Nothx

Looking for a good brand of primer, paint and sealant for my frame. Also wondereing if I fully need the primer and sealan, still going to do it the proper way but just in case I'm ever on a budget.

Andrew R Stewart 

How are you applying the paint? Roller, brush, rattle can, pro compressor fed gun?

Generally when on a budget one has to compromise something and with paint that might be the finish "quality". Long ago I painted a couple of frames with a brush using a marine intended epoxy paint. Rattle can clear over the decals. I painted my lathe a few winters ago with Sherwin Williams industrial machine paint with a brush. If you use a good brush and reduce the paint properly the strokes blend into each other well. I have used Rustoleum brush on paint for many smaller projects and found that to work well and if left to harden is pretty tough for so cheap a paint. Andy

Nothx

Thanks Andy I will try them. I was initially using acrylic paint with a brush. But I'll definitely change it. Might use a spray can to make it easier on me.

Breadfan

Something we need on this forum is a frame painting and parts restoring section. There are a couple groups on FB but all the answers quickly get buried. I think it would be popular if we had one here.

squirtdad

paint availability depends on where you live

durability is 100% dependent on the materials used and prep done.

Rattle can (from ace, home depot, auto stores) can give a beautiful finish, but it is not as durable as automotive paint (also not as toxic), I really can't make a call on durability of brush on paint, but assume it is less than automotive paint

it also will be more expensive than you think to do a good job I generally suggest people look into powder coating

I did a lot of research a while back on this and have painted 2 frames, one rattle can and one automotive paint

Process is same:

• have a good respirator/filter mask
• Start with frame with notpaint ever or all previous paint removed (removing paint is a pain, lots of time and stripper)
• mask all places you don't want paint
• wipe frame with pre paint cleaner or acetone, handle only with fresh gloves after this
• acid etch primer (assuming steel frame)
• Sandable primer
• Sand
• use tack cloth
• 3 coats color following dry time between coats
• 2 coats clear

let site for month or so before building

Chuck M 

Depending on what you have should be considered when looking into paint options. Since this post was made in the frame builders forum, I assumed it was going to be about getting a frame painted that you were building. But it appears you are just wanting to do a repaint. Even then you should consider what you have and what kind of results you want.

I'm repainting an old Carabela I bought for 10 bucks for parts. The bike kinda grew on me so I'm going about rebuilding it. Never in a hundred years will this bike be worth it to me to PC, but I like to putter around so the labor in this isn't going to kill me. Because the rust was so bad, I took all the paint off to get to bare metal. I got some pretty good primer and paint at Lowes and even though it cost more than I paid for the bike it wasn't too expensive.



I let it set a couple of weeks after priming.


After a couple of days I'll touch up a couple of spots or maybe even give it a second coat, then after a couple of more weeks, I'll spray a coat of clear and then buff it out. I think from 10 foot away it will be good enough for me and for what it is and I'd maybe even get decals for it if they existed.