Do I bother stripping the frame…

Or do I get a friend to spray it on top..

Nitromors or shot blasting… costs?

I’m doing a BMX at the moment and the general consensus seems to be paint stripper, sanding, priming, load of coats of paint and a lacquer. If you use hammerite or similar then I think you can do less coats and probably do away with the lacquer.

I’m no expert at all though, just what i read and this is my my first time restoring a bike.

i wouldn’t bother myself, by the time you’ve stripped it and prepped the frame, then the cost of the paint i’d rather get it done properly by a specialist. You’ll be amazed how affordable it is.

My BMX frame and forks cost about £70 all in to be powdered and the finish is amazing!

Yeh I think you need to decide whether you are doing it as a project for yourself and to learn something new or whether you want to get it done quickly and for less money.

Pickle – out of interest who did it and what state was the frame and forks in? Did you have to do any prep beforehand yourself?

Hammerite chips very easily. I’m with Pickle, the cost of a pro job is less than teh cost of DIY once you include your time, and will be better. I did my commuter myself just for the project, I like this sort of thing but it didn’t make any sense otherwise.

Nitromors might or might not work, depends on the finish. If you’re getting a mate to spray it, see if you can find out what they’re using, automotive finishes aren’t that suitable for bikes.

Powder coating is pretty cheap, when I got mine done all they wanted me to do was strip it down and clean off any excess grease. They did all the masking, cleaning and blasting as part of the job.

Root, the company i use is http://www.pwsfinishing.co.uk/powder.html

He’s well known in the Old School BMX scene as being one of the best! not sure where abouts you are but he’s based in Romford, Essex.

They do all the stripping and prepping for you, so all you have to do is post off/drop off your frame and pick your colour.

He does other finishes as well as powder.

My guess a frame alone would be about £50/£60 depending on colour?

Here’s a link to some of his work for us old BMX guys 🙂
http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=56789.0

a couple of my one’s he did for me

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/robertbransby/IMG_20120604_111559.jpg%5B/img%5D

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/robertbransby/red%2088/S1051668_zps5ea24f58.jpg%5B/img%5D

Really want to keep costs down as the frame only cost me £60 so I don’t want to be spending a fortune and it will be a present for a friend. I’ll be getting it sprayed for free by a friend in the bodywork trade.

So frame paint stripping is a ball ache. Nitromors is no longer very powerful.. Really going off the idea of paint stripping, and don’t want to pay more than £20 to have it prepped.

Might just have it sprayed over the top. 😯

Pickle – thanks for the info, that is indeed gorgeous!