How to refinish?paint Kestrel Carbon Fork.

How do I refinish/paint a Kestrel EMS carbon fork. The problem is it says litspeed in yellow letters
down the blades and I'm not gonna put it on a litespeed. I want to paint the whole fork solid red.

Is there a stripper that I should use before I pain?

Should I just rough up the surface a little with emory cloth before I paint?

What brand of paint it there are recommendations?

Any other points regarding this project?

Thanks.

 

"Goodtime" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> How do I refinish/paint a Kestrel EMS carbon fork. The problem is it says litspeed in yellow
> letters down the blades and I'm not gonna put it on a litespeed. I want to paint the whole fork
> solid red.
>
> Is there a stripper that I should use before I pain?
>
> Should I just rough up the surface a little with emory cloth before I paint?
>
> What brand of paint it there are recommendations?
>
> Any other points regarding this project?

Wetsand with 400 to get the decals off, bring it up with 600 and then seal with a modern auto
primer/sealer, add finish to choice over that.

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

 

[email protected] (Goodtime) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> How do I refinish/paint a Kestrel EMS carbon fork. The problem is it says litspeed in yellow
> letters down the blades and I'm not gonna put it on a litespeed. I want to paint the whole fork
> solid red.
>
> Is there a stripper that I should use before I pain? Should I just rough up the surface a little
> with emory cloth before I paint? What brand of paint it there are recommendations? Any other
> points regarding this project? Thanks.

Absolutely do not use a paint stripper of any kind and if anyone recommends a sandblaster, run the
other way. You can sand back the current paint and decals or just rough the surface up and paint it.
320 grit wet/dry sandpaper works great for this sort of thing and 150 grit dry works well to take
off a thick clear coat over multiple layers. No paint recommendations from me. When I strip carbon I
leave it nekkid. Depending on the case I'll paint it back up with a thin coat of epoxy resin.

 

[email protected] (Goodtime) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> How do I refinish/paint a Kestrel EMS carbon fork. The problem is it says litspeed in yellow
> letters down the blades and I'm not gonna put it on a litespeed. I want to paint the whole fork
> solid red.
>
> Is there a stripper that I should use before I pain?
>
> Should I just rough up the surface a little with emory cloth before I paint?
>
> What brand of paint it there are recommendations?
>
> Any other points regarding this project?
>
From Damon Rinard via Sheldon Brown's website:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/carbonqa.htm#Painting

 

I have a Kestrel KM40 that had a huge (2 inch by 2 inch) chip of paint come off just below the back
seatpost - thanks to American Airlines. It was bare to the carbon when I touched it up with the
paint... It now has a significant ledge on the edge of the chip now and some brush marks that are
really annoying me.

I was going to try to wet sand down the whole area until it is level and then try to touch it up
again... but last time I had all kinds of brush marks.

Is there a right way to try to level this up and touch it up?

Thanks, Brad