# frame repainting tips



## tigaro

Hi everyone, 

I want to restore my bike. Surely, repainting the whole frame. What tips can you give me regarding this project. I want to know everything, especially if you made any mistakes. Please, share your repainting experience. 

PS: I haven’t purchased any tools and paint yet.


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## rustjunkie

Welcome to The CABE! 
There's lots of info on this topic here already, check this:

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=1961541

Here's a link that will help with searching here too:

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?73487-Using-the-Search-function-to-Find-Threads


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## bricycle

Welcome!


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## tigaro

Rustjunkie, 
I could not open the thread because the first link is not working.  Thanks for the instruction to search the info on forum. 

I will try to ask people here about the paint https://www.mrosupply.com/paint-painting-supplies/spray-paint/1386190_k07904000_krylon/ Can it be applied for the bike frame repainting? What will be your thoughts?


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## rustjunkie

Sorry about that, here are some links that should work:

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?3816-Bike-Painting-101&highlight=painting

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...-bicycle-using-a-spray-gun&highlight=painting

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...nting-it-Myself-Any-Advice&highlight=painting

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...lk-about-HVLP-mini-spray-guns&highlight=spray


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## spoker

an option http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/bik/5319535173.html


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## bikecrazy

Don't paint over old paint. Prep is everything.


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## momo608

tigaro said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I want to restore my bike. Surely, repainting the whole frame. What tips can you give me regarding this project. I want to know everything, especially if you made any mistakes. Please, share your repainting experience.
> 
> PS: I haven’t purchased any tools and paint yet.




I assume you mean professionally and not spray cans. Modern high quality paint jobs even those duplicating factory bike colors are done with urethane's, typically base coat clear coat systems. Using these paints on bike frames is no different than painting cars. The only difference is small touch up guns are used instead of full size spray guns. I recommend that you buy a couple of how too books on the subject and you will be far better served. On public forums you don't know if the claims of personal experience are even true and that can lead you down a path of costly mistakes and disappointment. Good luck!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...int+cars.TRS0&_nkw=how+to+paint+cars&_sacat=0


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## WetDogGraphix

tigaro said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I want to restore my bike. Surely, repainting the whole frame. What tips can you give me regarding this project. I want to know everything, especially if you made any mistakes. Please, share your repainting experience.
> 
> PS: I haven’t purchased any tools and paint yet.




Being your first post, more info is needed. What bike do you want to paint? Any experience in any type of painting? 
This is an open ended question as you can see if you read thru the threads that Rustjunkie posted. Give some more info please.


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## WetDogGraphix

momo608 said:


> I assume you mean professionally and not spray cans. Modern high quality paint jobs even those duplicating factory bike colors are done with urethane's, typically base coat clear coat systems. Using these paints on bike frames is no different than painting cars. The only difference is small touch up guns are used instead of full size spray guns. I recommend that you buy a couple of how too books on the subject and you will be far better served. On public forums you don't know if the claims of personal experience are even true and that can lead you down a path of costly mistakes and disappointment. Good luck!
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xhow+to+paint+cars.TRS0&_nkw=how+to+paint+cars&_sacat=0




I do agree that reading up on this subject is always good. I've read a lot of those. But I have to ask about your comment on base coat/clear coats are the only way? Reading on the subject doesn't help until you pick up that spray gun the first time and spray.....no matter what paint media you are you are using. There is nothing like spraying and watching that run start........


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## WetDogGraphix

rustjunkie said:


> Sorry about that, here are some links that should work:
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?3816-Bike-Painting-101&highlight=painting
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...-bicycle-using-a-spray-gun&highlight=painting
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...nting-it-Myself-Any-Advice&highlight=painting
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...lk-about-HVLP-mini-spray-guns&highlight=spray




Thanks for posting these, very interesting. Haven't seen them before. The one that caught my attention was the last one on spray guns, HVLP vs siphon, enamels, acrylic enamels, urethane's, Lacquers. So much misinformation on this one. I think I am going to start a thread here called "Painting: Tips, tricks, methods, & ......mishaps".


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## momo608

WetDogGraphix said:


> I do agree that reading up on this subject is always good. I've read a lot of those. But I have to ask about your comment on base coat/clear coats are the only way? Reading on the subject doesn't help until you pick up that spray gun the first time and spray.....no matter what paint media you are you are using. There is nothing like spraying and watching that run start........




"only"? I said typically, there is a difference. Use what you like but the best bicycle restoration shops like Waterford and Cycleart use urethane base coat clear coat systems for a reason. There is nothing better and unlike powder coating with its very limited color choices, it can be done in a home garage or basement with a crude ventilation system. I also never said a book would give a person the experience of actually doing the painting with a spray gun but the proper use of the spray gun would be covered in any decent how to book. One would assume professional experienced painters were used in the creation of a how to book on painting. Of course painting surface preparation would also be covered in great detail along with trouble shooting once the paint starts going on. Rock solid advice for any beginner.


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## momo608

All this talk about beginners made me do a little reminiscing about my start. I pulled out a photo album I haven't looked at in many years. Here is me a young punk at 20 years old in 1980 with my first paint job on a car and the garage I did it in. I'm not a genius or anything but I have more determination than most. My cousin went to auto body school and he painted cars for friends and himself. I did ask him to paint my Vette for me but he could not have been less interested in what I was up to, but he did let me stand around while he prepped and painted a car in his garage and I thought I can do this. After a lot of begging, my cousin did let me borrow his Binks model 7 spray gun, he spoke about this gun as if it was sent from heaven. I did read some books on fiberglass repair but nothing on paint. I already bought this theft recovery 69 Corvette and got to work. Sanding, priming minor fiberglass repairs and of course all the mechanical work. I sold a 69 Camaro I had to buy the blower. It came out pretty good but I did spend most of the summer and fall doing spot repairs because of sanding scratches that you could see in the finished paint that I missed. You could do easy touch ups with lacquer paint. I was so dumb that I did the entire paint job without a respirator, a paper mask was good enough for me, and so I was on my hands and knees in the backyard throwing up or dry heaving in a delirious haze between coats. Once you start a paint job you don't stop, at least that was my attitude. Finished the job, closed the garage door and slept 18 hours. All the paint materials cost less than $200 in 1979, how times have changed. Oh yeah, the flames came a later.


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## rustjunkie

[video=youtube;4W9pmT6JTO4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W9pmT6JTO4[/video]


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## WetDogGraphix

momo608 said:


> "only"? I said typically, there is a difference. Use what you like but the best bicycle restoration shops like Waterford and Cycleart use urethane base coat clear coat systems for a reason. There is nothing better and unlike powder coating with its very limited color choices, it can be done in a home garage or basement with a crude ventilation system. I also never said a book would give a person the experience of actually doing the painting with a spray gun but the proper use of the spray gun would be covered in any decent how to book. One would assume professional experienced painters were used in the creation of a how to book on painting. Of course painting surface preparation would also be covered in great detail along with trouble shooting once the paint starts going on. Rock solid advice for any beginner.




Sorry, misread it. 
The books would help, to a degree, but experience  is the best teacher. Most beginners, in my opinion, start with projects  that are too large for their skill level. Start on small items first  until you understand air temp and thinner speeds, mixing ratios, spray  gun characteristics. It's easier to figure out & fix problems on the  small projects than it is to paint a car on your first time spraying.  One of the biggest mistakes beginners and inexperienced painters do is  to spray coats on way to heavy because it seems to please their eye.  There is nothing worse than seeing that first run start, and there is  nothing you can do about it. I have nightmare stories about that when I  first started. 
It's good advice to read up on it, then practice,  practice. The other is prep, prep, and more prep. You need a good base  for the color to go on, if you don't, you will see it.


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## momo608

it's like i'm writing in Chinese




BTW, don't let up votes go to your head. Anything in opposition to my comments are good for at least a couple. I once said most of the advice here is full of it and that did not win me any friends. Good thing I like to read my own comments but other than that, I'm not sure why I bother. I guess I just like old bikes.


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## the tinker

Yeah, like the man says" On personal forums you don't even know if peoples claims are true....."
One thing I know that's true is you have to wear proper protective clothing when painting and ALWAYS wear a mask. I am amazed at how many photos I see of guys painting or sanding without lung  protection.
  " If you can even smell a whiff of it........ IT IS DAMAGING YOUR LUNGS. 
The same goes for much of our household cleaners and the chemicals we use to remove paint  and rust.
Some  of the products we routinely use, recommended here on the CABE on our "backyard" projects are extremely hazardous to our health . Either through skin absorption or our lungs.
   This is a photo of myself getting ready to paint a bike......


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## momo608

Going Jihad on old paint. They actually did and probably still do have gas masks for dogs, no offence intended! They sell disposable paint overalls for like $8. I got tired of sticky arms and hair and started using them not that long ago. If these chemicals kill over time, I'm a walking dead man. I have my hands and lungs into something nasty just about everyday.


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## WetDogGraphix

momo608 said:


> it's like i'm writing in Chinese
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, don't let up votes go to your head. Anything in opposition to my comments are good for at least a couple. I once said most of the advice here is full of it and that did not win me any friends. Good thing I like to read my own comments but other than that, I'm not sure why I bother. I guess I just like old bikes.




[FONT=&quot]  [/FONT]
  Not sure if you're talking to me. I said I misread your comment and I really never said I disagreed with anything you said. I should have just responded to your post with the first sentence only, and make the second part a response to the original poster as a tip. I was just passing on info that I know I did when I first started painting in 1972. Painting is not my profession, it a hobby for me and has been for 45years. I have made some money from it. I would never criticize anyone who paints nor anyone just starting out, just sharing my experience. If you take my comments wrong, they were not intended that way. I paint one way, you another.


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## dougfisk

momo608 said:


> ...You could do easy touch ups with lacquer paint. I was so dumb that I did the entire paint job without a respirator, a paper mask was good enough for me, and so I was on my hands and knees in the backyard throwing up or dry heaving in a delirious haze between coats. Once you start a paint job you don't stop, at least that was my attitude. Finished the job, closed the garage door and slept 18 hours....






momo608 said:


> ...If these chemicals kill over time, I'm a walking dead man. I have my hands and lungs into something nasty just about everyday.




momo - Interesting about your physical reactions to the paint fumes.  I too was an enthusiastic young car painter from about '69 to '79.  I used acrylic lacquer exclusively, and usually with no mask or respirator.  The only reactions I ever had from the fumes were a headache and a general malaise....


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## dougfisk

momo608 said:


> ...I once said most of the advice here is full of it and that did not win me any friends....




There is a kernel of truth in this statement.  Much advice, given on many forums including this one, is just plain wrong.


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## WetDogGraphix

dougfisk said:


> momo - Interesting about your physical reactions to the paint fumes.  I too was an enthusiastic young car painter from about '69 to '79.  I used acrylic lacquer exclusively, and usually with no mask or respirator.  The only reactions I ever had from the fumes were a headache and a general malaise....





I never got sick, but the reactions you mentioned did happen to me.....


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## momo608

dougfisk said:


> momo - Interesting about your physical reactions to the paint fumes.  I too was an enthusiastic young car painter from about '69 to '79.  I used acrylic lacquer exclusively, and usually with no mask or respirator.  The only reactions I ever had from the fumes were a headache and a general malaise....




My ventilation system consisted of a box fan and cardboard sealing the back door in the garage. I did not make any provision for air intake, figured it would find its way in from leaks in the rest of the garage I guess, truth is I don't remember thinking about it. I remember the fumes and over spray being so bad that I could not see to paint. I lived through it, learned a lot, got the car done reasonably well and have an interesting story to tell. A headache and general malaise is what I had the day after. The next paint job went a lot better.


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## Balloonoob

rustjunkie said:


> Welcome to The CABE!
> There's lots of info on this topic here already, check this:
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=1961541
> 
> Here's a link that will help with searching here too:
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?73487-Using-the-Search-function-to-Find-Threads



Hmmm. Both of these links take me to the homepage.


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## Balloonoob

rustjunkie said:


> Sorry about that, here are some links that should work:
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?3816-Bike-Painting-101&highlight=painting
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...-bicycle-using-a-spray-gun&highlight=painting
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...nting-it-Myself-Any-Advice&highlight=painting
> 
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...lk-about-HVLP-mini-spray-guns&highlight=spray



Oh never mind.


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## GTs58

Balloonoob said:


> Hmmm. Both of these links take me to the homepage.




Yep, that sure happens a lot. More times than not.


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## Balloonoob

GTs58 said:


> Yep, that sure happens a lot. More times than not.



Funny you should immediately respond. I could have sworn you had provided some helpful tips on how to paint a bike back in March on debo's thread.  I have a bare metal motobike frame that needs paint.  I'm going with ivory and dark blue two tone with standard simple arrows. I have primer and will not be using clear coat. Do you have a good thread to read? How long to wait after cleaning with alcohol ? After primer? After ivory front coats so that tape doesn't take paint with it? Thanks.


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## GTs58

Balloonoob said:


> Funny you should immediately respond. I could have sworn you had provided some helpful tips on how to paint a bike back in March on debo's thread.  I have a bare metal motobike frame that needs paint.  I'm going with ivory and dark blue two tone with standard simple arrows. I have primer and will not be using clear coat. Do you have a good thread to read? How long to wait after cleaning with alcohol ? After primer? After ivory front coats so that tape doesn't take paint with it? Thanks.



This thread is a few years old so maybe for some reason that's why the links don't work. I tried to copy and paste the link but still no go. Would be nice to see what's in those links though.
I think I mentioned alcohol when gently cleaning the old screening on a chain guard before shooting it with a clear coat to preserve it. You can shoot the paint almost immediately after wiping it down with alcohol. I do not have a how to paint thread here. The last time I posted stuff like that was on the SBF a few years back. The best thing to do is read up on painting, know your paint and practice on a few beaters if you have never painted or painted a bike before. I painted my first bike when I was 13 and it wasn't no Krylon job, it was with Schwinn's Flamboyant Lime Lacquer over their Aluminum base. With lacquer there is no limit on recoat time so you could do a complete prime, base and candy coat in a day with light sanding in between. Knowing your paint is a key factor so after reading up on the do's and don'ts and how to, get some practice with the type of paint you'll be shooting. Also, painting with a rattle can is a whole different experience than shooting paint with a gun.


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## Balloonoob

Thanks for your response. My neighbor is trying to talk me into going the painting with a gun route but I don't do it enough to justify buying everything I would need.  I'll probably end up repainting the bike in 5 years which is fine for me. It's gonna get scratches and dings and i can't help that. I've painted a bike earlier this year but it was all black which is easier than two tone.  Did it in a day.  I'm thinking prep primer and ivory can get done today.... Let it dry for a day or two then lay out the arrows with tape and finish with dark blue tomorrow or the next day. This bike has probably waited 85 years to get a new paint job and here I'm pretty much rushing to get it done in 2 days but that's the way it is. At this point I just need to get something on it before it starts rusting. Not going for perfect or even really nice.... Just good.   Just don't want it to look like absolute crap.


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## Mr. Monkeyarms

Just be sure to read the can of paint for drying time. From past experience, waiting a week or so will help keep from pulling paint when masking if using spray paint. Make sure the chemicals have flashed. Also, leave in the sun to bake the paint after shooting color. Seems to help make paint hard. I have some ivory appliance paint that has worked really well with these practices.


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## Balloonoob

Mr. Monkeyarms said:


> Just be sure to read the can of paint for drying time. From past experience, waiting a week or so will help keep from pulling paint when masking if using spray paint. Make sure the chemicals have flashed. Also, leave in the sun to bake the paint after shooting color. Seems to help make paint hard. I have some ivory appliance paint that has worked really well with these practices.View attachment 1050276



Thanks man. Priming now. Will hit ivory a couple hours later. Yeah I will need to wait a week before masking and hitting with blue. Unfortunately I'm painting in the shade. Might need to move it to dry.


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## Mr. Monkeyarms

I set mine in the sun to heat up while getting ready to shoot paint as well as leaving in the sun to cure. Has worked well for me in the past and helps reduce the chance of runs, drips and errors. Just take a deep breath and proceed slowly. No need to rush...


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## GTs58

Mr. Monkeyarms said:


> *I set mine in the sun to heat up while getting ready to shoot paint *as well as leaving in the sun to cure. Has worked well for me in the past and helps reduce the chance of runs, drips and errors. Just take a deep breath and proceed slowly. No need to rush...




You do that in these parts if you want something other than a smooth finish. Having the metal too hot can cause all kinds of issues with the paint like flash drying as soon as the paint hits the metal.


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## Balloonoob

I probably woulda burned my hand if i left it in the Phoenix heat for 2 hours at noon.  It seemed to turn out ok up here in the high desert.


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## Mr. Monkeyarms

GTs58 said:


> You do that in these parts if you want something other than a smooth finish. Having the metal too hot can cause all kinds of issues with the paint like flash drying as soon as the paint hits the metal.




I did have that issue once when I left a frame in the sun for a few hours before spraying on a really hot day. Thanks for reminding me.


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