Advice on repainting frame?

Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending $150-200
to get it bead blasted and powder coated. What I need is some advice:

1) What's the best way to remove the rust and paint that is currently on the frame.
2) What's the best DIY paint job I can expect? How is it done?

Thanks in advance,
- Boyd S.

 

On Fri, 02 May 2003 04:42:50 +0000, Boyd Speerschneider wrote:

> Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending
> $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated.

Could be found for $100

> 1) What's the best way to remove the rust and paint that is currently on the frame.

No matter what, it is hard work. Stripper is probably best, but that is nasty stuff, eats your
hands, and still does not work well on bike paint, since that is baked on.

> 2) What's the best DIY paint job I can expect?

Not very good

How is it done?

Either spray cans or sprayer.  I've used both and have not been happy. Lacquer with clearcoat is
probably best, but it is not adequately durable, nor is enamel. Some fancier paints are now
available, but the cost of all this is close to that of a decent powder coater, and will not last
for shit compared to powder. Powder is now available in whatever color you want.

I had my old track bike coated. With single-color powder on the frame (metallic cobalt blue) and
chrome plating on the fork (it had been painted), I paid $150. It would have been $100 for frame and
fork in one color. I couldn't convince him to chrome the whole thing, which is what I really wanted,
but the contamination of one bath to another with leftover solution in the tubes he did not want to
deal with.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. _`\(,_ | That is easy. All
you have to do is tell them they are being (_)/ (_) | attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for
lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any <country. --
Hermann Goering

 

"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending
> $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated. What I need
is
> some advice:

Does anyone know how to touch up scratches on the matte black 2003 XTC frame?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

On Fri, 02 May 2003 01:58:09 +0000, David L. Johnson wrote:

> I had my old track bike coated. With single-color powder on the frame (metallic cobalt blue) and
> chrome plating on the fork (it had been painted), I paid $150. It would have been $100 for frame
> and fork in one color. I couldn't convince him to chrome the whole thing, which is what I really
> wanted, but the contamination of one bath to another with leftover solution in the tubes he did
> not want to deal with.

Damn! That's cheap! Any chance this guy would do bikes by mail?

-Dondo

 

On Fri, 2 May 2003, Captain Dondo wrote:
> On Fri, 02 May 2003 01:58:09 +0000, David L. Johnson wrote:
> > I had my old track bike coated. With single-color powder on the frame (metallic cobalt blue) and
> > chrome plating on the fork (it had been painted), I paid $150. It would have been $100 for frame
> > and fork in one color. I couldn't convince him to chrome the whole thing, which is what I really
> > wanted, but the contamination of one bath to another with leftover solution in the tubes he did
> > not want to deal with.
> Damn! That's cheap! Any chance this guy would do bikes by mail?

Globalization at work!

In the Pisa area this is what I pay. Fork chroming: 50 euro. Steel frame stripping and repainting:
100 euro. Additional for 'letter setting', to be sprayed through, for the brand name: 10 euro.

That's even better than close.

Sergio Pisa

 

"David L. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> On Fri, 02 May 2003 04:42:50 +0000, Boyd Speerschneider wrote:
>
>> Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending
>> $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated.
>
> Could be found for $100

Where?

<snip

 

On Fri, 02 May 2003 12:39:34 +0000, Boyd Speerschneider wrote:

> "David L. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
>> On Fri, 02 May 2003 04:42:50 +0000, Boyd Speerschneider wrote:
>>
>>> Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending
>>> $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated.
>>
>> Could be found for $100
>
> Where?

DGM in NE Philly.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | I don't believe you, you've got the whole damn thing all wrong. _`\(,_ | He's not the kind
you have to wind-up on Sundays. --Ian (_)/ (_) | Anderson

 

On Fri, 02 May 2003 05:18:42 +0000, Captain Dondo wrote:

> On Fri, 02 May 2003 01:58:09 +0000, David L. Johnson wrote:
>
>> I had my old track bike coated. With single-color powder on the frame (metallic cobalt blue) and
>> chrome plating on the fork (it had been painted), I paid $150. It would have been $100 for frame
>> and fork in one color. I couldn't convince him to chrome the whole thing, which is what I really
>> wanted, but the contamination of one bath to another with leftover solution in the tubes he did
>> not want to deal with.
>
> Damn! That's cheap! Any chance this guy would do bikes by mail?

You can call him 215-331-0960

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "Business!" cried the Ghost. "Mankind was my business. The _`\(,_ | common welfare was my
business; charity, mercy, forbearance, (_)/ (_) | and benevolence, were, all, my business. The
dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
--Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"

 

"Captain Dondo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...

> On Fri, 02 May 2003 01:58:09 +0000, David L. Johnson
wrote:
>
> > I had my old track bike coated. With single-color
powder on the frame
> > (metallic cobalt blue) and chrome plating on the fork
(it had been
> > painted), I paid $150. It would have been $100 for
frame and fork in one
> > color. I couldn't convince him to chrome the whole
thing, which is what I
> > really wanted, but the contamination of one bath to
another with leftover
> > solution in the tubes he did not want to deal with.
>
> Damn! That's cheap! Any chance this guy would do bikes
by mail?

Sounds like a screaming deal to me, too. I've painted enough bike frames the hard way to appreciate
it. It's a lot of work, and unless you have some good spray gear, the results are unlikely to be
very good.

Actually, if you have the shop set up, you could do bike frames very cheaply. Guys that do roll
bars, etc. for offroad vehicles would be able to do this easily. Bead blasting a frame takes only a
few minutes, and so does the actual spraying. You could probably have less than an hour invested in
each frame, leaving plenty out of $!00 for rent and profit.

The rest of us fiddle around for hours.

Even if you did get a good finish from a spray paint can, these paints aren't very durable. Your
bike would be full of chips and scratches in no time. If you're going to invest all that time and
energy, and don't forget the effort to build up the bike, you might as well do it right.

BTDT.

Matt O.

 

"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending
> $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated. What I need
is
> some advice:
>
> 1) What's the best way to remove the rust and paint that is currently on the frame.
> 2) What's the best DIY paint job I can expect? How is it done?

Often just repairing the finish is a reasonable approach. With a set of five inch files ($5~10 at
any hardware store or XMart) or even just a nailfile/emery board, sand/file the rusted parts down to
clean steel. Paint over those spots if they are small or primer and then paint if the nicks are
large. Obviously, some colors lend themselves to spot repair better than others.

Today I spent $50 worth of time doing just that on a 1963 race bike as anything less than a $600
paint job would have bastardized it. Even where money doesn't matter ( and there are such
situations, really) a repaired original finish with original transfers has a quality that a modern
respray can't touch - integrity. I am saddened by the bland medium blue metallic resprays that
replace original finishes which once had character. That's of course a matter of taste.

This may be helpful: http://www.yellowjersey.org/paint_repair.html

If you want to completely disassemble the bicycle, strip the paint and start over, buy all of your
materials at the same time ( etch, primer, thinner, color, reducer, activator, accelerator, clear)
and specifically ask about compatibility at the paint store.

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

"Phil, Squid-in-Training" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not
worth
> > spending $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated. What I need
> is
> > some advice:
>
> Does anyone know how to touch up scratches on the matte black 2003 XTC frame?

Uh, matte black paint? Is this a trick question?

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

In article <[email protected]>, Boyd Speerschneider
<[email protected]> writes:

>I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending $150-200 to get
>it bead blasted and powder coated. What I need is some advice:
>
>1) What's the best way to remove the rust and paint that is currently on the frame.
>2) What's the best DIY paint job I can expect? How is it done?
>

I spent days with paint stripper and steel wool and sand paper trying to get all the English Stove
enamel off of a Raleigh. I'd suggest having it bead blasted, I had to have mine finished that way. I
had to find stronger stripper and used a lot of steel wool only to have to shell out the $25 for the
bead blasting anyway.

Tom Gibb <[email protected]

 

SPEER!! yo read "DIY Paint Remover" in Bike.Tech. there's a neat tool one can use to strip the
frame, derust, and break the wrist in one day!!

 

According to www.salemcycle.com/SC_framepaint.html Salem Cycle's basic rate is $100.

I have not had any work done by them.

Regards, Ralph

"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "David L. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
> > On Fri, 02 May 2003 04:42:50 +0000, Boyd Speerschneider wrote:
> >
> >> Hello, I have an old steel Fuji Team frame I would like to repaint. Its not worth spending
> >> $150-200 to get it bead blasted and powder coated.
> >
> > Could be found for $100
>
> Where?
>
> <snip