Bottomfeeder

Hey Guys and Gals;

So I found a powder coater who will sandblast and coat my frame and fork for $95 - providing I'm willing to settle on a stock color and leave it with her for a couple weeks so she can prep it up with another project, most likely a set of car wheels. I've been shopping around and this seems like a good price in L.A., where A LOT of shops won't even set up a color for less than $200.

Now it's a nice, brazed frame from the 80's, and I'd like to paint the steering head tube and perhaps the seat tube a contrasting color. Do any of you know if it's cool to lightly sand the powdercoat, then mask and spray some rattle can car wheel color over it? I don't really want to spring for a two tone paint job on a bike I paid $100 for.

Thanks. DanO

pschirm

Yes, powdercoat will never come out perfectly smooth, no matter how good you are. A lot of people use wet sanding to get rid of the orange peel. Sanding the powdercoat down to add another color on top would be the best way to create the best surface for the paint to adhere to.

vpiuva

PM Dr Deltron for a definitive answer

Cynikal 

Powdercoating makes a great painting surface. I will be doing a similar paint/powdercoat job here soon.

mozgj

I think some powdercoaters are good enough. I've got a recently powdercoated frame that looks almost perfect without any additional polishing (also, it cost me $30. Lol, labor is cheap here)
It's hard to judge smoothness by a photo, but here it is

old and new

Powder coating is a cheapo way to coat (paint ) a frame,it's tough inthat it can get damaged and still look OK,It never looks much better than OK when new anyway,that's kinda the point of it.It CAN be schlocked-over with an OK to fairly good paint job later,another virtue.Powdercoat is NEVER a pretty job to begin with.

TallRider

I'm liking the way that you built up that bike.
My Centurion is powdercoated and on the whole is quite smooth, lots of pictures on my webspace (linked from here). Still had some slight gaps and bubbles, and a couple of tiny egshell-ish bumps.
Again, would be easy enough to wet-sand just the parts you want to repaint and leave the rest glossly.

aroundoz

I would like to hear the definitive answer if you can spray paint over a powder coat. I would think if you could, Spectum Powder Works wouldn't go to so much trouble to do fades only using powdercoating. Check out their sight. https://www.spectrumpowderworks.com/spwtech.php.

My wifes $100 powder coat turned out great and almost looks like an enamel paint job. There was very little if any orange peel. The main drawback to powder coating is it's hard to maintain a uniform thickness over the frame and a little heavier than enamel if that matters to you. Having said that, I would rather have a nice single color bike that's hard to chip instead of flashy enamel bike that is. Powdercoating is also easier on the environment.

old and new

THAT IS ONE FINE LOOKING PAINT JOB,perfct color blue, VERY impressive,THANKS,I know what I ought to expect IF..if my bike would look HALF that good,Ill be happy

dck

I did red lacquer over black powdercoat after wetsanding the areas I wanted red.

TallRider

Yeah, it's really beautiful, I'm quite pleased with it. Thanks for the compliments - I'll forward them to Atlantic Industrial Finishing in Creedmoor, NC, which did the job for $90. There were a few air-bubble spots, and they got some excess paint on the BB threads, but on the whole they did do a good job. And the color is a beautifully saturated hue.

aroundoz

DCK, that looks great. I guess that would be a definitive answer in that it does work. Obviously not your first time?? Curious how the red paint has held up and do you have to be careful with it or does it stick as well as if it were not over powdercoat.

Here are a couple copies of my wifes bike. Looks like the same color as timcupery's.

Bottomfeeder

Nice DCK. I'm considering something similar... but starting with a dark steel base and then adding a silver head tube and possibly seat tube as well... maybe a little white pinstriping inbetween.

What kind of laquer did you use and how has it held up?

I was considering some of the enamel wheel paints available at autor stores - which I would imagine are as tough as they come out of a rattle can, considering their intended use.

DanO

dck

The lacquer is "Model Master" by Testor. I bought it at the hobby shop. It comes in small rattlecans. I guess it's usually used for modelbuilding, but the color came closest to the original Motobecane red. I also considered using Krylon Epoxy Enamel, but the color wasn't right. The lacquer has held up extremely well. I think it's a harder finish than enamel.

Bottomfeeder

Duly noted. I might have to spray an old fork with a couple samples so I can let 'em dry and do a little bash testing. Oh oh. There goes the budget.

DanO

Deanster04

I had Spectrum powdercoat 1/2 of my Ti frame. The Job they did was fantastic. It looked everybit as good as an enamel paint job. They specialize in bikes not automotive parts. More $ but they do work to warrant the price.

Dr.Deltron

NICE MotoB there dck!

And yes, laquer is harder than enamel. But that's what makes it brittle & chip easily when used to paint bike frames. But then powdercoat is laquer powder, which makes it a great base for automotive basecoat colors and clears. Or rattle can laquer.

So, after reading this thread I will have to ammend my previous "anti-laquer on bikes" theory, and include using laquer for accent colors over a powdercoat base.

Thanks for that illustrative insight there, dck!

Did I mention that you have a stunning MotoB? It's Bee Yoo Tee Ful!

Bottomfeeder

I want to thank everyone again for all the advice and personal experience. I'm jazzed. I'm anxious to get the project moving forward again. I just might try and fold the powdercoating into the house rehab fund.

DanO

PS; Once the frame is drying... get ready to help me with my first wheel building project. My wife went and bought me a wheel truing stand for Christmas, so my back is against the wall on that one.

dck

Comming from the Dr. I take that as a real compliment. Gotta give mswantak credit for the decals though.

Thanks!

travisthomas

I don't have any pictures, but my roommate just had her bike powdercoated, Old Ford Blue, I think, a little darker than the blue bike above. She got it done on the cheap because a friend does body work. She used an angle grinder to remove brazed-on housing guides and stops (she's building it fixie), and he used filler to make it flat. He dropped it off a couple days ago-- it's beautiful, without any bubbles that I noticed, a nice rich color... I'm pretty jealous of her right now.

dck, did you do the detail work? very nice!

dck

Yes.

I had the frame powdercoated in gloss black at a local shop. The powdercoater masked the chrome and sandblasted the frame prior to coating. To do the red lacquer I masked the entire frame with painters tape and newspaper except for those areas I wanted red. Those areas I then sanded with 600 grit paper to give some "tooth" for the lacquer. I gave it 3 coats of red and 2 coats of clear lacquer. When everything dried, I stripped off the masking and outlined the lugs and did the highlighting with gold enamel and a brush. Finally slapped on the decals and built it up.

Fun project. I first practiced on an old gaspipe frame I had laying around. Used rattlecan enamel from the home improvement store for that one. I was not at all happy with the quality and durability of off-the-shelf rattlecan enamel. I chose to go with powdercoat for the Moto because of its durability although Krylon makes a rattlecan epoxy enamel that may hold up OK.

About 35 years ago I painted a refrigerator with rattlecan two-part epoxy appliance paint that produced a finish that I would swear was as tough, smooth and glossy as that on any appliance you buy in the store. I remember I had to shake the can like mad to activate the catalyst. The current formulations of DIY epoxy enamels are waterbased and may not be as tough. For the rattle-can bike painter who's not to picky about color choices I would recommend either an epoxy enamel, or an engine, wheel or undercarriage paint from the auto part store. With any paint job, the end results are only as good as the surface preparation, priming and effort you put into it. Don't let all that effort go to waste by squirting on cheap paint.