Continuing on the 349 ‘81 thread (white wonder I’ve been advised) here’s one for the aficionado’s out there who know more about these the than I do (which to be honest isn’t difficult😜).

the frame is stripped & now at the powdercoaters waiting for a little tlc. Although she’s been clearly neglected the latter part of her life, there seems no lasting damage on the frame nor the swinging arm. I did notice there’s no evidence that she’s ever been painted, the frame & swinging arm are simply pure surface rust.......but.......there’s a hint of either silver paint & definitely a hint of chrome, albeit just a morsel here & there. 
so, ‘those who know more than me’ is there any significance of a silver or a chrome frame? 
would be very interested to receive your views.

this is what a glass of wine & an eBay account gets you......

 

 

Is it definitely chrome and not silver paint?

White Wonders came with their frames painted red, but back in the day Sammy Miller upgraded frames came chromed ... though I don't know if he ever did them for Montesas.  Of course someone could have had it done after buying the bike, too ... it looks like the frame on my Ulf Karlsson 349 in everything but the finish 😅

Edit: your front wheel is from a later bike BTW, it has a Honda era brake.

Edited March 29, 20215 yr by turbofurball

There’s not a scrap of red anywhere to be seen, so it makes me think it was never a red framed bike even from new.

The sump guard has definitely got bits of chrome (why would you chrome all/part of the sump guard?) and there are a sliver or two of chrome on the frame and/or swinging arm. I suppose in the early days it could have been stripped & painted silver/chrome, whatever they’ve done they did a good job of removing any previous paint.

I did think along the lines of Sammy Miller but I’m not up to speed on what he did & didn’t do on these twin shocks.

It’s being powder coated red (RAL 3020) this week hopefully so should look a tad better than it does now.

Thanks for your reply.

Before you ride it you will need to fit the frame braces that are missing in your photos. They connect the outside swingarm pivots to the lug on the rear edge of the cylinder head

Thanks for your reply feetupfun

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the previous owner had been 'in' the bike before I bought it, story goes, he'd bought four bikes to make some money from & this was one. Things like headstock bearings were removed [well, the upper was] everything on the bike is/was loose. He'd obviously looked at the bike & made a list of spares he needed....then sold the bike. The bike came with a bag of goodies including new brake shoes front & rear, headstock bearings, domino throttle cable, air cleaner, brake/clutch levers, fork seals [forks are away being refurbed] and...........two silver/chrome tyre lever looking things with holes at each end! It took me a while looking at various photos to realise these objects were in fact............ engine/frame braces!

When I did my apprenticeship we had a plating department.

You could see the people that worked there, they all had shiny bits on their cars and bikes

It wouldn't be beyond the ability or a previous owner to have his say two year old getting slightly tatty frame dipped, striped and given a flash chrome.

The fact it has all fallen off is a sign it probably was done for a bit of fun and not to proper standard

1 hour ago, bigshineybike said:

When I did my apprenticeship we had a plating department.

You could see the people that worked there, they all had shiny bits on their cars and bikes

It wouldn't be beyond the ability or a previous owner to have his say two year old getting slightly tatty frame dipped, striped and given a flash chrome.

The fact it has all fallen off is a sign it probably was done for a bit of fun and not to proper standard

I think you could be right, I/we keep forgetting this is a 40 year old bike, a lot can happen in 40 years!😃