Respraying your bike yourself

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by bengibbs
I am wanting to respray my alloy frame and carbon forks myself and I haven't got a clue how to do it. How do I get the paint off? Have any of you done this before or do any of you know how?
Please help,

Ben

Get professional help.

I was hoping there would be some pro's or people that had done it before on-line.

😉

Ben

I've resprayed motorcycle and bike frames at home many years ago with aerosol spray paint. I wouldn't try this on an expensive or new bike with a good finish already, but may be fun to do on an old one that needs paint. No guarantees of course, but you can always take it to a real painter if you don't like your results.

You really don't need to remove all the paint, unless you've got rust to deal with....just a light, even scuff sanding with some 220 grade. Primer is good to let you see defects and fill light scratches, but don't believe it's necessary either. You can wet or dry sand out the primer with 400 or higher grade if needed before the final coats.

If you use spray-bomb auto lacquer, you'll want to use 5 or more thin coats, with a couple of hours of tack drying in between. You can use super-fine sandpaper (ie 800, then 1200) or rubbing compound on the final coat to get a shine....just make sure to let the paint dry for days/ weeks before you polish it out!

One hard part at home is keeping everything clean so you don't have flaws in the finish.

ps: Is Kandy Apple Lime Green back in? I had fun giving my BSA that treatment back in the 60's. Gold metallic base coat with the lime-tinted clear on top looked good when the light hit it right.

I painted my vintage OLMO with very good results. Don't start if you aren't very "handy"! Don't start if you are in a hurry! I don't recommend removing the paint. The factory primer is stuck on better than any primer job you can hope to do at home. Order the new decals way in advance, they can take months to find or obtain. Have supplies on hand. bondo (body putty), wet/dry sandpaper in 280-600 assorted, steel wool 0-000, chemicals, beer
1) Clean thoroughly with degreaser

2) Sand thoroughly, remove all stickers, glue, decals etc

3) If your old paintjob is really hacked and chipped you must fill with bondo and sand smooth.. repeat... repeat...

4) Have a good place to paint, warm, dry, dustfree (yeah right) lots o' light

5) Fix some kind of hanging system from the ceiling, stick a piece of broomstick in the saddle tube to use as a handle. Hang the bike from the rear drop outs

6) When you think all is smooth and ready, (the ENTIRE surface MUST be sanded) spray a very thin coat of light gray auto primer over the whole frame, don't try for coverage, LIGHT coat!

7) With the light gray coat and with 1 light source in an otherwise dark room you will see all the little imperfections... scratches, insufficient putty work etc. Repeat step 3 as necessary. Steel wool the primer so it's smooooothhhh. Spray... steel wool... spray etc.

8) For the top coat use auto paint, to avoid heartbreaking problems use same brand as the primer! There are plenty of colors to choose from. Keep it simple, avoid fades and masking etc. Follow the recommendations and directions on the spray can. Many many thin coats repeated at intervals according to the can. Any attempt to save time here will cost you dearly in having to go back to step 3!

9)When all is done and it looks great you can clearcoat a couple times, ALSO WITH THE SAME BRAND!! Wait a week or so and apply the new decals, stickers of transfers.

10) Now you can go mad with the clear coat. Steel wool with very fine between coats. If your ventilation system isn't up to snuff you won't be needing any beer by now.

11) Wait an incredibly long time before remounting all the components

Excellent details. Good point about getting the primer coats to be defect-free. And the need for cleanliness.

Step 11 is funny, but probably the hardest one of all.

Think we scared bengibbs off.....he's gone to the pro by now.

I tried this summer to repaint my MTB, not much of a great succes but I am not so disapointed...

My biggest mistake was that I sprayed too close from it (with a car paint can), no it ended up accumulating in some places and drops of it slid down the tube.

If you are not looking for a professional job and don't care to maybe screw your bike a bit to get experience, I say go for it. That way you'll get better and better, but if you follow the instructions mentionned above you should not have much trouble

good luck!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by bikerchas55
I painted my vintage OLMO with very good results. Don't start if you aren't very "handy"! Don't start if you are in a hurry! I don't recommend removing the paint. The factory primer is stuck on better than any primer job you can hope to do at home. Order the new decals way in advance, they can take months to find or obtain. Have supplies on hand. bondo (body putty), wet/dry sandpaper in 280-600 assorted, steel wool 0-000, chemicals, beer
1) Clean thoroughly with degreaser

2) Sand thoroughly, remove all stickers, glue, decals etc

3) If your old paintjob is really hacked and chipped you must fill with bondo and sand smooth.. repeat... repeat...

4) Have a good place to paint, warm, dry, dustfree (yeah right) lots o' light

5) Fix some kind of hanging system from the ceiling, stick a piece of broomstick in the saddle tube to use as a handle. Hang the bike from the rear drop outs

6) When you think all is smooth and ready, (the ENTIRE surface MUST be sanded) spray a very thin coat of light gray auto primer over the whole frame, don't try for coverage, LIGHT coat!

7) With the light gray coat and with 1 light source in an otherwise dark room you will see all the little imperfections... scratches, insufficient putty work etc. Repeat step 3 as necessary. Steel wool the primer so it's smooooothhhh. Spray... steel wool... spray etc.

8) For the top coat use auto paint, to avoid heartbreaking problems use same brand as the primer! There are plenty of colors to choose from. Keep it simple, avoid fades and masking etc. Follow the recommendations and directions on the spray can. Many many thin coats repeated at intervals according to the can. Any attempt to save time here will cost you dearly in having to go back to step 3!

9)When all is done and it looks great you can clearcoat a couple times, ALSO WITH THE SAME BRAND!! Wait a week or so and apply the new decals, stickers of transfers.

10) Now you can go mad with the clear coat. Steel wool with very fine between coats. If your ventilation system isn't up to snuff you won't be needing any beer by now.

11) Wait an incredibly long time before remounting all the components

This poster is right, it is possible if you follow the above rules.

However, it's incredibly hard work and takes forever. It's much cheaper in the long run to send it off to a specialist and get it powder coated.

when you say an incredibly long time....how long roughly is incredibly long?

:p

trembler50 said:

This poster is right, it is possible if you follow the above rules.

However, it's incredibly hard work and takes forever. It's much cheaper in the long run to send it off to a specialist and get it powder coated.

having done quite a bit of automotive and motorcyle painting...

doing it yourself only makes sense if you simply want the experience/pride of doing it yourself.

by the time you've purchased a paint gun (a good paint gun, mind you), compressor, regulator, line filter, paint filters, tack cloth, resperator, reducer, mixing cups, primer, good quality paint (which can be alot more expensive than you think), AND...

spend the time needed for a good job sanding, priming, sanding, priming and sanding again.... (buying packs of at least 320, 400, 600 and maybe 1000 grit paper)

and then, if you want different colors- you've got the taping off, drying and flash times, and of course- the clear coat process.

when you figure your time and materials... a seemingly high price quote for a professional painter really seems quite reasonable.

especially when you invest more in materials, equipment, time... and your paint job ends up being inferior to what you hoped for.

not trying to be a wet blanket here... but its just that most people's only idea about painting comes from handling spray paint cans as a kid.

and the "why pay someone else? I can do it myself!" knee jerk is often an uneducated response. It takes quite a lot to make something look SMOOOOOTHHHH, GOOOOOOOOOOD, and FAAAAAAAAST.

do what you will. doing it yourself will certainly give you an appreciation for what a professional does... and paying a professional will give you an awesome paint job, you'll be happy with forever. maybe you can have both?

(on your 9th try! he he he he)

STEEL WOOL IS OILY AND NEEDS TO BE DEGREASED IF YOU WANT TO USE IT FOR PAINT PREP.

Other than that, an automotive lacquer can give a great finish but is chip prone and must be sanded. It will dry practically as soon as it hits the metal, then you sand that coat smooth and spray another, until you've built up a smooth finish.

Enamel, on the other hand, is a much tougher paint. Certain enamels are too "rubbery" to sand to a polish but certain others have the additive which made DuPont Imron famous and can be polished, but the label usually offers no clue. Enamel will stay tacky for an hour or so and is somewhat more sensitive to dust for this reason. It will naturally turn out smoother because surface tension can reduce the bumpy, orange peel texture because it doesn't dry right away like lacquer. However, many of the colors especially the solid colors can't be sanded further, as I have already discussed.

You must be FANATICAL about degreasing and keeping everything (including the oily sebum from your hands) off the frame. Wear gloves.

If/when I have to do this again I will take all the parts off my frame and take it to a shop. I will call them beforehand about what prep is best.

If you want to powdercoat it just buy some stripper and some rubber gloves. Don't get the stuff on carbon forks or any component. Full strength "Easy-Off" does a surprisingly good job too.

I just finished painting my fuji alloy/carbon frame a few weeks ago. I got lucky because I know a PPG paint rep i got about $500 of materials for free. Well anyway look up some stuff on google about painting aluminum. This is the most tricky material to paint. My steps were similar to this,

1) remove all paint and decals with a chemical paint stripper ( make sure it is aproved for aluminum) forget about trying to sand everything off, first off it will take forever second you will sand the aluminum off creating imbalances in the frame. DO NOT USE THE STRIPER ON THE CARBON if the carbon fiber is black aka traditional all that is on it is a clearcoat hit this with 1000 grit WET!!! snadpaper make sure it is wet- media blastig is much easier to use to remove the paint but is expensive and takes a certain amont of skill not to damage the frame

2) before applying any primers use 3m pads and a degresser to take off the remaing grease

3) Hit the frame with a tack cloth to catch the dust particles

4) apply 2 light coats of acid etch primer or acid wash primer ths is a transparent green coat that etches itself to the metal necessary if painting on aluminum
5) allow to dry for about an hour or until it is not tacking, wipe down with tack rag and apply an epoxy primer, two coats will do make sure this is layed down real smooth if not you will see all the imperfections through the top coat.
6) let dry and wipe again with tack rag mix up the base coat (color) and apply 2-3 coats or until coveage is solid.
7) this is where paint jobs will varry if you want to put graphics ontop of the base coat you have to apply an intercoat clear or a clearcoat wet sand and then appply the graphics then apply the final coats of clear. If you are not putting on graphics/decals you can wait till the base dries and apply 2-3 coats of clear after the clear has dried 24 hr or forced dired for 3-4 you can wetsand with 1200 grit WET then buff out with some 3m rubbing compound and a buffer.

The most important things is having the right materials to do it and keeping it clean through the process you should not be touching the frame once you hang it. Also carbon fiber can be painted over or just recleared wetsanded and buffed the same just be careful with the buffer that you dont burn through the clear. If this is your first paint job there will be imperfections it's not as easy as it seems.
Doing it with out the paints that are designed for aluminum and metals will casue a messy finish that will flake and crack quicly.
I will try to get a picture up of mine it turned out really nice

This might work not sure ... should be three pic of my freshly painted bike [IMG]images5.pictiger.com12f78a2f0ecaa0f2c414b3280a50ee96.th.jpgOpen ↗[/IMG]

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Images Hosting - PicTiger

I like the automotive grade color. I was thinking... one could take a prepped and primed bike frame to an auto body shop which had a damaged car with the color you want in the lot, then you could ask them if they could squirt your frame as they did the car. I bet it would be quite cheap, the cost of mixing the stuff up and getting a booth ready is probabaly way more expensive than the paint they would expend on a bike frame.

I used etching primer, then scratch filler on my Raleigh and it is a durable finish but I did not go for the high polish topcoat.

It ranges in price from about 300 bucks to over 1,000, depending on the level of quality/detail you have them put into it. I called for some quotes about 4 years ago from a reputable local guy, and he quoted me at 400 bucks for one solid color, with clear coats.

If I were you, I'd get some local places from your favourite bike shop and then call around for a quote.

distincthead said:

It ranges in price from about 300 bucks to over 1,000, depending on the level of quality/detail you have them put into it. I called for some quotes about 4 years ago from a reputable local guy, and he quoted me at 400 bucks for one solid color, with clear coats.

I am not sure I made clear the parsimonious jist of my idea. You wait until someone else is having a car done in the color you want then ask them to add your teeny, tiny, little bike frame to the booth prior to spraying. Same booth, same paint mix, same operator time as the damaged car.

As for the original question, I have painted a few things. You can't be too careful degreasing. The acid primer is available in a can but is not necessary unless you go down to bare aluminum. I don't think you should; just rough up the existing paint, use sanding and high build primer to blend in any chips in the old paint & make it smooth, degrease thoroughly, and spray on a topcoat. Let it dry at least a week, preferably two, in the sun.

I went down to bare metal when I repainted my Raleigh but only because I was going to try to polish the bare metal until I realized the factory roughed it up too much, probabaly in order to make the paint stick better.

If you have your own spray guns and compressor you could stop at an autobody place and ask them if they have any small quantities of paint left over from bigger jobs it will only take a few onces to do a bike frame and that is not enough to spray anything on a car. Many times shops have to pay disposal fees on old paint b/c it is toxic to the enviro so they will prob be willing to let it go free or pretty cheap. Just let them know what you are doing. As far as stripping to the bare metal it may not be n[font=Times New Roman]ecessary but you will prob end up with a paint job that looks like **it. I have been painting cars, bikes and motorcycles for some time now and unless you do it right with the right supplies it will look like you picked up some spray cans from wallmart and let your kid spray it, runs, drips, sags bare spots. If you dont care about the bike then that is fine but I wouldnt want to be riding something around that looks like [censored], esp if I put alot of money in to the rest of the bike it seems like your best bet is try to have a pro do it or maybe try something like GT said if you can find a shop. [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Anything that comes out of a spray can sucks ... just my [/font][font=Times New Roman]Professional [/font][font=Times New Roman]opinion [/font]

[font=Times New Roman][/font]

JFTR I somewhat agree with DJK. You may be better off touching up the old frame or leaving it alone. You may not get it right the first time, bare metal or no bare metal; so the cost of learning and possibly sanding out a bad paint job must be factored in.

BTW you won't see many runs, drips, and sags while you are primering. The primer goes on real easy, then the fun begins. Especially if you use a non-fast-drying enamel, the color coat must be sprayed on with much more caution than the primer as it is runnier. The lacquers, on the other hand, have the drawback of drying too fast and assuming the texture of a piece of orange peel, necessitating sanding, and it can be difficult to build up a big enough coat to keep from sanding through. Even if you have five coats and sand through to the fourth coat of the same color, same can, it will show.

Just a quick note...

Not trying to be a wet blanket either, but when doing any kind of spraying you should wear breathing protection. Especially with Epoxy or Imron paints. That stuff never leaves your lungs once it gets in....Bad for cycling! :eek:

Good luck on your project.

yes I second that , it is just second nature for me I guess. This is very important