Holy War

[sbusiello]

From reading through the chains on the forum i have noticed that some people are staunch "rusties" or "patina lovers" and others like to restore [ i dont have a name for them ... yet! ] I dont know where i fall in to yet either, but i am kinda leaning towards the side where i can use the bike without getting a tetnus shot. So i am definitely not a "rusty".

So not to start a holy war with this thread, but i am cleaning and derusting my "royal dutch/dutch royal" which has a VERY VERY good paintjob considering it is 56 years old. So as i was cleaning the rust off and there are slight marks to the bright white paint. With the rust removed the bike is still completely usable. almost perfect.

my question is, is it considered blasphemy if i were to touch up the white spots with spray paint? or some other method of painting?

 

[bricycle]

need pics to see if you would be sining....

 

[sbusiello]

so this is the center beam uncleaned. you can see some rust which pretty much disappeared and on the other pic there are some streaky black lines.

my idea is to do some really fancy taping and spraypaint JUST the black streaks to make it look like one solid white paint job

 

[MrColumbia]

There is a few things to consider when deciding to "touch up" the paint job.

1) Is the bike rare, historically significant or otherwise worth ton's of money to the so called patina lovers? If so then using touch up paint probably wont do wonders for the resale value and will draw ire from that crowd.

2) Is the bike a daily rider without any huge "collectors" value that you just want to make look it's best? If so then carefully applied touch up won't bother anybody and may even help your resale value.

3) Is the bike likely to become collectable some day? Maybe not right now but some time down the road? If so then some collector of the next generation may wish it was still all original. Then again, maybe not. We accept period repairs all the time in this hobby.

4) Rust in any form is not Patina. Patina is the discoloration and checking due to aging on the paint and finish. This is just my opinion but neither rust nor patina are original to any bicycle. We accept patina and even get used to it because it is very unlikely to find the older bikes in any other condition. Because of that we even get to like that "aged" look.

In the end it's your bike and your choice. If the touch up route is the one you chose and somebody cries foul, ask them to buy the bike for fair market value and save it from it's terrible fate. If they don't anti up then maybe it's not a big deal after all.

 

[MrColumbia]

Another thing to consider is that the black streaks may come out with rubbing compound.

 

[sbusiello]

Thanks MrC!

Do you have a type of rubbing compound i can use?

 

[bricycle]

you can find rubbing compound adjacient to the Automobile waxes at Target, Walmart, K-Marts etc.....

 

[rustjunkie]

First thought: What is white? Getting the touch-up to match would be tough, and could bring more attention than the marks that are present from age and use.
Maybe something like Flitz to remove/decrease the black marks; a cotton swab works well to apply the polish.
I've had good results with a pencil eraser, too.
Rubbing compound can be fairly aggressive, so maybe try more gentle approaches first?

 

[sbusiello]

thanks guys

the reason i thought the white would work in this cas is because it is so clean once i gave it a little scrub.

to get rid of the rust i tried 0000 steel wool and Brasso and it didnt mar the paintjob and did clean off the rust and dirt. some of the black marks look like they are through the paint and down to the metal so are more than superficial. ill have another look tonight if my wife lets me leave the house and go to the garage.

 

[bricycle]

..and I thought I was on a leash....