# Paint prices no wonder people use spray bombs



## rideahiggins

I went to the local PPG paint store today to see if I could get some paint matched. They said they needed a 3" x 3" sample to get the paint code from. Well theres not much on a bicycle with a 3" x 3" area. So I found some chips in the books that matched pretty close, Schwinn Coud white. I asked, how much? He said $371 a gallon, plus the hardener, plus the reducer. There was a blank stare from me and the counter guy until it sank in. Now I know it's been a while since I painted anything (6 or 7 years) but has paint really gone up that much or did the counter guy just not want to mess with my bicycle colors. Is this the average price for automotive paint now? The one color I was trying to match is the Schwinn Rose. There is a 1958 Lincoln color that is really close but he didn't have the paint codes for that anymore. He said it was too old. So where to go from here? Yes, I've seen the spray cans available but I'm not lookig for spray cans. I've searched the web and nobody is willing to reveal the secret paint code formulas.


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## Talewinds

Some thoughts, where to start?
 The paint codes for classic bikes. Codes for MANY brands and models have been retrieved, saved, or decoded over the years. WHY folks aren't more forthcoming about them I don't know. AND, guys have been restoring bikes with extremely accurate paint recreations but when it comes to inquiring about the paints used it's like some big freaking mystery. Why???

My experience with auto paints is extremely limited, but it's what I'm doing RIGHT NOW so I'm kinda tuned in. Apparently yes, paint prices have gone stratospheric, much of the old good paints are getting eliminated by the EPA, apparently PPG is the only brand doing lacquer now, Dupont is leaving that ball game behind due to regulations. Also, because of forced lead reductions the recommended 1:1 paint:reducer doesn't apply to dark hues anymore, you've got to use 2:1 paint:reducer.

On the bright side, painting bikes uses VERY little paint. You can buy the smallest container they offer and as long as you're not buying the show-car line of paints it'll run $70 for the more expensive hues. Reducer is cheap but when I bought the tiny can of catalyst the other day it was $30!!!

I'm WAY behind the learning curve so I'd like to hear from guys with mucho experience here.

This just struck me as a funny comparison... I could easily get bent outa shape about auto paint prices, but let's compare; Today, one of the "good" brands of house paint (the big 3, Benjamin Moore, Porter, and Sherwin Willimams), Benjamin Moore's Aura series of paint is $70 a gallon! That's acrylic latex house paint.


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## Boris

I'm kinda out of my league on this one, but maybe you want to email CABE member Aaron at VintageSchwinn.com. He has an array of Schwinn colors in aerosol cans.


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## rustyspoke66

Dave Marko said:


> I'm kinda out of my league on this one, but maybe you want to email CABE member Aaron at VintageSchwinn.com. He has an array of Schwinn colors in aerosol cans.




Don't be afraid of the spray cans, most guys having custom paint put in cans are using quality paint with the hardener already in it. I was told by the paint guy down the street that it has about a 10 year or less shelf life. I think they are using a single stage acrylic enamel which goes for about 125 to 200 a quart depending on color. The closer you get to red the more expensive. I think you can get 3 to 4 spray cans per quart but I'm not exactly sure. One thing you might consider is to have a quart put into spray cans and try to resale the full cans you don't use.


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## chitown

I used to paint Harleys and did some car hoods and mural stuff too. I mostly did airbrush work (some stuff posted in my gallery) and my buddy did all the body work and clear coating. Because we would buy a couple gallons at a time of the main colors we needed for any particular project, we got to know the PPG guys pretty well. But when it came to airbrushing I only needed tiny amounts of paint. I never wanted to get any colors off the color swatches they had because those were all mixed from their base colors. So I would just walk in to the PPG shop and just so happen to have a case of pint glass jars with me. I said I needed samples of the base tones to work on a custom mural job (or whatever). Because I was a regular, they thought nothing of it and filled me up with almost every base color they had which ended up lasting me a couple of years of worth of bikes, tanks, helmets, hoods... They also hooked me up with samples of pearl powders that were a ton of fun to work with (did some killer ghost flame tanks with just pearl in the clear) and again lasted a long time because of the little amount I actually used. It's harder to ask for small samples of specific formulas because they are doing the mixing. So I told them just to give me the base colors and I would tinker with the colors myself. They thought I was nuts but I didn't care, I knew once I got those samples I was set!

I have a degree in Illustration from a fine Art Academy which I had to spend a whole semester on color theory and making color wheels with all different kinds of paint so I'm pretty confident I can match any paint out there as long as I have a sample... just don't ask me how I made that color because I do it by eye and not some formula to be recreated. I don't have the patience to measure. I like more the mad alchemist approach, hovering over his shop, tinkering it until it is perfect. I just know if it's off, what I need to add to make it match... a little of this and a little of that.

Color matching can be a pain but for me it is a challenge to try an recreate something original. The hardest stuff to do is the transparent stuff, and in my opinion those paint jobs look the best! You can get the richest, purest colors when using transparent paint. Opaque has some degree of white added which dulls the colors.

I have no reservations about using a bomb can (did it on my Silver King). You can get a good finish and there are a ton of colors out there. But if you're going for a show quality repro and they don't make your color in a bomb can... you gotta pay up to get the good stuff. No way around it.


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## Boris

Or you can email Aaron.


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## Nickinator

I'll throw my two cents in here since I am painting the Elgin right now- 

My local body shop supply store (Welle) mixes up any color I want in PPG Deltron, which is great paint (we used it in the body shop my husband and I had for many years), it's a very particulate heavy paint, so the color is dense, and you don't need to use a whole lot (compared to say Duplicolor laquer, which can be like water!). They mix it in tall spray cans for me, for about $25. 

Then I use a special 2 part premixed clearcoat (has the catalyst in it) in a can called Spray Max 2k, high gloss, and honestly, you cannot tell that the paint job wasn't shot out of a gun. The clearcoat is also about $25 a can. And so much less hassle and mess (and cost). However, once clearcoat is activated, potlife life is 48 hours, but I've used them for over a week or more with no issues.

I chose my Elgin's colors out of paint chip books at Welle, they had some pretty old books so I could find vintage colors without poly/metallic. 

Darcie


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## Talewinds

This is good info Darcie, and a good descriptor of how to strike  balance between "rattle can" and a much better paint quality that happens to be in an aerosol can. My local auto paints place is giving about $25 a can as well and I'll definitely take this option when I can.

 I've used LOTS of rattle can over the last couple of years, and I've become proud of the results even with masking and multiple colors and clear coats, granted, Rustoleum has gotten MUCH better over the years. My major complaint with good old-fashioned rattle cans is, and it's a big one, resiliency. I do bare metal prep with a bead blaster and etching primer. When it's all said and done, look at the paint cross-eyed and it chips, STILL! 

No more. This catalyzed primer, base coat/clear coat is BULLETPROOF and thick, I love it!


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## Nickinator

Talewinds said:


> This catalyzed primer, base coat/clear coat is BULLETPROOF and thick, I love it!




I know! and I also get great results using just the clearcoat with catalyst, over almost any paint 
(providing you have good prep- we also bead blast to bare metal and use wax and grease remover just prior to primer/painting).


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## squeedals

One thing about some paints..........waiting too long to add a second coat can be disastrous. I found out the hard way.....some paints (Rustoleum in particular) which I'll NEVER use again BTW, has to be second coated within a few minutes after OR it will blister up.....and eff up a paint job big time. Make sure whatever you use is a sand-able first, or second or any coats...can sit overnight between coats if needed AND take on additional coats without a nasty reaction. I like to apply thin coats....let them dry overnight......sand....reapply......and you get a nice smooth, deep shine....all with a spray can. I've been told though.....that too think a paint job......chips easier.....and that might be avoided by Nickinator's method.  The Firestone was done with canned spray paint and I thought it came out quite nice. The color difference on the orange is the camera, not the paint results. The second pic is the "before" bike.


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## rideahiggins

*Paint*

Thanks for all the replies. I guess my biggest thing is not wanting to use spray cans, off the shelf or custome mixed is the durability. I'm tired of blasting, sanding, priming and painting a bike only to have 47 chips in the paint before it's completely assembled. I've painted alot of stuff back in the 80's and 90's with single stage paint...paint with hardener... and it was always durable. I thought about trying the spray can with the hardened clear coat over it, just wasn't sure how it would work. I was told that the spray cans with the hardener added to it had a very limited shelf life... a couple days. Any ways the paint color I picked to match the Schwinn cloud white on the girls white and rose color scheme bikes is a 2002 Toyota color. I haven't sprayed any yet. I'll post when I do. Still not sure what I'm going to do about the rose color.


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## videoranger

I"ve been using BASF single stage acrylic enamel LIMCO with a "wet look" hardener and really like the stuff. It flows on nice and flashes in @ 10 minutes to build coats. I color sand it after 24 hours with 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000 grit color sand paper followed by hand polishing. The finished paint is absolutely smooth with a true wet look gloss. Quart prices are very reasonable and pints are available for small jobs. I prefer the single stage on vintage bikes as it looks more original (although the new enamels with hardener are more shinny). I don't know how you could mix high gloss hardener in a can since the pot life of these paints is 4 to maybe 24 hours. The hardener provides enhanced durability and chip resistance also. Primer and sealer choices can also make a big difference as far as resistance to chipping is concerned. Spraying with a nice paint gun just doesn't compare to spray bombs as far as application ease and control. Even if done nicely some spray paints just aren't durable. The best spray bomb paint I've used is implement enamel.


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## squeedals

"The best spray bomb paint I've used is implement enamel." ?

Brand names?


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## rideahiggins

*Spray bombs*

The only spray bombs I use is Rustoleum lacquer. Black, white, red, clear are all that's available. it's pretty durable and has the right amount of shine for me, not an over the top wet gloss.


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## Talewinds

@ Squeedals, you mentioned swearing off Rustoleum, I actually swore off Krylon in favor of Rustoleum this past year. Krylon has gone skimpy on their pigments/solids in their paints and I was buying a lot of paint for not a lot of actual paint!
 But I know what you mean about the paint lifting/checking/blistering, color coats must be kept to within 15 minutes or so between coats. I was having the problem with clear coats and discovered if I add several DAYS between color and clear it helps immensely, then, mist coat-mist coat-wet coat.
 I was really experiencing bad lifting/checking when using multiple layers and colors. I realized I was just loading way too much paint on a surface to allow it ample time to dry. Slowing waaaaaayyyy down was my key to success.


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## squeedals

Talewinds.....that IS the problem I have with Rustolium.......forget any clear coating after you put down a color layer unless you plan on clear coating 15 mins after the fact. I'm surprised that the clear coat didn't alligator on you. And forget any in between sanding. I used a Lowes brand.....wasn't Krylon......I'll look tonight, that I use now.......nice stuff.....dries fast, you can sand it.......and put as many coats on as you want.......and the results are pretty durable. So much easier to work with. 

I tried and waited a week after a coat of Rustolium to clear coat......and it blistered right up. It was on a small piece that I could strip easily, so my experience with this has not been a fun one. 


I have to ask the posters.......with the quest for a "show quality" paint job..........is this what the factory would have produced? Is a show quality paint job really what you would have had when the bike was new? I'm asking because I don't know. 

I do know after restoring old cars and owning them for 40 years, I saw many cars over restored......paint jobs that would have never been on a car out of the factory......so that is what I'm asking here. Can one over restore a bike??


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## VintageSchwinn.com

I can only speak for myself, but the reason I don't freely hand out the paint codes is, first of all, I had to find and buy original cans of usable 50- to 70-year-old paint to match. Then I had to pay a color tech to match them, which was not cheap, believe me. I'm just not willing to hand that over as it's my proprietary paint code now for both color and formula. That's one thing people often do wrong is use the wrong TYPE of paint. I have had mine matched to a T as far as the formula as well. People often want to use a clearcoat on their paints, well, Schwinn didn't use a clearcoat, at least on the paints for which I sell. They did on some of the '60s and '70s stuff however. You also need to use the right shade of primer to achieve the color and finish as Schwinn intended it.
If you take your time and use proper procedure, you can definitely achieve a professional result. Take a look on my website at the brown/tan and the tan/brown 1935 Cycleplane/Motorbikes. I did both of them 100-percent from rattle cans to demonstrate this, as well as my 1938 Cobalt Blue Motorbike. The "rattle cans' are not the type you'd find on the shelves of Home Depot or a hardware store, they have a much different flow and fan spread and spray much differently. They are automotive grade cans, which are used to spray door dams, roof pillars, etc, and work very, very well.

If people are interested in paint by the pints, I'm happy to accommodate those requests. Often people are shocked at how expensive it is, though. For example, a lot of people are unaware that ANY paint that uses a red pigment? More expensive (such as Cobalt Blue). Maroon and Red ?? Very expensive, nearly 175 percent more expensive to be exact. I sell most all of the prewar/postwar non-metallic colors, Pete at Hyper-Formance in Arizona has the '60s and '70s colors for Sting-Rays and some of the metallics as well.

As for Rustoleum and Krylon and "off the shelf" paints, they are the EXACT reason I had my acrylic enamels made, those off the shelf ones just suck, horrible quality with even worse results.  I can say, I literally have NEVER had a complaint as to my rattle cans (as much as I hate to call them that as it seems to imply they're in the same category as the off the shelf stuff).  Most of the people who buy from me have come back to buy more.

You are all correct on the costs of paint and most shops will not custom blend and sell you less than a gallon, which is from $300 to $400 per gallon depending on color.  You want to use single-stage paints, as were originally used, if you want the same result of original.  Some people really miss their targets using two-stage with a clear coat.  In my opinion, it doesn't look right, because it isn't right.  

I am now in the process of having a few more colors matched from original cans I've recently acquired, one being Schwinn "Holiday Rose," the pink that came on '40s, '50s and '60s girls models, as well as a couple others.  One color I have yet been able to find is the lighter blue you see on Chicago Cycle Supply bikes, if anyone has an original usable can, I'd be more than happy to purchase it or trade other colors for it, I have a LOT of cans of original paint, to say the least.

Happy painting!


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## Talewinds

squeedals said:


> I do know after restoring old cars and owning them for 40 years, I saw many cars over restored......paint jobs that would have never been on a car out of the factory......so that is what I'm asking here. Can one over restore a bike??




Unequivocally YES! We get accustomed to smoothing welds and braze areas and then filling and glazing surfaces, but if you take a look at a lot of the old, original condition bikes, they were just not stellar. Paint was good IMO, but the frames and prep work was kinda crappy, actually.

Schwinn gets credit for stellar frame quality in the way the tubing was flared and joined so seamlessly, but this is only really a post-war phenomenon. A close inspection of pre-war frames and YIKES, they often look downright embarrassing. And I'm a Schwinn lover!


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## VintageSchwinn.com

Oh, wow, I actually think MOST bikes are "over-restored."  People make the pinstripes perfect, use clearcoats, carry the pinstripes too far, not far enough, etc.  You need to remember these bikes were pinstriped by hand, not a stencil someone bought of the Internet.   Most people restore them as if they're cars.  You need to remember, vintage bikes, as much as we love them now?  They were considered toys and painted and treated as such.


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## Talewinds

When using single-stage paints how does one get good smooth edge-blends when using masking with multiple colors, like on fenders or frame darts???
 Just good, thorough wet sanding?


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## squeedals

VintageSchwinn.com said:


> Oh, wow, I actually think MOST bikes are "over-restored."  People make the pinstripes perfect, use clearcoats, carry the pinstripes too far, not far enough, etc.  You need to remember these bikes were pinstriped by hand, not a stencil someone bought of the Internet.   Most people restore them as if they're cars.  You need to remember, vintage bikes, as much as we love them now?  They were considered toys and painted and treated as such.




Well then.....that opens up a real discussion. Maybe by over restoring a bike we are defeating a purpose? I suppose it falls into the personal preference category......but in reality....are we not (by over restoring) doing the bike a disservice? Are we not misrepresenting the bike as it was originally intended to look? Or are we highlighting the bike like it could have been? How the bike should have looked through some rose colored glasses? Hmmmmm.....I wonder.


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## J.C.

*Cans o paint*

*I originally posted this in the 'Schwinn' section of the CABE, then discovered this conversation.  As far as painting with bombs vs an actual sprayer, it all depends on the quality of the spray paint can and the paint in it.  Many use a PREVAL can, but for my applications, a full restoration (in my opinion) should be done with quality paint and a spray gun/compressor.  That said, I have used VintageSchwinn.com paint in the spray cans for a complete restoration in the past, with complete satisfaction.  Use it all the time on smaller parts.  Quick and easy.  Here is the post I put in the Schwinn section, which may be more of a help here...........*

_Being a Schwinn guy myself, I have found the VintageSchwinn.com paints extremely helpful on many of my restoration projects. I try and keep all of my bikes 100% original, but if I get a request from someone interested in one of the bikes I have for sale, such as wanting a rear rack, a headlight cover without paint chips (many suffered paint loss) etc, Aaron's paints are the way to go when trying to color match and provide them with these items in the same color as the rest of the bike. Quick, spot on match, and the cans spray very nicely. I have had to go and send parts off to be color matched (especially Chicago Cycle Supply Co. bikes as they tended to use weird colors) and just the cost of having a certified paint match specialist match it is astronomical. Then you have to either have it put in to a spray can (at an additional cost...which aint cheap), or buy the required amount of paint by the pint, quart, etc. That also aint cheap! Oh, then you need hardener and reducer. Guess what, them aint cheap!!! Ahhh, then you need an air compressor, a spray gun, a paint booth (the stuff flies everywhere), a respirator (unless you wanna get stoned).......need I go on? Bottom line, we should be very happy and appreciative, not bitching, that people like Aaron and Pete have gone the extra mile to collect NOS cans, have them matched (and paid for that themselves), put them in cans, etc. We can whine all we want about spending $20+ for a can of spray paint, but when you want it done right, that's a very cheap price to pay! _


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## VintageSchwinn.com

Squeedals, I guess it all comes down to personal preference, as does everything, but trying to create something that never existed seems kind of pointless to me.  I have only ONE restored bike in my collection, a '39 Dayton Twinflex that Dave Stromberger restored, and quite honestly it's one of the nicest restored bikes I've ever seen and that's the only reason.  It looks like it just rolled off the line at Dayton in the '30s.  Dave is one of the few restorers that does it "right."  I would include Bob Ujszaszi and Tim Brandt in that group as well.  I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones whose work I've seen with my own eyes and it's first class.


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## squeedals

I agree.....and for future referance......call me Don. Squeedals is what I used tio call my daughter when she was a wee child :o I'll try and remember to sign my posts.


    Don


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## rideahiggins

*White paint*

OK I tried out the 2002 toyota white that I got on a NOS fender to see how it matched. I painted over a spot of gray primer and just over the OG white. Just over the white you could tell it was different just by a touch and the full gloss hardener was just too much the OG gloss is muted just a bit. Now over the gray primer it was a closer match, maybe if I used a repair hardener to tone down the gloss, is there still such a thing? Anyway I'm going with it. I've got about 8 of the girls white and rose colored bikes to redo. I want to make respectable riders out of them not necessarily "purist" restorations. 
  Now before someone poo poo's my wanting to waste my time restoring girls bikes. These bikes are almost always too rusty to clean up and a neighbor wants me to do her bike so why not do a few more while I'm at it.


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## kngtmat

I went to PPG here to get GM Spectra red for my Christine bike and I thought it would be $30 but I payed $60 for a pint plus harder, reducer and a preval sprayer because they said they couldn't put it in a spray can for me except for Napa or what ever place it was that could do it was too far away from me at the time, now I have to mix and everything which I have never done before but I am waiting to I feel confident about doing it.


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## VintageSchwinn.com

*New "Schwinn Primer" available !!*

To those of you looking for a great quality and appropriate color primer, I just had my original can of "Schwinn Primer" color and formula matched and will be offering it for sale at $13.95 a can.  It has a light fill quality to help "perfect" surface scratches and imperfections as well as being the EXACT color match that Schwinn used to achieve the PERFECT color once paint is applied.  Anyone interested, shoot me an email, thanks!!!!


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## Rayofsonshine2

*Paint Education.*

WOW What a great thread! This should be required reading for all newbies . 
Bob


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## nathanAGNEW

I just got a quart from 'Sherwin Williams Auto-Paint' for 75.
That's with primer and all that other crap.


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## Schweirdo

Talewinds said:


> This is good info Darcie, and a good descriptor of how to strike  balance between "rattle can" and a much better paint quality that happens to be in an aerosol can. My local auto paints place is giving about $25 a can as well and I'll definitely take this option when I can.
> 
> I've used LOTS of rattle can over the last couple of years, and I've become proud of the results even with masking and multiple colors and clear coats, granted, Rustoleum has gotten MUCH better over the years. My major complaint with good old-fashioned rattle cans is, and it's a big one, resiliency. I do bare metal prep with a bead blaster and etching primer. When it's all said and done, look at the paint cross-eyed and it chips, STILL!
> 
> No more. This catalyzed primer, base coat/clear coat is BULLETPROOF and thick, I love it!




Rustoleum has an appliance epoxy paint. It is very resilient. I use the black and ivory they have. The ivory is almost a perfect match for painted rims. With a good clear coat it is almost unnoticeable that you used a rattle can.


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## pelletman

You guys might want to explore Kimball Midwest paints, they are spray can an claim to be bery high quality.  I have used but just blacks and just for small parts


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## hoofhearted

chitown said:


> I used to paint Harleys and did some car hoods and mural stuff too. I mostly did airbrush work (some stuff posted in my gallery) and my buddy did all the body work and clear coating. Because we would buy a couple gallons at a time of the main colors we needed for any particular project, we got to know the PPG guys pretty well. But when it came to airbrushing I only needed tiny amounts of paint. I never wanted to get any colors off the color swatches they had because those were all mixed from their base colors. So I would just walk in to the PPG shop and just so happen to have a case of pint glass jars with me. I said I needed samples of the base tones to work on a custom mural job (or whatever). Because I was a regular, they thought nothing of it and filled me up with almost every base color they had which ended up lasting me a couple of years of worth of bikes, tanks, helmets, hoods... They also hooked me up with samples of pearl powders that were a ton of fun to work with (did some killer ghost flame tanks with just pearl in the clear) and again lasted a long time because of the little amount I actually used. It's harder to ask for small samples of specific formulas because they are doing the mixing. So I told them just to give me the base colors and I would tinker with the colors myself. They thought I was nuts but I didn't care, I knew once I got those samples I was set!
> 
> I have a degree in Illustration from a fine Art Academy which I had to spend a whole semester on color theory and making color wheels with all different kinds of paint so I'm pretty confident I can match any paint out there as long as I have a sample... just don't ask me how I made that color because I do it by eye and not some formula to be recreated. I don't have the patience to measure. I like more the mad alchemist approach, hovering over his shop, tinkering it until it is perfect. I just know if it's off, what I need to add to make it match... a little of this and a little of that.
> 
> Color matching can be a pain but for me it is a challenge to try an recreate something original. The hardest stuff to do is the transparent stuff, and in my opinion those paint jobs look the best! You can get the richest, purest colors when using transparent paint. Opaque has some degree of white added which dulls the colors.
> 
> I have no reservations about using a bomb can (did it on my Silver King). You can get a good finish and there are a ton of colors out there. But if you're going for a show quality repro and they don't make your color in a bomb can... you gotta pay up to get the good stuff. No way around it.





*Good Stuff, Chris ..... *

Had no idea you did this kind of work.  

Thank YOU For Sharing .....

...... patric


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## Oldnut

*Paint*

Seems I'm stuck on single stage urethane.rattle cans seem fine for some but there's a durability problem with them.90% of any paint job is preparation of the under coats filler,primer sanding ect.the basecoat-clear coats make a beautiful bike no tape lines pinstripes over the base then shoot clear (with a flattening agent in the clear) pow beautiful but appearance of the textures of the paints are wrong with the basecoats the pins are glossy like the paint and there's a depth of the clear over the base to me doesn't look right. And if scratched touch ups can be seen a block away just a opinion sorry


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## spoker

if you dont have alot of experiance in shooting metalics or candies like we did in the old dazes you need to go with a base clear,when mixed the base will allow the metalic to set correctly and not move around[yes regular paint will move around till it sets up]thats where you get zebra stripes in your paint job,the paint industry came up with base clear for weight reduction and ease of application,weight affects fuel milage,watrips last painted car took 8 differant colors,paint used to be heavy,ops guess i got side tracked alittle,bottom line is if you want a nice metalic or opalesent job use base clear or find kosmosky from house of colors to paint for ya,also that ne pol clear thats out in aerosole is as close as you can get to catalized clear,just color sand and rub,buy thats a whole nother deal


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## tommydale1950

*Powder Coat*

Just got 2 estimates for strip and powder coat.

Soda blast frame and fork =150 dollars

Powder coat same gloss black =50 dollars
 I like the estimate on the powder coating , soda blasting not so much..
these prices are local with no shipping costs...Tom


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## Jkrate1985

Sounds like a lazy counter guy.    I use ppg myself and the paint reps are always a good help.  For the average bicycle a pint of base is often times enough, larger with fenders tank and rack you might want a quart to be safe.   On average I would say using automotive paint I spend right at $220 in materials (full dresser, the typhoon pictured was around $110).   However, I do also paint with rattle cans if its a low budget build.   I've tried all sorts of rattle cans and currently use rustoleum.  The trick like mentioned by others here is time.   If doing layers I wait three days at less than 60% humidity and don't spray above %40 humidity. And above 70°/below 85° ...rustoleum hates humidity and is temperamental.

Ppg dbc base/clear examples:  68° next to 0 humidity gets me glass clear every time. .. plus a bunch of other variables:

Typhoon:




Ppg base/clear




Pinstripe with Mac 000 brush and one shot enamel.  





Rustoleum example all with poofcan:











Nice product is this fine line tape. .. The vinyl blue stuff by 3 m. Not the junk white stuff it won't make corners. ...




Biggest thing is time.  If I have multiple days or weeks then poofcan rustoleum will work.   I was able to do this brownand cream for about $45 in rattle can. It's all about making sure it's cured completely before doing any top work. 



rideahiggins said:


> I went to the local PPG paint store today to see if I could get some paint matched. They said they needed a 3" x 3" sample to get the paint code from. Well theres not much on a bicycle with a 3" x 3" area. So I found some chips in the books that matched pretty close, Schwinn Coud white. I asked, how much? He said $371 a gallon, plus the hardener, plus the reducer. There was a blank stare from me and the counter guy until it sank in. Now I know it's been a while since I painted anything (6 or 7 years) but has paint really gone up that much or did the counter guy just not want to mess with my bicycle colors. Is this the average price for automotive paint now? The one color I was trying to match is the Schwinn Rose. There is a 1958 Lincoln color that is really close but he didn't have the paint codes for that anymore. He said it was too old. So where to go from here? Yes, I've seen the spray cans available but I'm not lookig for spray cans. I've searched the web and nobody is willing to reveal the secret paint code formulas.


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## bricycle

I've been spray bomb'n since I was 10-11 cicra 1967-8.


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## partsguy

I haven't painted an entire bike in a long time but I learned quickly how important the correct color of primer can be.


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## sloar

Dupli color paint shop system. Check out the website, you can get it at auto zone and oreillys. its $25 a quart. it's a lacquer paint that sets up fast, nice and hard. Tons of colors to pic from, use the primer, color and high gloss clear and you will get a very nice paint job. I have painted several high end bikes with this paint and have had wonderful results with each one.


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