge saddle & some custom decals winging their way to me.

Pics to follow

I like the Orange, Blue and Silver, striking and subtle class.
Not a fan of the RS spacer on the steerer, (the carbon look doesnt really suit the rest of the bike in my opinion).
All in all, its a well smart bike!! Quality.

Very nice.

redted, I totally recognise and understand the security issues, hence the email photos to me rather than post on here request! No worries though, I'm just in an ideas gathering stage at the moment and your set up looks pretty decent.

Thank you for the more detailed comments, much appreciated.

Splendid job

A man with a 'hell of a soul' great looking bike! Best bike i ever sold, feel i am just between them at the mo….

[/URL]]my workshopnice garden and workshop,, sadly mine isnt so tidy,, i keep finding undressed cars in there

Loving the recessed parts washer (I have the same one) – might just copy that in my pending garage refurb!

thats nice. my mk11 soul needs a spray and i was thinking of the zipti guides. my old orange had crud bosses….could i quote(ie send them your pics etc) your set up to argos if i ever get round to doing it? 'sofa chrome' is the font for all things cotic if you need anything making up. cheers tang

Looking good there, and top colour choice too. The orange has always been my favourite we've done. I like that it's a used frame that's been made new too. That's why I like steel so much! I'm glad Paul helped you out well with the decals. For all you Cotic old schooler's we've still got a couple of blue like that, some orange and possibly a couple of black in that style.

Regarding crud bosses, we don't put them on because they are an awful, awful, awful, awful (repeat a lot) idea because you're drilling a hole in the second highest stressed part of the frame and then welding/heating it. In the thin bit of the tube. Right where the butt taper runs out. Sorry to rain on your parade, but from an engineering viewpoint they really are horrid.

Lovely colour, and I like the tweaks you specced.

I'd have left off the stickers though, I think they're ugly and spoil the look of the slim tubes, and for my money (which it clearly isn't) lose the hideous seatpost.

[img]http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/greenville_123/Orange%20Inbred/IMG_0288.jpg[/img]

Orangebred. 🙂

Now you see I'd have to call that the On-one Outspan 😉

I like it. <ebays>

Did someone call?!

2x very nice bikes there – thanks for posting. I'm feeling Kawasaki green or pearl white for my Inbred's tart-up…

How do you think the Bob Jackson finish will hold up on yours, toxicsoks? Did they do any work on it other than strip and enamel it?