Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

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stevemacl
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Joined: 25 May 2016, 4:54pm

Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by stevemacl »

I am looking for a recommendation for a frame resprayer in or around South East London. Has anyone got suggestions?

Thanks
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gerrymcm
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Joined: 30 Oct 2012, 2:52pm

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by gerrymcm »

There's a chap called either Mario or Winston Vaz in south east London, they're brothers one is paints and one makes and repairs frames. I think their business is called Varohna frameworks.

Good luck
samsbike
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Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by samsbike »

Also Armourtex in Hackney I think
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Vetus Ossa
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Location: Plymouth

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

Armourtex do mainly powder coating I think and has a good reputation, Mario doesn't.
Beauty will save the world.
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gaz
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Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by gaz »

Colour-tech in Crayford, no personal experience.
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
greyingbeard
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Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by greyingbeard »

Vetus Ossa wrote:Armourtex do mainly powder coating I think and has a good reputation, Mario doesn't.


Are you saying that Vaz doesnt do powder coat or doesnt have a good reputation ?
The latter seems unlikely as he used to build for chaz roberts.....
chocjohn9
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Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by chocjohn9 »

+1 for colourtech.

He did Robert's frames and mine recently. I gave him a colour to match which he did precisely. The price was ok, finish excellent (Robert's decals are painted, not stickers) and it took a couple of weeks. Highly recommended and when/if I ever need this sort of thing doing again, it will be an automatic visit.
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Vetus Ossa
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Location: Plymouth

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by Vetus Ossa »

greyingbeard wrote:
Vetus Ossa wrote:Armourtex do mainly powder coating I think and has a good reputation, Mario doesn't.


Are you saying that Vaz doesnt do powder coat or doesnt have a good reputation ?
The latter seems unlikely as he used to build for chaz roberts.....


There’s a lot of comments on the internet about vaz resprays, most not complimentary.
I know he painted Roberts frames at one time and as I understand the finish was pretty poor.
I have had frames painted at several places over the years including Vaz and his was by far the worst, and bits had chipped off in many places within a few weeks, it was really awful. On the other hand he was very cheap, and sounded like a nice bloke when I phoned him, but I would never go back there.
I send my frames to Argos now, fairly expensive but you most definitely get what you pay for.
Beauty will save the world.
stevemacl
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Joined: 25 May 2016, 4:54pm

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by stevemacl »

Thanks to everyone who posted and will follow up from here.
gerrymcm
Posts: 450
Joined: 30 Oct 2012, 2:52pm

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by gerrymcm »

depending on how close you are to Vaz, I'd pop round and have a look at his work. I think he's really upped his game since starting Varohna Frameworks.
toontra
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Location: London

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by toontra »

As a footnote, I need a frame respraying after a poor job by Mario Vaz which has largely chipped off. Just rang Armourtex who quoted £185 for powder coating a single colour steel frame - no forks. :shock: They did the same job a couple of years ago for £80. I'm amazed that people will pay such prices.

Anyone know of a decent reasonably-priced powder-coater in London?
fastpedaller
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Location: Norfolk

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by fastpedaller »

I know of someone who paid 2.5k for chrome and paint on a Hetchins he was selling to USA. I guess the sale price made it worthwhile? But crazy money.
9494arnold
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Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 3:13pm

Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by 9494arnold »

Re Chrome be very careful. Friend of mine had a quality frame refurbished in the Birmingham area, including lots of chrome. Really looked good but it fell apart because the chromers hadn't got rid of all the solvents they use before the rechrome and it corroded through and wrecked the frame . They did the paint on a Hetchins for me , not very nice , I think they overheated it, the paint is all crazed around the head area. They don't do paint anymore ( not sure if they are trading at all) they did go into making steel stems.
I've heard that Val usually do a reasonable job and if you aren't happy they'll do it again, that's only through the grapevine though.
Norman H
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Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by Norman H »

I'm in two minds about having my Lee Cooper frame resprayed by Mario Vaz. I recently had Winston Vaz reset the rear end on a Dave Yates frame of mine. He did the work whilst I waited and charged £20. I'm very happy with the result. I also spoke with his brother about respraying the Lee Cooper frame and I couldn't fault the examples of his work that he showed me. Both brothers seemed very genuine.

I've seen the negative on-line comments about the quality of Mario's work, the main complaint seems to be that the paint finish chips very easily. I know this can be a problem with some modern paints. Stove enamelling generally results in a more immediately durable finish but it's been my experience that modern paint finishes take some time to develop full hardness, and are prone to chipping before they do so. The longer you can leave between painting and building up the frame the better.

Another option is Andy Palmer at API

http://www.apibikes.com/

I don't think the website has been updated in years so prices may well have increased. When I contacted him about a year ago using the phone number on the website he was definitely still in business.
ANTONISH
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Re: Frame Resprayer recommendation South East London ?

Post by ANTONISH »

Two frames resprayed by Mario several years ago - paint still good - one was metallic which was left to harden for a month before being built up.
I speak as I find - there are always those who will denigrate a company, whether justified or not and I think Mario has had a fair amount of this.
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