^thanks mountaindave
Not worthy of a separate thread on the project but here's the refinishing story.
Paint professionally done by Mr. Rusty Oleum. With material and all supplies, cost approximately $12.
I had this bike 300 miles away from the workshop and just wasn't up to dragging
another project to block the doorway or mix with the others...lol. My thinking was
while at the other location, it would stand out and say 'fix me'! Decided late last
Fall when the mosquito's left, the winds were calm and the temps hovering at 70, I
used Mother Natures paint booth.
The Motobecane stickers of that 70's era are tough to remove with some clear over
them. Used a heatgun and mild scrape to remove them. With a razor blade, was able to
cut around the fork blade decals, lift and save. Received a degrease bath with liquid
Dawn. She's hot in the water.
Most would probably strip the finish to bare metal, but sometimes its just as good to
not bother. All depends though. This one had good original paint adhesion (no chrome
underneath) but did have the surface corrosion areas. The rust portions were taken
care of and the frame sanded to 320 grit only. Areas of knick or scratches the paint
edges were sanded level, feathered.
A thorough wipe down just prior to paint with thinner and tack cloth. At this point,
its hands off - no oil.
The magic of Rusty Oleum. This rattle can stuff is really good. Its the 2X coverage
with primer. A can cost $6 but I found it on sale for half that! Of note - you can
spay while inverted plus the plastic nozzle doesn't spit and has a more atomized
output. For out of a can, coverage is excellent and its the best I've found. This
bike was a complete color change, NO pre-primer! Didn't want to go with multiple
coats and have that thick or powdercoat look plus later was getting clear urethane.
Post paint. Left it outside for an hour before handling. Later shove it up on a shelf
in the garage and forget about it. Winter time with a nice long cure. Gather parts,
wheel related, decal ideas, etc..
Spring arrived and got carried away with a gold paint pen outline, DIY sort of
graphics. Spent $10 for the chrome Motobecane letters. The rest is my own concept home
made sort decals. Love, hate, odd or indifferent, brings up conversation of triumph
and battle both race drama and personally of Ocana.
Anyways, back outside in Ma Natures paint booth on a perfect, no wind day. Received a
top coat of clear urethane by Mr. Rusty 2X again. This covered good but was a little
trickier in the flow. Seemed thin on the output. Had a few minor runs but while wet
fixed immediately and had to rotisserie the frame for a few minutes preventing runs
on the tube surfaces. It would be a different story using this stuff on flat surfaces
but for compound surfaces like tubes, its challenging.
Really impressed how tough this paint cured. Excellent coverage and no soft feel to
it. Nice and hard cure. Thought to have chipped it a few times moving around and
during a realignment of the front derailleur, loosened and rotated with the cable
still on, no mar on the tube.
Fortunate to have all the good equipment and anytime access to a pro paint booth but
with a tight budget in mind, didn't want to invest in the high cost paint / chemicals,
etc.. The goal was completing the project and something different. Hope one of the
girls will ride on some C&V events or will be loaned out.