trashion

So some of you may remember when I posted my lovely Frejus find a few weeks back.

Well, I got the limit screw out and I'm putting the FD back together in the meantime (thanks to JunkYardBike for the screws!) but I have a question about the paint.

When I ride in the rain (which has only happened twice) peculiar rain-spots appear on the paint after I dry it off. I picked at one and it came off, leaving nicer paint underneath, but now I have a weird tiny patch on the downtube. The spots fade after a while, but I'm confused as to what they are.

Also, the frame is kind of grimy. After sitting in a bike shop for some 40 years, it's accumulated an odd transparent coating of grime that gentle dish soap (rinsed off thoroughly afterwards, of course) can't cut through. And that patch of brighter paint that appeared when I picked off the rain-spot has me curious now.

My dad compared it to an old car, and said I could try mineral spirits and some rubbing compound to smooth off the old layer of paint to expose the nicer paint underneath...but I'm wary of ruining the paint job, no matter how careful I am.

What do you guys think?

Ex Pres 

I would use Meguire's paint restoring system. Start with the polish, and if it's not cutting enough, go to the paint cleaner. No matter what you use, start somewhere you don't see, like under the BB or inside a chain stay.

trashion

Hm, I'm kind of cheap...$40 for that system.

Would rather stick to something I can find in my dad's garage, but I'll definitely look into getting that if I can't find anything else.

dbakl

Rubbing compound with water gently.

USAZorro

You've got a Frejus - one of the more sought after bicycles from the 50's - 70's. You don't want to take a shortcut that could lead to trouble. That system might be the ticket, but I think cleaning it first with something mild (like perhaps Fantastik and blue paper shop towels) is a viable first step. I've used it on several older bicycles without harming anything.

That said, if you want your bike to become magnificent, that system might be just the thing. I suspect you get enough of it to do several bicycles, so maybe you're really only spending $5.00 or $10.00 to treat your bike like royalty.

mkeller234

Does your dad have some mequires scratch X or something similar? I use that when I polish paint with good results, then a few coats of good quality car wax. I don't know if I would use dish soap to clean the paint either, I have read bad things about that on automotive forums.

I think any decent polish will work, that should only set you back a few dollars. You could also try an automotive clay bar (if your dad has one)

Just be gentle around the decals.

trashion

Ooh, I found the whole system for $19...but the polish is apparently for "dark-colored cars" and my Fréjus is more of a sky-blue...what do you think?

raverson

+1

Turtle Wax rubbing compound. Lifetime supply for bicycle use = $2

bike sloth

If you're still looking out for something around the house, I always wash my car with a little Tide. I suppose any other laundry detergent would work the same. I'll sometimes throw a little Windex or Fantastik in the bucket, too. Follow it with a nice car wax. Always works fine on my car!

rhm

Whatever you do, be sure to follow up with a nice car wax. That's the important part.

As for the rubbing compound or polishing compound, be careful, please! Turtle Wax makes both, and one of them --I believe rubbing compound-- is a little more aggressive than the other. Read both labels, and get the less aggressive one, I think that's the polishing compound. Even with that, you want to be very careful; it is an abrasive, and all does is remove paint. You can rub all the way through the paint faster than you'd realize (want to guess how I know that?). I would suggest that unless your paint has really lost its sheen completely, you don't need to use polishing compound.

If you clean off all the grit, and most of the grease, you can go straight to the wax. It will put a protective coating over your 50-year old paint, restore the sheen, and not hurt anything. It is perfectly okay to put wax over dirty grease stains; call it patina.

Fibber

I think you just discovered one of the possible benefits of acid rain! It stripped the crud off of your old paint.

I had a similar 'film' covering the dull brown paint on a '78 Raleigh I acquired last year and found somewhat by accident that WD-40 cut thru it leaving a richer, high gloss brown paint. Try a little on a rag in an inconspicuous spot and see what happens.

mkeller234

+1000 I have rubbed though the paint before, it's very very easy to do.

KLW2

This may sound silly but try toothpaste in an inconspicuous area, it has a VERY fine abrasive (less so than automotive polish) in it...I use it all the time, great for polishing up dull headlight lens covers on cars. Use it with some water and you should see great results with no scratches at all.

abarth

clay bar works wonder on water spots.

Mike Mills

Tooth paste contains pumice. They also may contain baking soda that can also act as an abrasive.

Mike Mills

I don't know why but I think we are about to lose a Frejus with its original finish and patina.

Have you inspected that area of picked off water spot? Get a magnifying glass and do so. Be sure you did not "pick off" the clear top coat.

Rubbing compound will cut through your clear coat before you know it. It will cut through the color coat on any high spots very quickly, too. Typical places would be the edges of the lugs.

Soap and water sounds good to me. Do that and stop. Report back. Get some decent photos posted here, too.

USAZorro

A little Vaseline will make that baby quintuple in value.

kpug505

I can almost 100% guarantee that very few if any bikes (or cars for that matter) prior to the mid to late 70's came with a clear coat from the factory...

+1 Be extremely careful around any raised edges!

+1 When I worked as a painter I used dawn dish soap with plenty of warm water. If I had some tough stuff that wouldn't come off with a normal wash I'd bust out with a "wax & grease remover" like PPG's DX 330. Goof Off is a decent substitute but you must act faster. Wipe on and immediately wipe off. Don't try to rub it in as it will soften your paint.
For wax I've always preferred a liquid wax opposed to a paste. Your less likely to get the gross white crud built up in the nooks and crannies. I would not suggest using any abrasive polishing compounds at all 'til the color has actually started to fade (which it will). Wash and wax. That's it! Unless you have tar spots. Than minimal use of solvents followed by more wax.

cudak888 

The 1977 Lincoln Versailles was the first domestic (U.S.) vehicle to be equipped with a clear coat from factory.

-Kurt

bike sloth

Really? So that's why my '72 Dart needed so much rubbing compound and wax when I got it...

trashion

Trust me, there is no clear-coat on this bike. And even if there was, it looks awfully dull now anyway, even after washing with a little bit of soap and water.

rhm

No problem. That's what the wax is for. Apply wax, let dry (maybe not quite all the way), buff with soft cloth. Repeat if desired. Works wonders, really!

cudak888 

P.S.: If anyone wishes, I'll scan that bit about the clearcoat from the '78 Lincoln catalog.

trashion

Still wondering as to what would be the best route to clean off some of the gunk that's on there (masking tape residue, "baked on" grease) although I will definitely follow up with some nice wax.

I have some of that Pedro's Bio-Cleaner and Bike Lust polish...what do you guys think about those 2 products?

Charles Wahl

Most of the car waxes have some amount of petroleum product in them (solvent). I'm not familiar with "archival" automobile finishes -- I'm just one of the hoi polloi. I just use Turtle Wax (the green stuff) on my bikes, and it probably has some cleaner/polisher in it. I also wash down the bike with dish soap diluted with nearly hot water in a bucket, before waxing. This has worked for 2-1/2 decades, and the bike looks like new (except where it's scratched, for other reasons); no rust.

I would be very careful about using any solvent that is a "quickee" solution; like Goof Off or benzine or TRPS -- any of these could dissolve finish you want to preserve. I wouldn't hesitate to use something like 409 or Fantastik (good degreasers), but after that I'd rinse thoroughly. Proceed carefully, and try a patch somewhere unobtrusive before going whole hog anywhere; and give the sample time to react (badly) too!