Well, at this point I guess I will wind up going with rattle can paint, force cured with heat lamps.

If I was in a big city I would most likely go with automotive enamel, but the local auto paint store does not seem to carry any, just the poly and cheap stuff that he claims in not as good a Dupli-Color.

Of course this all depends upon the value of the bicycle involved, and if you have a lot of sheet metal parts like fenders and chain guards that need body work done. If it was just a frame and fork it probably would be best to go with powdercoat, but since the old Raleigh Sports has those that is not a viable option for me. Spending a $150 or so to do it with poly is outside the value range of the bicycle. Which seems to leave auto enamel ($50) or spray cans ($25). Those are material costs for a plain dark finish, no labor included. The fact is that if you want a nice job the labor is about the same whichever you use.

This is a long term project that I will not even be able to start until warm dry weather, so any comments or ideas are welcome. It is not etched in stone until I actually spend the money, and there is a lot of other stuff to do before the paint anyway.