Mike Mills

I tried to polish the Testor's paint last night and cut right thru, again. I wiped the surface with mineral spirits to remove the polishing compound and the paint wiped completely off. So, this paint is VERY different than last time I used it. I am looking for a paint and primer at lunch today.

GeorgePaul

I've never had a problem with Testor's enamel. Bad batch? Not mixed?

Mike Mills

Neither had I, until now. It was mixed well. I made sure it was not one of their latex enamels. I wonder if they changed their formula to make removing dried paint easier (As a kid, ever spilled your model paints?) No matter, it's just something to watch out for when using these for touch ups.

I bought some primer and gloss black Dupli-Color at the auto parts store on my way to work this morning. I also bought a small bottle with a brush applicator for the small scratches. I also received a chain guard in the mail last night which is covered in a fresh coat of primer. So, tonight I spray.

I buffed out some of the smaller scrathes that didn't cut through the color coat. The original paint is in really good shape. Overall, the bike should look great when I'm done.

I have to take some pics and post them.

Mike Mills

I sprayed last night. The Dupli-Color was great. The self-etching primer had awesome hiding power and sanded easily. The black color coat was rich, deep, very glossy and almost too black (but I'll take it). It dries quickly which is good because multiple coats are required to get full coverage. I did not use a clear coat as there is none on the frame originally, so I can't comment on that product. The paint runs easily on the curved surfaces of the bicycle tubes, so go slow and use multiple coats.

The frame looks like as good as new. You can't tell the paint was ever damaged.

Those of you who have used Dupli-Color, have you ever painted an entire frame with it? It is sold as automotive repair paint, so I'd expect it to be very fit for bicycles, too. It seems to me, you could paint a frame with this paint and get excellent results. Am I mistaken? How durable is this paint? Does it fade in the sunlight? Does it chip too easily?

Overall, Mikey likes it.

Ex Pres 

Dupli-Color is good, but is not going to resist chipping, etc. as well as a two-paint paint.
You will need to wait longer before putting it to the test, like 30 days for full hardening, unless you put some heat to it to speed up the curing process. I use a quartz ceramic heater. During the summer an attic can be a good substitute oven.

Grand Bois

If you used their lacquer paint, you couldn't have made a worse choice. Lacquer is not durable. Check the label.

Mike Mills

I believe I bought the acrylic enamel, although I will double check when I get home.

Mike Mills

Chipping - I painted only a small section near the bottom bracket where the kick stand damaged the old paint. It is in an area that gets dirty but is fairly well protected from impacts.

What is the brand name for the two-part paint? If this does not work I can strip it and try again.

Curing - I was judiciously using a heat gun on the area after painting. I do have a quart-halogen lamp I can use to warm the area. That's a good idea, I'll run that tonight to ensure the paint is reasonably well cured before I start the build. Parts should be in this week, so this weekend will be most of build.

-holiday76

is this thread about hubs or paint? I'm confused.

noglider 

It's Mike's building-my-bike blog.

Mike Mills

I got the pedals, and saddle last night. They're on the bike and look great, as are the toe clips and those rear-edge pedal flipper deedliebobs.

I forgot to order new straps, so those are now on their way to me. The ones I had are rather worn out and are being used for other purposes, anyway.

There's a set of VO stainless steel fenders in transit to me.

The paint looks great. It may not last but I am going to just go with it for right now. If it craps out, I'll fix it. I'll have a good reason to fix it, too.

I'm also painting the chain guard but this is not yet ready. It's getting a complete paint job not just scratch repair. I may clear coat that when done.

I just got a notice that my rear wheel parts are to be delivered tomorrow. That's great. I can build the wheel over the weekend. The bike needs on a rear wheel to be rideable. Right now, it's totally unrideable, as there's no rear wheel - the old freewheel equipped wheel was disassembled last weekend.

I swear, I'll post some pics, soon.

I'm looking forward to that first ride,... a lot.

Mike Mills

So, if any of you are still with me, I have another question.

I want to mount a chain guard on the bike. Because the bike did not poriginally come with a chain guard, there are no OEM mounting brackets for one. Should I fabricate my own custom brackets, or does someone sell a set of brackets that are really well done?

noglider 

I think VO makes a set. Or they are probably available somewhere. Maybe Wald makes them.

And yes, I'm reading this with interest!

Andrew F

Mike...just one picture....even a testors paint blob......anything

( no internet copy and paste jobs....real pictures of real progress )

Mike Mills

Soon,... very soon,... tonight.

Andrew F

T minus 60 and counting

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Mike's trolling us, there is no bike.

Fasteryoufool

Interesting. I have a tigged MTB that is 27 years old. So it's just vintage? Or is it merely old?

sykerocker 

Yes, I've done a bike from scratch with DupliColor



My '64 Raleigh Gran Sport redone to copy a '48 BSA I saw at Westminster this past February.

I'm happy with the results, it seems to hold up well regarding chipping. Now for the bad news: To get this result, the frame was painted in the spring of '09, then hung in my attic for the next nine months. The summer temperatures get up to about 120F. If you don't have access to a baking oven, you're looking at doing it the long, slow way.

Mike Mills

It's a work in progress. This is an overview of the bike as it sits tonight - obviously missing it's rear IGH wheel. As I said above, teh wheel parts will be here tomorrow. The fenders arrive next week, during the week.

As you can see, the bars and grips and levers look very mountain bike-ish and I don't want that look, so I'm reviewing my options there. I have some other flat bars and levers in a box. That'll be where I check first.



Here is a close up of the rear stays that used to be scratched to smithereens from a poorly mounted kick stand. I bought some clear coat (for use on the chain guard) and I may overcoat this area.

The crank is the stock a triple which I planned to use with only one ring. I put all the chainring mounting hardware back in its proper place, absent the rings, themselves, of course, so I don't lose them. It looks anything but "clean", however, I'm going one step at a time.




Here is a pedal with the little tip-up clip attached to the rear.

Andrew F

^^^^^^^^^And we have lift lift off^^^^^^^^^^

-holiday76

OH OH!!
That's exactly what was thinking of doing with my '68 Carlton Flyer. Do you have details somewhere you can link to so I don't have to hijack this thread?

sykerocker 

Unfortunately no. I'll PM you later today with all the details.

Mike Mills

Feel free to hijack this thread with lots of great looking bikes like that one.

What are the rims/tires? Are those black cork grips on the bars?

sykerocker 

Mike,

Thanks. It'll probably be a bit simpler to just put the knowledge out in general.

The frame is a '64 Raleigh Gran Sport. Actually, the bicycle that got me back into cycling after a 28 year absence, and this is it's third incarnation. I picked up the bike for $3.00 (it was in real rough shape and dented from being backed into in a garage) at a vintage motorcycle show my British M/C club was doing, mainly to get around the large exhibition field with the intent of tossing it out at the end of the day. Well, the rest is history.

Building the bike was a really odd, unplanned act, if anything the opposite of the OP's way of going about things. After riding it as my only bike to get back into shape, then converting it into a fendered tourer, I retired the frame after being given a Magneet that has been my tourer for the past four years. Winter of 08/09 I decided to try and do a GOOD rattlecan paint job, plus replace the fork since the original had been dented completely out of shape. It worked out nicely, but as rattlecan jobs usually go, it started chipping. I got disgusted, took it apart and stored it in the attic for the entire spring and summer seasons of 09. I didn't have the heart to throw it out since it got me back into the sport.

At the Westminster swap meet this past February, I completely fell in love with a fendered, 531-tubed, single speed BSA that was way out of my price range. Decided I wanted to build something just like it. Originally thought of using a UO-8 frame I was painting, then went up to the attic to look at the Raleigh. To my amazement, I'd managed to bake the frame to the point where the paint was a lot more durable, and suddenly the frame was useful again.

The pictured crankset is a 52 tooth outer ring originally on the Magneet, since replaced by a 44 tooth AMF Hercules crank. Freewheel is a 22, going to up that to a 18 sometime in the future. Getting the gearing down made a world of difference.

The wheels are absolutely mundane: The Magneet hubs ($90 pre-bike boom 10 speed three piece steel hubs with wingnuts) are laced to Nashbar 27x1-1/4" rims (the only modern part on the bike) and Kenda gumwalls. When I finally can find a 36 hole Sturmey AW hub (I've got a couple of 40 hole ones on the shelf), I'll pick up a third Nashbar rim and make an extra rear wheel.

Stem is the original GB from the Gran Sport, bars are steel track bars, brakes are DiaCompe sidepulls, and the levers are something generic that looked old enough. Oh yeah, the grips are cheap foam - and I'm looking for something better. Saddle is a Czech Favorit.

The bike was originally built with the intentions of keeping it at work as a lunchtime errand runner, but due to my wife's condition I now work out of my home, so it doesn't get ridden quite as much as I planned. As an urban bike, it's totally style over practicality. The track bars give very little space at the top for my normal riding position, and I have to watch traffic carefully because I'm forced to go to the drops to get to the brakes. Just the same, I love the damned bike.

It's going to be getting the Blumel fenders of my SSFG (the 'No Dead Kittens' bike), as I plan on selling the latter at Westminster this winter. Then hopefully the three-speed rear wheel, and I've got a Cyclo 3-speed rear cog and Huret Jubilee derailleur lying in wait. Back in the 70's, I rode a Raleigh Sports and later a Twenty with this same kind of setup, and still have good memories of the drivetrain.