MY THOUGHTS ON BIKE PAINTING

[Quanah]

I posted this in unchained's "MY FIRST STRETCH", in "BIKE BUILDS", I didn't intend to put it there and, I apologize.So here goes my statement...I've noticed when most people paint a bike, they strip it all the way down to the bare metal. I used to do that, but have found that the stock paint is so hard to get off, it must stick pretty good huh? Have you ever noticed how easily your newly painted frame scratches? Even after the paint has cured for a long time? And when it scratches, its always down to the bare metal? For the last 3 decades, I have left the stock paint on as primer, sanding out the scratches and priming only the bare metal. Sanding all the shine off the original paint, gives the new paint a surface with some "tooth" to adhere to, just as primer does. Unless you have access to an oven to bake the paint on, it won't stick nearly as good as a factory finish. If your bike was originally a dark color, say black, and you wanted to paint it say white, the results may not be as quite as great, as if the white was put down over some white, or light grey primer. Ive had great results in painting bikes, and the paint sticks WAY better. Take this for whatever it is worth, but it works great for me, just my

.

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

technically all you need to do is get the clear off

 

[necessaryevil]

The only problem with that is if you use lacquer paint. You can't spray lacquer over enamel, and most old paint jobs are enamel. I get my frames blasted to bare metal, sand it out, spray self etching primer, wetsand it out, then lacquer, decals if necessary, then many coats of enamel clear. Tons of work, but you get a nice finish that is rock hard.

On the other hand, if you're just doing enamel or even bombcan primer then your method is a good way to save time.

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

edit - - find out what paint is on there first then go from there
self etching primer is your friend love it

 

[deorman]

You can always prime OVER old paint for color control. Also, oxide primers work much better than regular pigmented types, but you must wait.

 

[B607]

Bead blast to bare metal. I like painting on a fresh canvas, not on top of someone else's work. Gary

 

[icyuod2]

most of the time i take my bikes down to bare metal. that being said, my fav bike wasn't treated the same way.

flat black bbq hight heat paint. i cleaned up any flaking paint with a wire brush. then painted it. i painted over old paint,bare metal, even the bare gas pipe. with it being flat black its real hard to tell (unless ya look close) did it on purpose and love the finished result. if ever it scratches, i just spot treat the area, 10 min's later you cant even tell.
my idea of a rat rod.

 

[Downtune]

Paint? Pfft.

 

[Tommy Atoms]

I thought chips, scratches, dents and a little rust were petina on rat rods. I like when the previous colors show up in the scratches. I haven't found anything that only takes off the top layers of paint to get it down to the original layer. I have a black typhoon under 2 layers of other paint that I would love to get back to black. Any ideas?

 

[Ken Nighplay]

Prep is key to any paint job, you can seal any old finish but there is something in rattle can paints that never let them get really hard. I have often wondered if any one has used Rustoleum from the can and applied with cup gun, or Dupli-color from the auto parts stores. They are reasonably priced, but limited in color choices if you have the spray equipment.