I have been rattle can painting bikes for 50 years. Hundreds of bikes I would guess. Some of the early ones being done as a 10 year old were not the best I have to admit. That being said they always looked better than when I started though. As an adult I mostly used automotive paints and in most cases used a clear over them. If you are going for just a basic one color bike without a lot of blends and stripes and graphics I would not rank the task of DIY painting all that hard. I personally see no reason to take the old finish down to bare metal. When you get a ding in your car they don’t remove all the paint on the panel. Automotive primer is more of a filler material than anything else. They put it on and then do what is called blocking it out. using big flat board sanders, they use the primer to fill in the low spots until the surface is blocked or flat / uniform contour.

The suggestion of practices on an old or junk frame is a great idea. I would sand enough to remove all the surface finish of the paint that is on there and then switch to finer and finer papers until it is good enough for what you want. If there are deep chips and such and you go to bare metal and then prime and sand and prime and sand until the surface is blocked. Then give the whole frame a primer coat and finish sand. The reason for that is when it is all the same color and surface finish you will see things you couldn’t with different colors. If you see some problems, then work them out until you say good enough.

Get all the dust off the frame and out of the air and room you are working in. then hang the frame by a cord so you can easily get to all of it to spray mask where paint isn’t wanted with blue painters tape. The biggest problem is putting too much paint on at once. Plan on many light coats and you don’t have to wait all that long for going over a freshly painted area the paint will blend into paint without runs if you give it a few seconds to tack up. I doubt you will have to paint the whole practice frame before you will get the hang of rattle can painting. Watch for spatter as paint will get a drip built up on your finger tip or the nozzle. Wipe it off before it spatters. If you are happy with the job put clear over it if not you can wet sand it with the finest of papers and then clear it or give it another coat.

If you can find the orange you want in an epoxy paint that stuff is really tough an I would try that. I painted some tractor parts with it and it really holds up.

I really like the color Allis Chalmers Orange and if I wanted an orange bike that’s what I would be using.

The paint job isn’t going to be a show piece or a wall hanger but it will be the best looking orange bike around and one you will be proud of doing it yourself and riding.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional painter in any way just a DIY guy that would never in a million years pay $300 to have a bike painted just to ride. And all the bikes I own are just to ride. If you are really going for a show bike then seek advice from the pros. I have a friend that sent his bike away and paid $2000 to have the frame restored and painted. It was a fancy vintage bike and it hangs on the wall of his den now looking like the day it was built.