Not exactly mechanics but I have a 1976 bike I bought in, well, 1976, repainted in 2000 by CycleArt in Cali. Still outstanding condition with very few dings except the rear triangle near or within a foot of the rear dropouts. Don’t want to refinish whole bike but would like to strip down to steel, clean and spray paint myself. Any suggestions on best way and best materials to do this.

I stripped down an entire bike and then rattle canned with a two part paint I got at an auto paint store. They said it would cure to a harder finish. I think you have to use it within 48 hours or so of having activated the can. As I recall, I did at least 3 primer coats and at least 3 top coats. I can’t remember if I did a clear coat. The paint seemed to hold up reasonably well for the year I had the bike before it was stolen and I was reasonably pleased with the results. I think I would be very hesitant though to try to combine my amateur, partial job with a professional job. Although, I did do the fork only on my black bike and that doesn’t clash with the old professional job too much. That was primer, one part black rattle can with a two part rattle clear coat. Hasn’t held up as well as I had hoped but it isn’t a disaster. My results did convince me not to try to do the rest of the bike.

For whatever it is worth, here in CA, the two part paint is marked for professional use only not for retail but the paint store sold it to me in my biking outfit without a word.

This is a bit confusing. Do you want to strip the entire frame or just the damaged area?

Problem is no matter what you do, when it comes clear coat time, spray can clear coat does not have hardening agents.

For that you have to go to a professional painter - auto shop, frame builder who paints, etc.

Art Primo has excellent color paints in cans with multiple spray pattern tips. You can buy metal etching primer from local stores....

=8-|

Any chance of posting a picture of the bike in question?
Your idea should be achievable although likely sacrificing on the color match. I ask about the frame mainly to see what you will be butting up to (vs. blending into) with the existing paint. Assumptions here: the new wont match the old, you need as clean of a breaking point between the old and new, in an inconspicuous location, as it would be extremely difficult to match and blend the two, even for a professional. Do not use 1 part rattle can primer, it makes a crappy base and will not stand up regardless of the top coats used. Use a 2k (2 part in one can, material being applied plus an activator) primer, and a 2k top coat if going single stage for the top coat. The single stage paint has the gloss/clear as part of the mix. If going BC/CC, use a 2k primer, base (color) then a 2k clear. Good prep is the key from dewaxing/degreasing first, the stripping methods, to sand papers, primer application, sanding again, dewaxing again, then on to the finish coats.

Seems a shame to rattlecan a CycleArt paint job. How bad is it, actually?

Have you had experience with this paint ?
I have a couple bike painting projects in the queue, and I'm wondering how it would hold up.
They do have some really nice colors, though - Especially the Belton Molotow brand ........

Belton Molotow is what I use....

1. Sand blast area with rest masked, or sandlblast whole frame.
2. Sand to 400.
3. Complete coat of Metal Etching primer.
4. Wait a day.
4a. Sand primer to 400. (Forgot this part...)
5. 3 coats of Belton Molotow - one coat every 15 minutes.
6. Let dry for 3 - 7 days to allow outgassing to complete.
7. Lightly sand to 800.
8. Apply any decals that need to be protected.
9. Have a pro apply clearcoat with hardeners for protection.

Priorities:

- Getting the primer right. Blow this, ruins whole paint job.
- Let color paint out gas.
- Clear coat with hardener.

To be honest though, most folks go powdercoat - cheaper and quicker.

=8-)

You could use a different colour like you see on some bikes on the lower dropout area
I'd just fill any chips, sand them smooth & scuff the surface area with 400 wet n dry..blast away with a spray can

You can see the confusion that's going on now that those two thoughts aren't in the same sentence.

When someone talks about painting a bike, I doubt anyone ever thinks your are talking about anything but the frame and fork. So what steel part are you talking about?

The rear triangle. Seat and chain stays from dropouts to midway up.

Just the bottom 1/2-1/3 of chain stay and a bit on opposite side. The frame is blue with orange panels and orange rear dropouts. The fork is black cf. I though of getting rid of the orange and painting it black to match the fork.
Apparently Cyclart is out of business. Haven’t responded to emails.

Sadly this is true.

There is also Joe Bell in SoCal slightly south of Cyclart. Very, very good work if you have any interest in getting it professionally done. JB Custom Bicycle Refinishing He does painting for Richard Sachs bikes, Rivendell and Holland Custom Bicycles. Is Cyclart out of business? Their website is still up as if they're still open.

Concur with the powder coat suggestion. Get the entire bike done for about $150.

Dan

They were purchased by HIA Velo, along with Guru, and have moved to Little Rock, Arkansas:

Industry veterans launching 'high-volume' carbon bike factory with Guru Cycles equipment | Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

...it's not uncommon to find used bikes with pretty good paint except for a lot of chips and scrapes on the rear stays.

I usually just mask off the BB shell and seat tube/seat lug for something like that, rough the surface of the stays with 220 grit, sand smooth the chips and scuffs, and overspray with a primer. Then proceed as instructed by Mr Bunny, but I'm not all that reluctant to simply use a decent quality spray enamel paint if I can get a good color match. Imron is wonderful stuff, but we can't all paint with epoxy.

It's almost impossible to feather in your color midway in a frame tube or stay, so you'll be happier with the results if you do the stays in their entirety. And if there are fussy things like orange dropouts, I go with leaving those out and using a single color.

If you ride it fast enough, nobody notices.

.
...oh yeah, [MENTION=42883]surgeonstone[/MENTION], lest I forget. There are about a million ways the wrong powdercoat guy can make your future bicycle project life unhappy, most of which involve overly enthusiastic application of the material. I have, myself, knowing this and having a pretty OK feeling about a powdercoater here, had a couple of projects made much more difficult to complete by whoever was doing the spraying coating the crown race seat on a couple of older forks. It did not matter that I had clearly marked the areas not to be coated.

It is cheap, and turns out looking nice and shiny. But you don't want to let just anybody do it for you. And you often lose some detail in the lugs...doesn't have to be that way, but it often turns out that way.

Yes. That's a good point. When I had my bike PC'd, I went over all the nooks and crannies of the frame (threads for BB, rear derailleur mount, head tube where the bearing races are inserted, seat tube, water bottle and shifter braze-ons, fork threads, etc.). One thing we DIDN'T discuss was the dropouts. The (melted) powder accumulated in them just a little bit and consequently the axles wouldn't go in them initially. It was an easy fix...I just filed the finish down just a fraction (not even to the metal) and it was fine.

Dan

Okay then.... sounds like you are already planning to do as some suggested and paint the entire tubes in the rear, but not the entire frame.

My.... IMO... don't strip to bare steel unless the paint is so far gone an has rust blooming through it everywhere. Just sand the bad places that already have exposed steel and use a high build automotive sanding primer. You can get that in a rattle spray can. Plan on multiple coats and sand between coats till it's even with the original paint then prime the entire tube and paint.

As much as I despise rattle cans for a final finish, the small amount you are painting makes them the most economical and convenient. Take a look at all the touch up colors at the auto supply stores. If you can find the local automotive paint supply stores....even better. You can use the Krylon and Rustoleum paints at the big box stores. They'll work well enough. The newer rattle cans tend to have less information about what they actually are though, so be careful on mixing brands and make sure to follow instructions on additional coats. Wait too long or too little between coats and you get some ugly wrinkles with some of the Krylon/Rustoleum I've used recently. I think that would be less likely with the rattle cans that are specifically for auto touch up.