Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - painting, clear coat problems

So after countless hours of meticulously sanding, priming, masking, painting my frame...i was ready for the clear coat. finally. I've been using duplicolor engine enamel and have been following the instructions pretty well. until yesterday. it was pretty humid out and i wanted to get this thing done before the hurricane comes. so i sprayed on two light coats of clear coat followed by one full coat, just like the instructions said. to make a long story short it dried really cloudy on most of the frame. not pretty.

any advice on what i should do to remedy this? can i wet sand the clearcoat and try it again? should i wait a week? i'm sure as hell not starting over.

Sounds like it was too humid when you painted. Wet sand down to the color coat, spray on light coats and wait till the previous coat is dry before you spray on another light coat. Spray outdoors and bring it inside to dry. 3-4 coats of clear. Or until you get tired of painting.

that seems like my only choice, i'll try it. humidity has been pretty high here lately, but oddly enough the clear coat is the only can that doesn't have a humidity recomendation...

i have used several clear coats for many different projects, and i have found that plasti-kote classic lacquer works the best.

its sounds like you have a lot of work cut out for yourself to do you bike right. if you mess up the clear then you need to take it all off and get back down to the base(color) coat. then you have to add more base, then clear again. try and spray in your garage if you can, and also try and spray when it is not so humid out. i know it is tuff to wait, but it will be worth it. good luck.

you may be able to wait out the cloudiness. As it dries it will clear up. give it a few days, you may save yourself the trouble of respraying.

you may be able to wait out the cloudiness. As it dries it will clear up. give it a few days, you may save yourself the trouble of respraying.

this is true, and good advice. the cloudiness is actually part of the drying phase, but in my experience it doesnt last longer than 0.5-1 hour max.

be careful mixing brands and types of paint. I stick to one manufacturer and one type (lacquer or enamel) of paint for the whole job. I've had different layers of paint "attack" each other in the past.

From the Duplicolor website...
"4. Observe the proper re-coat opportunities. See product directions for suggestions on when to apply a second coat.
• Example: Dupli-Color® lacquers can be re-coated anytime. Dupli-Color® enamels re-coat within 1 hour or wait till after 5 days."

I used the Chevrolet Orange Engine Enamel myself and also got the clearcoat cloudiness. Probably cuz I recoated it after the 1 hour and before the 5 days, so I ended upjust respraying the orange over the clear and left it to dry. I don't remember if the clearcoat I was using was an enamel as well. My frame is chipping like crazy but hey, it adds character right? Riiiiiiight.....

I want to repaint it, but with the cold weather already here and not wanting to do it indoors, and the possibility of getting a new bike, I may just wait. Or possibly get it powder coated.

it seems like there is a noteable difference between regular duplicolor clear acrylic enamel and duplicolor clear engine enamel. I coated my fork with the acrylic enamel (i had half a can lying around) and the cloudiness cleared in 20 minutes. it looks amazing.

i hate all this waiting. i'm definitely powdercoating next time.