Yes, I know I should get it done properly and I have every time so far but this is a bit of a project so going to give it a go at least

It’s a steel tandem, currently white, I’m in the process of sanding and rubbing down now so any tips on prep and paint welcome!

I’m thinking of trying to do a 90’s fade as well, yellow to pink or something equally ridiculous

My plan ( which is probably terrible )

Sand back roughly with 80 grit, not all the way back to metal, paint is original. Pass over wet n dry grits until smooth enough but still keyed up

Apply primer

Spray front half

Mask and spray rear

Remove mask and spray in the fade, no idea how to do this

Coat in clearcoat

Rebuild the bike, attach motor and battery ruining all the paintwork in the process

Put the paint cans in warm water before using. It will spray better in these temps. Best tip I was given by a pro car painter.

Dont rush any of it and prep prep prep!

Cover everything that might get paint blown onto it.

Lots of thin coats. Loads of time to cure between coats and before assembly

My tips would be use a guide coat. So spray the whole frame with most of a coloured aerosol. This will show up any chips or bits you’ve missed and give a better visual guide.
Don’t start with 80 it’s too coarse

I’d guidecoat then 240. Then guidecoat. Then 320 then guidecoat. Then 400. Then prime the whole thing. And flat with 800 ready to paint.
Make sure you paint on a warm day if possible. And don’t mask up for a fade. You don’t need to.
Pm me if you’d like any other advice as I’ve done loads of frames

Put the paint cans in warm water before using. It will spray better in these temps. Best tip I was given by a pro car painter.

Came here to say this. Warm cans means thinner paint and higher pressure.

Also, can you paint it somewhere warm? Paint can take much longer to dry on cold metal.

Make sure you let it fully cure before you clear coat it. If it still smells like paint, it’s not cured yet. It’ll make your clear coat go murky if you do it too soon.

I was watching this yesterday linky

It is all in the preparation

Looks like a lot of work but would be so satisfying. But I could imagine picking a colour could take me forever.

My mate did his bike using Montana Gold graffiti spray and it looks great. Lots of folks using it for hand painting vehicles too. I don’t think its gloss though. Most of it some kind of crackly looking grey with gold seatstays.

Thanks! Lots of stuff I wouldn’t have thought of

I’ll do the guidecoat thing, and for the fade I suppose I just practice it with the guidecoats by switching between colours and doing multiple fades

Any suggestions for good brands for primer and coat?

Also, after sanding and before painting what’s good for cleaning? Washing up liquid? Sugar soap?

Prep prep prep.
Bigyim has it covered (no pun intended)
Maybe test paint an old frame first for practice.
It is immensely satisfying when you get it right though.

Do you live in Yorkshire at all? If so I can recommend an AMAZING powder coaters who would do your frame really cheap with a perfect finish. Would probably be the same price as buying all the paint to do it yourself.

A mate of mine sprayed his suzuki gt750 fuel tank with rattle cans.
He did say he did a lot of prep work, but the finished article was better than when it had came out of the factory.

Personally I’d say get a professional to do it as the finish will be better than you can produce at home. 2k paints out of a spray gun will be better than you can produce with a rattle can.
As for cleaning it before then you could block the entrances and give it a quick jet wash. Just make sure it’s all dried off before spraying.

I’ve done rattle can resprays on a few things. Most recently a guitar but a couple of bikes a few years ago. Rattle cans are a bit wasteful but if you use them right, you can get amazing finishes.

It’s super satisfying but incredibly time-consuming to do it right. It doesn’t really make fiscal sense if your time is worth… anything, but IMO it’s worth it if you do a good job and enjoy seeing your handiwork over several years. If you aren’t a perfectionist and don’t get a kick out of seeing your work, then don’t bother – take it to a car respray powder coating place. They’ll often do it for less than you think.

There’s no real secret, just prep prep prep, take your time and use good quality paints. If you can, do it indoors (in a well ventilated space, mask etc). If you do it outdoors, dust and some flies WILL find their way onto it.

Good luck.

Cover everything that might get paint blown onto it.

My dad, whose Alfa Spider with the roof down was on the other side of the garage when I rattle-canned my BMX 30 years ago, agrees with this

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baddddad
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Cover everything that might get paint blown onto it.

My dad, whose Alfa Spider with the roof down was on the other side of the garage when I rattle-canned my BMX 30 years ago, agrees with this

Username checks out

Anyway, I have a mate who does usually does these things for me so I was driven by a quicker turnaround of DIY, but the reality reading the advice here is that I’ll spend ages and get a bad result. Mostly because I don’t have a warm location to do it indoors meaning it’ll take days to dry in my freezing shed between coats and get covered in spiders

So I’ve messaged my mate and he can do it in a couple of weeks

So thanks for the sound advice! Now, what colours should I go? I’m thinking hot pink to fluo green fade

Top tip 1. – Get a pro to do it.
Primers, sanding, cost of paint(Tenner a tin ?, and if its a shitty finish you’ll have to rub it all back and start again at extra costs, maybe even more that the pro job would have cost,or even be left with something you arent happy with.

Pro will do it quickly and the finish will be excellent. And with all this talk of furlough and job losses, they can do with the business.

Another “get a pro”. Sorry. Basically rattle cans won’t give you a strong enough finish. Even if you get the exact look you want- which isn’t that likely, fades be hard- then it’ll mark and chip in no time. Unless you use 2-pack cans, which is an option but has more challenges, and even it’s not super tough.

DIY painting can make sense if you want cheap and cheerful- frinstance I did my trials bike with engine enamel, because I knew it’d work out fairly good, the matt black would look nice, and when I smashed the crap out of it I could easily respray/repair it. But that’s a pretty different scenario.

I got quoted a minimum $450 to repaint my Genius frame and that would have been sanding out the existing topcoat, prime and 2k spray, 1 colour, no decals.
As a cheapskate who thinks he’s competent at most things and happy to do anything to save a buck, I decided to do it myself.
I scraped the frame back to carbon, built a spray booth in the garden, 2k rattle can (spraymax epoxy) prime, wet sand, montana gold, decal mask, montana gold, 2k clear (spraymax) wet sand, 2k clear, wet sand, 2k clear.

Issues.. trying to get even coverage and even sheen with the montana gold on a relatively complex frame shape was tough. I originally wanted to satin clear the bike but resorted to matt finish to blend the montana sheen changes. After final coat it genuinely looks ace. Matt Ridewrap on top and it looks great.
More coats than ideal means that there is a compressive property to the paint. If I lean the bike against something I something get an indent transferred into the paint/wrap.

Oramask decal mask left residue on removal so I had to windex that off before I could clear.
Sanding between clear coats meant zero relief at masked decals.

Cost? $60 2k primer, $120 in Montana Gold as I couldn’t decide what colour to use so I bought loads, $60 in 2K clear coat, $40 masking film, $20 tip to the sign shop for plotting my vector files, labour..probably 20+ hours knifing the old paint, 4hrs on illustrator creating decals and ~8 actively prepping, wet sanding and painting.

Spraymax 2k epoxy primer is so good! I’ve since used it refinishing the wifes alloy wheels, my sand blasted steel wheels and a bodywork rust repair.
2k clear from sparaymax is also great and the finish is exceptionally consistent from a rattlecan product.

Would I do it again? probably. Wife was pretty annoyed about the garden spray booth that was up for a couple of weeks mid summer though. If I had a decent shop space I’d rattle them off more often.
I did a second chain stay with a fade, was ok but would’ve been easier on larger tubes

Pics on the ‘gram if you care
Instagram

^^ Looks really good that.👍

I once sprayed a motorbike fly screen with rattle cans (specially colour matched and a ‘good quality’ can). The chap who mixed the paint told me to apply the first top coat before the last primer coat was fully dry. I was dubious, but it worked a treat. Two primer coats, two top coats and a clear lacquer on a carbon fibre screen. Matched the rest of the bike exactly.

I’m going to do my DJ bike when I’ve cleared the space. It doesn’t have to be a perfect job, I want it bright and messy, I can make my own vinyl graphics/stencils and I like messing around doing stuff for the fun of it rather than always paying someone else.

Also, I miss the smell of Montana paint. I haven’t been on a roof top or in a subway tunnel for a long time!

will be doing my FS frame in a few weeks, with rattle cans as it’s a fairly old frame and it doesn’t need to be ‘showroom’, given the way a I ride it….

Now trying to decide on a single colour…. something bright but not gash. Ideas?

I had a cougar road bike in the 90s that was purple/hot pink fade.
Absolutely everyone who saw it would comment how nice it was.

Top job BearBack. That looks ace.

Not too sure what I can add as I’m just about to embark on my own scheme for the first time – my youngest’s frame as a dad / daughter lockdown project.

Apologies, but have a couple of questions, rather than anything else to add…

1) Only have a cellar here, with poor ventilation, so not wanting either of us to die, was planning on doing it outside in a pop-up gazebo with PVC dustsheets hanging off the sides. Would welcome the Hivemind view on this approach…

2) Have bought 1K primer, but now realise that all the vids say 2k is the way to go. Should I upgrade the 1K? What’s the benefit of the 2k for primer (alu frame that is now beautifully prepared)?

i think its been said but
rattle cans are shocking…
you can get a great finish, but it will not be as durable as 2k or powdercoat.
It will also take you much more time
and it will probably cost as much in materials

a cheap compressor and chinese gun can be had for under a £100 if you think you might use it as a hobbyist.

Epoxy primner is a godsend, you can get it in 2 part cans also, sticks to every (clean) surface and seals.
back to the compressor… high build primer, another godsend, much better than can high build primer (imho), flatens back smooth so much easier and doesnt seem to sink back over time like rattle can primer does.
2k paint goes on so much nicer, you can get an excellent gloss straight from the gun, so much easier than cans, and as i mentioned, way more durable.

Depends on the bike frame IMO.

90’s steel tandem, unless it’s something niche and valuable I’d just get it powedercoated in one solid colour, then do your own fade on top. It’s not quite as good as propper paint up close, but way more durable. and deals with all the stripping, priming, etc for you.

My (aluminium) road bike has kinda reached the point where “patina” has just become scruffy. If I rattle can it, it’ll just be a case of key the surface and spray. I’ve done forks before and yes I agree surface prep is key to getting it perfect, there are levels of perfection I can live with in return for it not taking a whole weekend.

That carbon scott above looks great, but surely at some point you tip past the point of paint + bearings and hardware + shock service + residual value of the frame before spraying, costing a substantial chunk of a new frame with warranty etc.

Pics of my recently refurbed Ribble 653 – rattle canned.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kBgxrK]20210212_120034[1][/url] by Anthony Fosbrook, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kJr56y]20210113_172830[1][/url] by Anthony Fosbrook, on Flickr

It started out white and green, but I fancied pearlescent white. Sanded any ‘chips’ and rust spots with a mouse sander before keying all the other paint with a fine 400-800 grit paper. This took ages.

I then started applying the primer – thin coats at a time, let dry, sand down any rough areas. This was in january, so I had a fan heater keeping the paint warm and a hair dryer keeping the frame warm.

As the pearlescent white was basically transparent, I had to take my time with the white base coat. It took about 3-4 tins of primer, 3 tins of pearlescent coats, before two gloss cans were used.

The paint was pretty soft for about a month, but managed to build it back together after to weeks. It’s hardened off nicely now.

Just take your time. I could have had it powder coated more cheaply.

@andrewreay
Exactly what I did. Pop up white walled 10×10 tent with plastic drop sheets clipped to the walls, plastic floor covered with cardboard in the standing zone. I had a floor mount 24″ box fan with an HVAC filter as my extractor capturing the paint dust but blowing the nasty fumes to the atmosphere and a high mount 12″ fan blowing clean intake air in through a smaller HVAC filter. I ended up with negative pressure obviously with the fan imbalance but could get in and get out for each coat before the walls closed in.
Worth noting that the isocyanates in 2k are bad sh*t and you’ll need proper respiration.
1k paint is far less concerning, but that’s why it doesn’t last well and ‘rattle can jobs’ get a bad rep.

That carbon scott above looks great, but surely at some point you tip past the point of paint + bearings and hardware + shock service + residual value of the frame before spraying, costing a substantial chunk of a new frame with warranty etc

Absolutely agree. In my case though it’s a piece of “memorabilia” so to speak. I’ve had a relationship with Scott since starting the holiday company in 2005. We sold the business late last year. That frame is my piece as a throwback to that 15 year journey so all the decals are inferences to that.
When I’m done riding it, it’ll probably be hung somewhere to gather dust.

Listen to Big Yim. He knows what he is talking about.

This is what he did to my bike.

More pics

PS I wouldn’t rattle can a MTB – not a chance, even a classic – the paint won’t last five minutes.

Try custom canz for some awesome colours and the right kits that you need. If could post pics would show the wifes blue/purple/green flip road frame that our friend has just done using rattle can. Looks brilliant.

I heard spray.bike is good for DIY efforts

I know you’re going to just rattle can it anyway, but another vote for powder here – if I had the option to powdercoat a frame instead of painting i’d do it every time – the finish is much stronger & the blasting process will get rid of all the old paint / surface rust too, if you want a fade some places will entertain that & a decent powdercoater will give you a finish that’s nicer that cans unless you’re going to spend a whole lot of time on it.

Here’s one I had done recently – I toyed with the idea of cans but it wouldn’t have ended up anywhere as good a finish.