Frame painting

[Troy A. Courtney]

Without the proper equipment, the paint job you do yourself will never be
quite as good as professionally done. The professional painters typically
use DuPont Imron. To use Imron you have to add an activating agent that
cause the paint to harden. You can't get this in a can since it has to be
miexed just before using and is no good after a couple hours.

You can, however, get a respectable paint job, doing it yourself, if you
take your time.

1) remove ALL old paint,
2) lightly sand frame with an 80-100 grit emery cloth, no finer,
3) use a degreaser/dewaxer and thoroughly clean the frame (from this point
on ALWAYS wear rubber gloves to handle the frame),
4)and use a self etching primer.

This sets a good foundation for you actual paint. The heavy sand paper is
to give the primer something to grab onto, but don't over do it. The
rubber gloves are needes so that you don't leave any body oil on the frame
(this can leave a spot that the primer does adhere to properly). I have
found the self etching primer adhere better than regular primer. Finally,
apply your color, but very lightly and give it a couple days between coats.
Paint withou hardners do not always drying thoroughly; they seem to, but
they don't. If the paint is applied too thick the paint will dry on the
surface, sealing off a thin layer underneath. Ever see a frame that you
can press on with your finger nail and it leaves a mark? The paint was
applied too thick. Also, when applying the paint, paint the surfaces that
tend to get over-spray last otherwise the over spray adheres to the fresh
paint and give you a rough finish (which can be rubbed out but is more
work).

Once you are satisfied with the coverage of your paint AND it has been
allowed to dry (leave it a week after the final coat, it doesn't
hurt--other than the fact that you want to get it back together and ride)
coat it with 2-3 coats of clear-coat. Rub it out, and you're done. One
note of caution, with paints that don't hardners the clear coat can cause
the paint to wrinkle. If you spray the 1st coat of clear-coat too heavy
you could have some real problems. I have found a laquer based clear coat
to be the most forgiving in this area.

Good luck
Troy
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tr...@synergetic.com

Nick McGrogan <ni...@dizzy.new.ox.ac.uk> wrote in article
<5mvpmk$e...@news.ox.ac.uk>...
>
> I'm considering respraying an old bike of mine but, unfortunately,
> know very little about how to go about it. I appreciate that the
> obvious solution would be to find a frame builder and get them to do
> it, but for a bike like this I don't want to have to pay the sort of
> money that I'd guess that costs.
>
> So... can I respray the frame myself? If so, what sort of paint do I
> use? Any other hints and tips?
>
> A friend of mine has tried doing this job using car paint (spray cans
> of the stuff). He did the whole job -- sanded off the original coat,
> used the recommended primer and then the paint -- but it doesn't seem
> to "stick" very well and comes off quite easily. Does anyone know why
> this would happen?
>
> Many thanks
>
> Nick.
>

[Nick McGrogan]

[TBGibb]

In article <5mvpmk$e...@news.ox.ac.uk>, ni...@dizzy.new.ox.ac.uk (Nick
McGrogan) writes:

>I'm considering respraying an old bike of mine but, unfortunately,
>know very little about how to go about it. I appreciate that the
>obvious solution would be to find a frame builder and get them to do
>it, but for a bike like this I don't want to have to pay the sort of
>money that I'd guess that costs.
>
>

I'd consider talking to the owner of a small auto body shop.

Tom Gibb <TBG...@aol.com>

[da...@erinet.com]

That's good advice, given the technology of modern auto paint (and the
equipment needed to apply it). You might also talk to the folks at
some place like Earl Scheib (sp?) or MAACO. It would be worth $50 to
have them spray a frame (hey, they don't charge much more to paint a
whole auto ;-)

In either case, you would need to do all the prep work, sanding,
masking etc. But, they could mix the paint and apply it with
professional spray equipment.

................dh

p.s. Maybe you could get your car painted while you were at it??