Okay, so I decided to strip the frame + fork of my Trek 990 and do a 'gun blue' steel finish on the bike, with silver components. This bike is worth the time and work. It rode beautifully before, now it will look beautiful as well.
The paint already had plenty of scrapes and rust, so this will be a good chance to remove all the rust and start fresh.
This type of finish requires more maintenance than a usual paint job, but there is no way to mess it up, no such thing as 'scraping the paint', and if it needs refreshed, it will be as easy as a little steel wool, and it will be good as new.
I need to get all the way to raw steel, so I need to strip the already rough finish. At first I used 150 grit...was taking a while, then went down to something like 80 grit. Finally, I found that using a razor blade seemed to work pretty well and finished off the second half of the frame using that method. Slow going, but it worked, and no nasty chemicals.
My plan is to get it stripped down to raw steel, then use some 'Perma Blue', and then a product called 'Rust Prevention Magic', which was designed for period correct car restorations, to be used on unfinished steering/control arm components to keep them from rusting. It goes on invisible, and provides a bit of a protective shell the penetrates the pores/surface of the metal. I've got one raw bike I've used it on, and its been probably over two years since I did that bike, and the bike is nearly rust free. I don't ride it in storms and I don't live in a really humid environment, so I can get away with it. If you were to attempt something similar, YMMV.
I've done research on the clear powder coat over raw/blued steel, and what I have found out is that it has the most unbelievable, cool look...for a couple of years. Then, somehow rust finds its way underneath the powdercoat shell, and starts rusting from the inside. Therefore, I'm going with the higher maintenance finish that will be a breeze to repair.
Here was the progress today - got the frame about 80% stripped - lots of hand work. Just have to get the nooks and crannies, then finish off with 220 grit. Maybe tomorrow I will do some finish work and do the fork as well.
