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  • A few frame painting questions.
  • 06awjudd
    Free Member

    Hi all, in process of repainting an old steel frame.
    I’ve stripped the paint and I’m currently sanding down the last specks with 60g sandpaper.
    What grade sandpaper should I use afterwards to smooth the frame before priming?
    How thoroughly should I be? It seems impossible to properly sand around the BB and lugs.
    I also want to paint it racing green, with cream strips on the seat tube and down tube.
    If I spray it green, can I just mask it up and spray the cream on top, or do I need to do the lighter colour first?
    many thanks

    Northwind
    Full Member

    (I am not a pro but I’ve had good results as a DIYer) 800 grit, wet, is a good finishing grade imo. Wire brush or chemical stripper or a mix of the two is the best diy way to clean out holes and welds etc. You want to be as thorough as you possibly can as the paint will almost always look different if it’s on old paint instead of metal- but, you can get away with it more in welds and other uneven bits of bike, because it’ll look different anyway.

    As far as your masking goes, personally I’d spray the smaller part first unless it’s really small- it’ll normally be an easier masking job to cover up the small area than the large. Fine line masking tape is much better than normal masking tape for edges especially if you’re going round corners etc as it gives a better line, easier to shape too and less likely to suffer bleed from a bad mask. The main downside, is that if you end up with a raised line after your clearcoat, it feels a bit weird if your stripe is recessed rather than proud.

    What paint are you using? You’ve taken on a pretty complicated job, I totally approve- here’s the first thing I ever sprayed:

    Not perfect but it worked alright. Pushbikes are a pain in teh arse with all the curves and awkward corners, just be super patient and don’t overdo the spray as there’s nothing worse than a run in an otherwise perfect job.

    06awjudd
    Free Member

    Thanks! Really useful info!
    I was going to use halfords spray paint.
    so I should spray the whole frame cream, mask it off, then do the racing green?
    nice looking bike, I bet that was a job and a half!
    I’ll get some of that tape too.
    If you’re going to do a job………

    bigyim
    Free Member

    Imo I would prime the whole bike with dark grey or black hi build primer. Apply the racing green then the cream. Otherwise you will be trying to cover white with a dark green which will not cover well. I would do a minimum of p320 before primer making sure you feather out the paint on the edges. I wouldn’t be too concerned about getting every last drop of paint out.
    Hi build with a few coats of dark grey or black.
    Lightly flat with p800 wet and dry and grey scotch pad if you have one.
    Degrease, tack rag the frame.
    Apply light coats of racing green.
    Leave it a few days to dry
    Carefully mask out and apply the cream colour using fine line masking tape.
    Apply the cleat coat then depending on how fussy you want to be you could flat the frame with 1500 or 2000 wet and dry and re clear coat.

    It would make life a lot easier if you just did one colour on the frame if you don’t have much experience in painting

    Northwind
    Full Member

    One thing I would add, halfords spray cans are pretty easy to work with- I’ve used them for repairs, a car mirror and the like- but the clearcoat is not tough (there’s a crater left by a bumblebee in that mirror). I’d go as far as to say, ****-all use for a mountain bike or for a commuter that gets knocked about.

    The colour I used for the bike is renault vert anglais- british racing green is a pretty flat colour and I think is copyrighted but most car companies have their own version. Renault’s is metallic and a little brighter, frinstance. It actually covered extremely well, which I wasn’t expecting. (I sprayed the bike with a gun and singlepack paint but I ended up redoing a fairing panel with halfords tins as a quick repair after a crash)

    06awjudd
    Free Member

    I’ll have a look at that green next time I go in, thanks!
    Any recommendations of a clearcoat that does work well?

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Fraid not, at least nothing I can recommend- I used a 2pack clearcoat which is excellent, but also pretty poisonous. That’s not to say there’s not good diy, nonpoisonous options out there but I’ve not used ’em.

    bigyim
    Free Member

    If you go to your local car paint supplier some will put 2k into an aerosol but you’d only have a couple of hours depending in heat and which hardener they use before it goes solid in the tin

    bigyim
    Free Member

    As for single pack aerosol options I’d maybe go with upol but as northwind says what ever you use is liable to chip. Have you tried asking a local body shop how.much it would cost to paint? They can run it through the booth with another job. Line their pockets with some notes

    Northwind
    Full Member

    You can get 2-part aerosols too which are storable- clever stuff but not that practical. And still not dead keen on breathing it!

    emanuel
    Free Member

    the BB is the hardest part to file and sand, get something like 5-6 of air hose over a screwdriver, then use that under the sandpaper.

    emanuel
    Free Member

    inches

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