Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Newbie with a question about paint

I acquired a nice but old bike with a steel frame that i would like to paint. Can you all give me any pointers, suggestions, advice, warnings on how best to go about this task. It has decals that i would like to remove and a few areas of chipped paint. But other than that it is in great shape. Any advice i could get would be MOST appreciated. THANKS!!

IT all depends on what you want to spend. YOu could go with a powdercoater in your area who will charge you to strip and paint your frame aywhere from $50 on up depending on what you have them do. Or if you're looking to DIY, you could strip the frame down to metal using any paint stripper available at your local home hardware store, prep the frame and then spraypaint it any colour you wish. It all depends on how much you want to spend and the amount of work you are willing to do or let someone else do for you. HOpe that helped a little.

Pay the $60 - $80 and have it done right. You won't regret it.

I just finished stripping and repainting a frame. After I got wise to how crappy sanding is, I picked up something called aircraft coating stripper at my local Auto Zone. This stuff works and really burns when it gets on your fingers (wear gloves). Basically, you spray it on the frame, let it bubble and wipe the only paint off with a rag. I wouldn't go throwing what comes off the bike in the nearest pond or stream though.

After the stripping, there is some touchup sanding to make sure you got everything. Before you spray on the primer, you'll want to mask off everything you don't want painted and hang up the bike somewhere to paint it.

To hang up my bike, I used an old brake cable tied to a quill stem nut and threaded up the seat tube through the bottom bracket. I tied a loop in the other end of the cable and hung the bike beneath my deck. Next, wipe off the frame with a tack cloth (auto parts store) and clean it with a solvent like acetone (don't blow your face off).

I sprayed on 3 coats of primer, let it dry and sanded it with 400 grit sand paper. After sanding I wiped everything down with the tack cloth to get all the sanding dust. When handling the frame, I wore latex gloves so I wouldn't get any oil on the frame that might ruin the finish.

Since I painted the bike a metal flake color, I sprayed on the base metal coat, let that dry for about 45 minutes and then followed up with the candy coat. I almost made it with 1 can of spray paint but ran out. This caused me to wait for the candy to cure and the weather to nicen up before I could paint again.

Moral of the story - buy 1 more can of paint than you think you need.

After the wait, I finished up the candy coat and put on 3 coats of clearcoat.

All in all, I took a hell of a lot of time and about $30 worth of primer, paint and clearcoat to get the job done. The finish does look nice, but has some flaws that I really didn't feel like stripping and repainting.

It was fun learning how to paint a frame and I think I got some outstanding results for my first try. On the other hand, it is probably money well spent if you have someone else paint it.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. Once I get the bike together, we might post a photo for people to check out.

spray it on the frame
wipe the only paint off with a rag
After the stripping, there is some touchup sanding
mask off everything
hang up the bike
wipe off the frame with a tack cloth
clean it
don't blow your face off
spray on 3 coats of primer
let it dry
sand it with 400 grit sand paper
wipe everything down with the tack cloth
wear latex gloves
spray on the base metal coat
let that dry for about 45 minutes
follow up with the candy coat
wait for the candy to cure and the weather to nicen up
buy 1 more can of paint than you think you need
finish up the candy coat
put on 3 coats of clearcoat
a hell of a lot of time and about $30


No offense meant to your work or the effort, but one can see why I paid $60 to have it done professionally.

No offense meant to your work or the effort, but one can see why I paid $60 to have it done professionally.
Sometimes it's fun and satisfying to do things yourself. Even if it's not the quickest or most efficient way. Speaking of which, [HUMOR/SARCASM ALERT] can you believe there are people who actually ride bicycles when there are motorcycles and cars available? Boy those guys do a lot of work for nothing.

No offense meant to your work or the effort, but one can see why I paid $60 to have it done professionally.
Aw shucks. It was fun, it smelled good and I got lots of cancer-causing chemicals in the basement. That's gotta be worth $60. Just wait til I learn to weld.

What Superchivo really meant to say:

I just finished stripping. I got wise, I picked up some stripper at my local Auto Zone. This stuff really burns when it gets on you. Basically, you let it bubble and wipe with a rag in the nearest pond or stream.

After stripping, touchup to make sure you got everything.

Next, wipe your face off.

I let it dry and sanded it. After I wiped, I wore latex gloves so I wouldn't finish.

I sprayed, let that dry and then followed up with candy. I almost made it.

Moral of the story - buy more candy and about $30. I really didn't feel like stripping.

It was fun learning and I think I got some outstanding results for my first try On the other hand, it is probably money well spent if you have someone else.

we might post a photo for people to check out.
Keep your filthy picture!

I just finished stripping and repainting a frame. After I got wise to how crappy sanding is, I picked up something called aircraft coating stripper at my local Auto Zone. This stuff works and really burns when it gets on your fingers (wear gloves). Basically, you spray it on the frame, let it bubble and wipe the only paint off with a rag. I wouldn't go throwing what comes off the bike in the nearest pond or stream though.


oooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Aircraft stripper... I used that stuff to strip off the paint off of my old ninja. Works like a charm.

I LOVE doing things on my bikes myself, but since I barely have time to clean my chains periodically I leave things like stripping and painting to the pros who do it day in, day out. A local powdercoat shop that does gorgeous work on custom motorcycles will strip, mask and powdercoat a bicycle frame in 3-4 days for $125. That beats waiting until I retire to get the time to do it myself.

1. sanding is a beyatch
2. buy more paint than you need (i ran out of paint when i went to work on my fork)
3. if its for a serious project, pay to have it done. if it's for fun, DIY!