repechage

Lacquer is not even sold locally anymore. Too many VOC's. And its too fragile, I painted many bikes as a kid with preval's and lacquer in the early 70's, looked great! Chipped Fast. Yes, I was the 10 year old taking my bike frame to the grave stone decorator to get it sand blasted.

Grand Bois

The gun I use retails for $300, but I bought mine used for $40 along with a $14 rebuild kit.

jbchybridrider 

This is 2 pack enamel a very strong finish, its dangerous stuff and requires a full face mask with a with it own air supply. I did a lot of research on the net the whole way though and that's a must for any first timer.

Only I didn't research the correct decal placement "fixed"

Maxturbo

We can also throw in a whole new discussion on water born paints (with minus the majority of safety hazards) too, I guess.

Bottom line Harry...my suggestion is to either rattle can it at home in an area with adequate ventilation or farm out the work to an Auto Paint guy for either wet paint or powder coat. Your choice. The difference in your pocket book size will help you determine which course to take ($15-$200)

dbakl

I painted a lot of frames back in the old days with rattle cans: you can do a good job with a lot of work, but they just don't hold up very well. Never had a compressor and gun. I think for 100. to 150. you consider powdercoat if there's a good supplier near and save yourself a lot of grief. I plan to try it on a few frames one of these days.

BigPolishJimmy

If it's worth spending the $$ to get the whole setup to paint it, isn't it worth sending to someone who has experience and a history of doing the job right? That being said, have you seen the threads here on diy rattle can paint jobs and even painting it with a brush? With good prep, technique, and patience, you can get a better result with simpler/safer methods than you might think.

*edit* some inspiration:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Vintage-Bikes

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...an-Paint-jobs-!

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ttle-Can-Paint

silvercreek

I'm use to be pretty good with a rattle can. I've actually done some fairly decent paint jobs using automotive paint. Cleaning and preparing the surface is the most important part. Choosing a good primer with a couple of can of your favorite color can render some great results.

squirtdad

I have done a paint job using automotive paint and Preval sprayers. it came out pretty good. It was my son's fixie

First and foremost this stuff is toxic you need a good mask to work with it (not just a little white filter)

Second it is expensive...think at least $125-150 (plus mask if you don't have one) in general you can buy tiny amounts so you will have lot's of left overs...... whcih reminds me I should repaint my bike...but the kid is objecting to me having the same color )

standard process, steel frame

Strip frame... get rid of all paint.
where gloves when touching frame from now on
clean frame with acetone.
patch of dings if desired with bondo
sand/scotchbrite
pay attention to temp ranges for ok painting per paint instructions
prime with acid etch primer (in can)
Prime with filler primer (follow recoat instructions precisely)
sand (real pros put a second coat of different color primer on and sand until only the first show... I didn't do that)
tack rage wipe down
2-4 coats of color. depends on color and coverage, thin coats best follow instructions for recoat
3-4 coats of clear

let it cure for some time before building.

Cassave

I've painted every frame I've ever built with one form or another of automotive finish. The key to any quality paint job is base metal prep and primer.
Surface converters or etching primers really improve overall toughness and adhesion.

In SoCal, you'll have a hard time buying anything but water based paints now. I've used a few and they are terrific. Much lower toxicity than urethanes.

For a bike frame use a small panel or touch up gun. For solid colors, 30-40 psi for a gravity fed non-HVLP gun works well. For metallics, the higher the pressure the more the flake will stand up making a
more pronounced metallic look. A small compressor at 1 or 2 CFM at 40 PSI is fine for use with a small touch up gun since you're not spraying large areas, it's very low duty cycle. Any HVLP gun will need higher airflow.
You can get basic but serviceable stuff at Harborfreight. It'll last long enough to get your moneys worth.

Even with waterbased paints, use at very least a carbon respirator. Follow the MSDS precautions, brain cells don't grow back.

Be prepared to spend about $100.00 on primers, paints, clears etc. Most of the waterbased products don't use special reducers and they are water (or acetone) cleanup.

tiger1964 

I did one bike for a friend many years ago w/Imron; such a frustrating experience I threw the gun away. Don't miss it. He liked the results, however & still has the bike.

bicyclridr4life

Back before some son of a female dog stole all my tools, (about 30 years ago) I painted a Triumph T-100C motorcycle frame and a Raleigh 10 speed frame I had with DuPont Enamel automotive paint. No big deal to hang a frame from the garage rafters and shoot it.

DirtyHarry714

Wow a lot of mixed responses!

Thanks for taking the time to let me know everything i need to know about this process.

If it is going to run in the $150 $200 area i'm just going to take it to the local powder coating guys.

They seem legit, they have been in the same location for years and have done many frames.

The reason i even want to paint this is because someone already tried to do a diy job on it. (OG color is Champagne, they tried to make it look like the copper/orange color from the 74' model.

I'll have to talk to those guys down at Primo coating and see what they have to say.

Thanks again everyone! oh yeah and i was not going to do this myself, we have a compressor here but i never even rattle can my own frame since i'm not the best with paints
(Usually leave that job to dad, Father knows best right?)

I'm usually not even too satisfied with a rattle can job, i think i'll leave this one to the pros since i don't plan on selling this bike anytime soon.

-Harry

Grand Bois

I helped a friend Paint his '53 Ford truck frame with Imron. We wore dust masks because we didn't know any better. The truck was shown at the Oakland Roadster Show. A lot of the parts came from my wrecked '56 big window. That was a long time ago and we both survived.

DirtyHarry714

So i talked to the guys down at Primo coating in Huntington beach ca. a few hours ago, they gave me a pretty nice estimate!

$100 bucks for the blasting and powder coating! Would you guys say this is a nice price?

But here is the thing, i've been thinking a lot about the frame lately and i'm either going to trade it or sell it when it is done

It is a tad too small for me (Can't remember if it is 56.5 or 57.5) but i ride a frame that is 60cm+

Would powder coating be a bad idea in the long run of the value of the frame or would auto paint still be a prime choice?

-Harry

Six jours

I've seen a few frames done by Primo and was really unimpressed. Olympic powder coating in Santa Ana does a much better job, in my experience.

Beyond that, I think you're on the right track. I've rattle-canned a few frames (and motorcycles) and if you don't put a lot of effort into it, it will look awful. If you do put a lot of effort into it, it will look great - for about a month, after which the accumulated dings and flakes start looking awful. Better quality paints, applied carefully and with the correct equipment, are expensive and dangerous, as has already been pointed out.

Olympic charges between $60 and $120, depending on how much prep work they need to do (save money by stripping the old paint yourself) and whether you want things like metalflake and clear coat. They did a frame for me just a few weeks ago - blasting, black base, and clear top coat for about $100 - and it looks at least as good as the average factory wet paint. It's tougher than most wet paints, and with the clear, it should be as rustproof as well. The only downside is that on frames with really nice lugwork, powder coating can hide details because it is thicker than wet paint.

lml999

I'm sorry, but just because you aren't showing specific symptoms doesn't mean that you didn't suffer harm.

Lee

mparker326

Make sure you are very specific with the powdercoaters on what you want masked off. I've learned this from experience where they just kind of blew me off with the we've done this tons of times & I wound up with all my chrome powdercoated. Also you mentioned this is on a International. Does it have the chrome Nervex lugs or the painted Capella lugs?

miamijim

I wouldn't put a dime into it....

Maxturbo

As in you'll never get your money back, huh. There is certainly some validity to that thought, if that's what you are thinking. I feel sort of the same way, but if this Raleigh International is in otherwise great shape, it could bring $1K money with primo paint. A low to mid-range bike, I'd have reservations about a high end paint job on a flip.

Harry! Another thought...I think you'll play hell getting a matching Champagne color in powder. Wet paint, no problem and IMO you need to stay with a factory color to flip this thing for a decent price.

And what about decals and stickers? Another $50 plus on top of paint costs, no?