David78

Hi all - As a side project this summer I've stripped down my aluminum frame specialized crosstrail of all parts, sanded, applied 3 coats of rustoleum no rust primer, and applied 3 coats of cherry red gloss rustoleum enamel spray paint. I am now to the point of applying decals and clear coating. 2 questions. First, should I put decals on before clear coating? Second, do I need to wait for enamel paint to dry or cure before clear coating? This is a subtle but important difference. Thanks in advance!

HillRider

Give the enamel time to dry thoroughly before clear coating. If you want the decals to be there for the life of the paint job, put them on under the clear. If you want to be able to replace them, put them on over the clear. Be sure the clear coat you choose is compatible with the paint you used.

David78

Thank you Hillrider! That answers the decal question. I guess what I was wondering was rustoleum paint advertises after 48 hours the paint will be fully dry. Well it's been a week and without a doubt it is fully dry. 'Dry' meaning solvent on top has fully evaporated. While it is fully dried it could take 3-6 months for the enamel to fully cure. Will putting clear coat (that is compatible with enamel used) disrupt the curing process if applied after fully dried but not fully cured?

Retro Grouch 

If it was my bike, I'd wait another week.

Iride01 

One of the things you have to consider also is that for successive coats of paint and clear coat, you frequently have a certain time frame to get decent bonding between the layers. Some as little as a few hours.

For times you can't meet that requirement it's usually advised to rough up the entire surface with very fine sandpaper. Sometimes in order to do that you have to wait several days for the previous layer to dry or cure. Find the manufacturers recommendation on re-coating times. If nothing else, Rustoleum a dozen years ago was good about answering my emails for advice.

Vinyl decals? Which most are. You need to be careful. To me Rustoleum is real vague on what their products actually are and contain. If you can't try it out on a test piece of decal on a test board, then go very lightly with clear coating on top of them till you build up several layers of clear.

I do agree with HillRider that you need to clear coat them if you want them to stay on your bike. Probably is best to wait a week or so before placing decals.

But who knows, if you are in a hurry, it might work to go fast. Certainly bike mfr's aren't waiting a week to place decals. (those that use them, I don't need the snitty replies about how many are painted) <grin>

David78

Thanks Iride! Time is on my side. Not in a rush at all as I have several bikes to ride. It's just a fun project for me. I've spent 6 weeks so far to get to this point. I just would prefer not to wait 3-6 months for full curing process to take place if not necessary. As for decals, they are vinyl. I plan to put one I'm not using on aluminum can and applying clearcoat to test it out first to ensure clear coat is compatible with vinyl. Thanks.

rosefarts

I went through this with Rust-Oleum and a fork not too long ago. Turns out that my clear coat was not compatible with the paint. It causes alligator skin, it settled down but never looked good. The fork was junk anyway so I never used it.

I used the same paint and clear coat combo with a ukelele I built with my son for a project, same effect. It actually looks cool for an 80s rock style uke. For a bike frame though, I'd be pissed.

Since time is on your side, I'd suggest painting something else, ideally aluminum, then testing the clear coat on it. You'll know in about a minute if it's compatible. It's like a horror show, something you spent so much time on wet sanding, making it look beautiful, and it turns to crap right before your eyes.

Wileyone 

The Last Bike I did took 2 weeks from when it was stripped to reassembly. Don't use rustoleum it's shyte. Use max 2k primer/filler and for colour check out your local auto parts store some of them will put whatever colour you want in a rattle can and it's automotive quality paint. Don't sand your colour coat put your decals on and clear coat with Max 2k Glamour high gloss clear. After 24 hours drying time sand out your clear then buff with Auto polish (not polishing compound). I made up a drying cabinet out of an old wardrobe with 2 150 watt heat lamps making the temp. inside the cabinet 130 degrees. Rule of thumb goes if you can't smell paint when you open the cabinet it is dry. Anywhere from 1-3 weeks.

easyupbug 

One of my rescues came from a fellow who used Rustoleum then 2K. I got a great deal because he painted one weekend, left it on the seat of a closed up pickup in AZ for baking and the next weekend applied the 2K and the following weekend clamped it in his Park 101 stand, built it up, when finished found badly wrinkled paint in the pattern of the clamp pads. It was a LeMond so no lugs, hard to say how thick the paint was but judging from the wrinkles it was pretty thick. With 6 coats on your frame it might be wise to give it as much heat/time as you can.
I have not done anything with the frame as of yet, when I get back to AZ this fall I will have to take a photo for these type threads.

CroMo Mike 

Read the label on the Rustoleum can. Somewhere in the fine print it might tell you something like "recoat within 1 hour or after 30 days". If you don't wait long enough, the clear (or additional color coats) will wrinkle the color coats or intermediate clear coats. The clear may wrinkle the red anyway, even after 30 days, so it's best to create a test piece with the intended paint products and processes, and watch closely for bad reactions before you ruin your job. I've had wrinkle problems with Rustoleum, Krylon, Duplicolor, and even with professional car paints applied by spray gun.

3alarmer 

.
...I have sprayed that SprayMaxx clear glamour over a lot of different surface finishes, and have rarely had issues with it. But I use it in the summer here, where the average temps are up in the high 90's, and the humidity in the low20's or 30's most of the time. I usually hang it up somewhere in the sun, by the derailleur hanger hole. And I wait at least a couple of weeks before reassembling the bike, and don't clamp the frame, just an old seat post that I use for painting projects that fits the frame.

The one time I screwed up was retouching some silver scratches, and not waiting for them to dry before spraying the urethane. So it kind of went wonky with the silver paint trying to migrate outward as the urethane cured.

Otherwise, I've sprayed it over enamel, lacquer, and vinyl decals, as well as water slide decals. It just seems to settle over everything like putting it under glass. I always heard from the auto painting guys that you need to give fresh urethane a few months before you try to polish or wax it. But I'm really not certain how long it continues to cure before it reaches maximum hardness. With other types of paint, I try to adhere to the directions for recoat windows. But with the SprayMaxx, I know I'm gonna be outside the window, because I want the color coat dry before I attempt the decal installation. This is so I won't inadvertently damage the color coat with the masking tape I use to layout the decal placement.

I'm not saying do this, or that the guys who make the stuff and tell you about the recoat windows are wrong, just that it seems to work for me here.

3alarmer 

.
...this one was done about a week ago and is still waiting on reassembly. Rustoleum self etching primer, white base primer over that, a color coat courtesy of Testor's (also a Rustoleum product), vinyl lettering by DIY Lettering.com, a little bit of gold from a paint pen and some French bands out of vinyl graphics striping. Then cleared with a can of Spray Maxx 2K. Nothing wrinkled, but like I said, my entire backyard is a curing oven in July and August.

David78

That's beautiful 3alarmer! Thanks for all the information guys. Pics to come soon...