Classic & Vintage - Clear coating/waxing, paint protection

I've got a Motobecane Grand Touring which has a number of very small rusty blemishes, and I know that most of us in the vintage community ride steel-framed bicycles. The problem with steel is that, eventually many of our frames with small dings and scratches will form rusty areas.

I know that this has been discussed before, but my searches are not really turning up anything helpful. It seems like a good idea to put a protective coat on vintage bicycles after removing any visible rust, but how difficult is it to get right? What products do you suggest? How well will this inhibit rust? How well does clear coating protect decals and other labels? Could someone give me some links or description outlining the necessary processes?

I put a coat of wax on my Schwinn Traveler when I bought it well used and lightly abused back in 05. I first cleaned the surface well and even used a light paint polish to bring back some of the luster of the blue paint before applying a liquid wax to the frame. Kept the coat fairly thin for the most part and buffed the finish well. Results were good over all.

As far as clear coats, you're talking a paint application over the existing paint surface. You have be a bit more careful about this in that the application of paint may or may not stick well to the existing paint unless cleaned very well and prepped properly. Addionally, some types of decals don't react well to clearcoats.

What sort of wax products are out there, and how are they applied? Until today, I'd never heard of liquid wax protection for paint.

http://www.meguiars.com/estore/product_list.cfm?sectionname=Consumer%20(Meguiar's%20Brand)>Auto%20Paint%20Care>Car%20Waxes>Liquid%20Car%20Waxes&sectionID=11501

Meguiars is my pick for auto use, and I believe its what I ended up using on the Schwinn. The 'cleaner wax' is nice to help bring back some of the luster of older paint.

When bringing an old paint job back to life I like to use Turtle Wax Polish and Compound. Takes all/most/much of the dead paint off. Use sparingly(1).

Then, since I've spent so much time getting all the dried polish off and out of the crevices, I'll use Maguires Quik Wax, a spray-on detail wax. I spray it on a cloth, wipe on paint and shiney parts, flip cloth over to dry side and wipe wax off. Fast, simple, and leaves a great shine.

(1) On a recent restoration the bike had been hanging upside down in a garage when the house painters repainted the garage. As a result there was white overspray all over the underside of the black bike. After rubbing the overspray down with mineral spirits I attempted to get the rest off with the Turtle Wax. Ended up rubbing a bit too much in some areas and later noticed the paint looked a little thin in those areas. But that was a result from rubbing much harder and longer than one normally would, so I still recommend TW P&C if used sparingly.

I may have made this comment on one of the prior threads that you did not find helpful, but the Gunnar website recommends annual to semi-annual waxing with a non-porous wax like Meguiar's or Turtle Wax, then cleaning the bike with soap & water and shining it with Pledge between waxings. www.gunnarbikes.com/faq.php (http://www.gunnarbikes.com/faq.php)

Also for what it's worth, I tried applying a spray-on enamel clearcoat to some parts (unpainted chrome parts, not the frame) and it was a big flop. It came out cloudy in some spots, in a way that detracted from the shiny finish. I ended up sanding it off with steelwool and just using Simichrome polish - great results.

Any advice for a new frame. I just got a new Debernardi, no clearcoat typical fragle Italian paint. I'm thinking about using nu-finish, anybody tried this?

Any advice for a new frame. I just got a new Debernardi, no clearcoat typical fragle Italian paint. I'm thinking about using nu-finish, anybody tried this?
If it's new, I would recommend Meguiars Yellow Wax, which has no abrasives. This way you won't be removing any paint, because if it's new, you shouldn't need to.
I believe NuFinish has abrasives which wear away at aged finishes.

Nu Finish is not abrasive. I used it on my cars back when I cared if my cars were shiney. I started using it after reading that it gave longer and better protection than any other product tested. I think it was in Consumer Reports. It's not a wax, so things like tree sap and paint overspray stick solidly to it. I solved that problem by applying carnuba wax over it.

I just finished one coat of turtle wax (carnuba wax), looking good so far. Going to apply a second coat and buff away. Thanks for the advice.

Most of my twenty or twenty-five year old bikes have scratches and nicks and touches of surface rust. These bikes are not valuable, and I like the fact they look their age. I have used clear nail polish (a buck at Walgreens) to cover those areas. Dawn dish soap for a wash, and "Pledge" wood polish for a bit of shine.

The nail polish, plus Dawn, plus Pledge treatment takes just a few minutes, and leaves the bikes looking clean and shiny, and they continue to look old and worn. Not that there is anything wrong with that.