[Closed] Spraying Forks

Yup, a friend sprayed his (brand new) white forks matt black. Proper masking required and some fine sandpaper to make a key. The paint job has lasted well, with some touching up needed for the odd rub and scrape. Might devalue the fork if you intend to resell at any point though. Blue is a good colour to paint black.

Thanks. Not worried about devaluing the fork as its a 2007 model so quite low value already. Anymore tips? Is this something that can easily do at home? Do you have to use a certain type of spray paint?

Don't do it yourself. Get them properly stripped down (and bushes etc etc removed)- properly bung them and get them powdercoated. I did it myself- the paint is never strong enough as your forks take alot more chips/knocks etc than you realise.

I did it very carefully/light repeated-coats and it looked really good. Until about four rides later.

Yeah, easy to do at home, just get a can of your chosen colour from Halfords or similar. A general purpose any condition spray paint is better, as it will go on easier and be a bit more forgiving than car body paint. I think matt or satin looks better than gloss, and gloss is harder to get a decent finish. Mask up stanchions and seals carefully. Rub down with very fine sandpaper and clean the surfaces to be painted with alcohol or white spirit (assuming you've removed stickers already). Put on multiple thin coats, as you get better coverage and reduced likelihood of runs. That type of paint can be recoated within 30 mins, so putting a few coats on won;t take long. I've done it to some road forks and it turned out pretty well.

I agree with what Hora said for peace of mind, however you'll need to ensure that the lowers are properly stripped and have had the bushings taken out. Also, if you've any plastic fittings in the lowers (eg axle retaining threads) then powder coating is out.

I've a nine year old set of Pikes which were pretty tatty but functionally perfect. I stripped them down and sanded the crowns and lowers before ensuring everything was spotlessly clean and degreased. I went for the Halfords rattle can option, I sprayed the crowns with primer and satin finish and sanded down with fine grade paper after each coat. The results were pretty impressive.

The lowers were a different story however, I couldn't get decent coverage from rattle cans when spraying the top coat so it came out rather patchy. In retrospect, I should never have opted for matt white either for the lowers as getting a consistent finish proved extremely difficult.

I've a spare set of lowers in the shed which will be sanded down, primed and sprayed with satin white in the next few weeks. I'll let you all know how I get on.

Thanks. I agree with above powdercoating sounds like the best way forward however i want the crowns done as well which im not sure would be possible. Also removing bushings is a pain.

As said they are old forks anyway so up for giving it a go at home.

I've done it myself. Unless you're a muppet with your kit, I've found that Plastikote is up to the job and doesn't scratch/chip any more than the paint that comes on most forks. The key (pun intended!) is to prepare the forks properly (eg clean really well and then key properly as described in a previous post) and then paint in several (3+) thin layers. Do that and you'll get a finish that's good and will last.

Two ways of doing it yourself, but being honest preparation is the key.
If you can strip the sliders from the stanchions then great.
Either way wash your forks/sliders post strip twice with a good soapy hot wash using the cheapest washing up liquid you can find.
If you haven't been able to split the forks then get some good 3M blue masking tape and wrap your stanchions with this, all the way down to the seals.
Next wrap the same area with duct tape.
Put some good Marigolds on and some clear glasses
Then get some Nitromors and dab on all over with a stiff brush. It'll likely take a couple of goes.
Let the Nitromors do it's stuff then scrub off with a stainless scourer ball.
If there's still paint remaining then repeat on those areas.
Thoroughly wash the sliders. Make sure you've got every bit of Nitromors off because if you haven't it will **** your paint.
Remove the duct tape and blue masking tape.
Wash again with hot soapy water.
Using 320grit wet and dry (emery) paper and another bucket of warm lightly soapy water sand to bring a rough surface (key) to the bare metal.
Dry off.
Mask off the stanchions with just the masking tape, avoid handling the sliders at all. Wear vinyl or latex gloves if possible.
Once you are sure the sliders are completely dry then get some warmth into them. Use a hairdryer or place them near a radiator.
Use a good primer (I like Tetrosyl Trade aerosols from my local motor factor) and lay down a light dust coat.
Let it flash over and then repeat 2 more times.
Then a wet coat of primer.
Let this cure and ideally you may need to rub the rough off it with some 1200grit paper, soapy wash after and dry if so.
Then the colour coat, again 3 coats.
Let that dry and then top coat with clear lacquer.

Maybe for brand new forks but IMO the nitromors is overkill on used forks. sand the existing paint to smooth and key and you'll get just as good results.

Agree with nemesis. You'll get a great finish with nitromors and lacquer etc., but for 2007 forks i'd be trying to get a good enough finish but with minimal shed time.