Ugh, road paint all over the Paletti!
 

So while getting ready to take out the PDG Paramount today I noticed white paint all over the bottom of my saddle bag. I was like WTF?? :foo: The I realized the last bike I had this bag on was my beautiful Paletti. Went over to check it and found paint splattered all over the frame!!!!!!!

Of all the bikes to have this happen too, why the Paletti? :cry:

https://pbase.com/jhuddle/image/169952400.jpg


I guess somewhere the other day they must have been painting the white lines on the road and I must have gotten into it. Bad news is it's been on there nine days now. Was off the bike due to a problem with a tooth extraction so I didn't see it sooner. Seems to be adhered pretty well but there just has to be a away to remove it without damaging the finish on this bike.

I'd love to hear everyone's suggestions before I start in on this. The bike did have a coat of carnauba wax so maybe that'll save this from being permanent.

Man I am still so ticked about this. :mad:

I finally get my hands on a bike that is a true work or art and this happens. If I had saw them painting or even a sign warning about it I would have made sure to stay off the lines.

Bummer! Ride the anger out till it cools then think with a clear head. I believe the wax job will be the saving grace.

hoping for the best!

Seriously, I had this happen with yellow paint on a red frame. At least it was a complimentary color.

Let it dry and try a fingernail or a light touch with a "Magic Eraser".

Try Goo Gone. Don't rub too hard. It might just come off without harming the bike's paint.

I'm a bike frame painter and what I would suggest are the cleaners that auto paint stores sell to prep paint in-between coats before the final clears go on. They are the mildest type of petroleum based cleaners and are designed not to mess up paint. These types of cleaners are sold under a variety of brand names. Just ask for a paint prep cleaner.

Paints are drying oils, so think in terms of how to soften them. A hair dryer will heat the paint spots enough to remove them, but it will take some time. Try the heat method first and use your thumb nails to remove each spot. Smiles, MH

It might come off with a fingernail, or other simple means. Paint adhesion is all about prep. That beautiful paint job isn't necessarily a good base for the road paint to stick to.

I once removed some spray touch-up spots on a frame with Citristrip from Home Depot. It did not attack the original paint underneath. Small dabs right over the little spots, and it worked.

Best of luck. That bike is so hot!

Back when I was a finish painter for for a contractor who specialized in high profile custom home interiors, I often had to chance down scuffs on trim and cabinets left by other other types of construction workers. They’d bump in to our fine enamel work and often leave a mark of dirt or some other form of color transfer. If the stuff wasn’t accompanied by a paint chip or a dent, I could often repair the area with a small bit of Soft Scrub in a soft rag. Going over the scuff using light pressure in a a circular motion, followed by wiping with a clean wet rag would restore the “damaged “area.”

Its possible Soft Scrub might work in your situation. If you have some handy, you might try it on an inconspicuous section of your frame.

I would not use an abrasive. I'm with Doug, an auto supply "bug and tar remover" is the first thing I'd try if a wet rag doesn't work.

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA

...depends a lot on what the frame was painted with initially. If that's one of those 80's pearlescent frame paint schemes, the pearl coat is often pretty fragile. I think those might have been painted with a lacquer (at least the ones I've worked on.) But the pearl lacquer over a base color is not all that hard to repair, if you damage it. Just try not to damage it, and as suggested already, start with your least aggressive cleaner, and work from there. I, too, would not use anything with an abrasive in it. Not even a very mild abrasive paste.

I just finished repairing the paint on a pearl white Cinelli. That one came out pretty well with a shell white (Rustoleum) for the color coat in places where it was damaged or gone, and a paint they sell in small cans in hobby shops called "White Lightning". It's a transparent pearl gloss lacquer, so you need to be careful not to lift what's underneath. Experiment on something else, like a piece of conduit or an old steel seat tube if you need to do something like this. If you had a good wax coat on there, the stuff should flake right off with little or no damage to the finish.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I did do a hard 32 miles fighting the winds of an incoming cold front right after finding this so I worked off the anger.

I'm dealing with a health issue that's kept me off my CPAP for 9 days now. I need to get some real sleep before I try to tackle this. The paint on the components was coming off with just a fingernail but the stuff on the paint seemed better adhered. I gently tackle this once I'm properly rested and clear of head. I do know quick detailer wax cuts bugs and tar off my car easily so that may be the first thing I try.

Oh and before this was built up I did luck out and found a paint this is pretty much a perfect match for this.

Anyway keep the suggestions coming and I do appreciate the ideas. This is a first for me.

Try Goof-off also
 

As long as the finish is factory painted, a little goof off will get the white paint off without harming the original paint. I use it on factory bicycle and auto paint to take off scuffs and paint-rub from parking lot losers. Never had a problem.

No one suggested the auto detailer's favorite for overspray, a clay bar. It won't hurt the finish if used correctly, and it's aggressive enough to pull off improperly adhered paint drips from clearcoat.

Try olive oil.

Had something similar on my Koga. Try some cleaning alcohol first. Mine came off with some extra rubbing using a car polish. Works well on plastic too.

James,
I would want to check to see if the paint that splattered on your bike has any "abrasive" in it..often times "line" stripping paint has reflective particles that can be abrasive in it in order to make the lines glow in the dark.
Try shinning a light on it while the bike is in the dark...if the speckles glow it contains a grit and may scratch the paint if you are not careful when trying to remove it...light rubbing with liquid of choice while folding the rag with every swipe.
Best, Ben

@Unca_Sam....

i'm glad i ran across this...i think

i picked up a bontrager privateer fairly recently that has obvious white over spray on much of the bike. it's not thick on there....just a haze. it's very likely been on the frame and parts a long time, though. do you think a clay bar would still work? i've never heard of one of those

@thook

I recently picked up my own used frame with obvious overspray on the left side chainstay. I watched a couple of YouTube videos about removing overspray without rubbing compound and BAM! I'm an expert on using a clay bar!

J/k but auto detailers use them to perfect the finish on show cars. The logic behind it is simple enough, and a few tutorials will help you learn too. I think the key is using a lubricant on the finish (like soapy water) , and using a clean section of clay to avoid dragging contaminants across the finish and scratching it up.

Overspray is essentially a paint job on an unprepared surface, so the overspray can't hold onto the top coat as well as the top coat holds onto a scuffed undercoat.

jamesdak,
Back in 1970 we were all buying Dodge Super Bee's and the six pack was the car of choice, they only made 500 of them, but we all tried different things to set our car apart from the rest. A buddy decided to use a lace pattern paint on the top like the vinyl tops. We waxed it down and then painted a black paint on top of the car like we wanted it. We found out that we could just use normal cleaner wax to remove the top coat of paint, with no damage. I would try the waxing thing before any other process, and then mild heat on the over-paint as I have suggested before. Or even with the cleaner wax with some mild heat. HTH, MH

well, thank you for taking the time to explain a bit. i did do some brief reading about using one this afternoon. i don't really have time to clean the bike right now, but i do have time to research on how to until then. if it's still important enough after winter, perhaps i'll get to it....or just live with it...haha

this is one time that I DON'T want to see pics. I'm going to pretend it didn't happen and it still looks like the first round of pics

is this some sort of creepy Halloween prank?

Ok, so to update on what is actually working on this. I've been going over it section by section this morning.

First I'd spray the area with some Mequiars Quick Wax as lubricant. Then I took Lysol wipes and started working using my fingernail to break the paint specs loose. It's working well without scratching anything. The hardest part seems to be getting all the now loose specs off the frame. A nappy rag seems to push them around more than pick them up. Same for a wet rag. So I'm going to gently use a clay bar to get all the loose stuff off. The painted surfaces and chrome surfaces are cleaning quite well. Some of the paint on the components seem to be adhered quite well. Once the frame is all cleaned up I'll finally finish this bike up properly. Have some beautiful, and light, WI/Fusion Velocity silver wheels to go on it. They weighed exactly the same as my latest set of Zonda's but silver will look so much better on this than the black rimmed Zonda's. I've also got a beautiful Campagnolo Aero style seatpost that is more fitting than the Thomson for this bike. I'll post up some pics once I get it all done.

Glad to hear it's cleaning up. Can't wait to see it with the component changes.

Personally, I would use goof off as a last resort as I have seen it affect paint surfaces

ymmv

Well, it's pretty much back to normal. Maybe a speck or two of paint I've missed. Well, not counting the paint all over the tires, LOL!

Here's a quick shot with the new wheels and seatpost.

https://pbase.com/jhuddle/image/170017073.jpg