Raleigh Steel Frame Botched Powder Coat Job. Advice Needed
 

Hello everyone, Just picked up my lugged steel frame that i got powder coated and realized the chrome headset pieces were painted along with the fork crown. I dont't know whether to be frustrated with myself or be upset at the powder coating business for painting over the chrome pieces. I thought i taped the off the fork tube ends but its been two weeks and can't remember how i left it with them.

im looking for a solution to possibly remove the pieces and strip them of the powder coating. They seem to be sort of stuck via paint.

Im also looking at the chrome pieces on either side of the fork tube and im not even sure if they do come off... so im trying to avoid any unnecessary fiddling with the frame.

Suggestions will be appreciated

You might want to delete this post and repost in C&V or bike maintenance forum

The headset cups should have been removed from the frame prior to powder coating. Just masking them off would not have been correct, though preferable to coating over them. The race should have been removed from the fork steerer tube, the tube should have been masked off and not coated.

What to do now. I would use a razor and cut the coating at the edge of the headset cups, then knock the cups out of the head tube with the appropriate tool or a wood dowel inserted in the head tube. Then remove the coating from the cups - not sure how, soaking in solvent would be my first guess? - and press them back into the head tube. If the steerer tube has been completely coated, you'll need to strip the coating from the threads and from the bearing surface of the headset race. Maybe the powder coater will help out by sandblasting off the whole steerer tube, then you can remove the race and strip it.

Looks like your powder coater didn't know anything about coating a bike, and neither did you, so not sure where the blame lies if that matters. But the situation is salvageable.

EDIT: Come to think of it, to heck with stripping the coating off the headset parts after you remove them. Just buy a new or used headset. They are not too expensive.

Sorry, but IMO the blame lies with you for sending in a frame with a headset installed. I would not expect a painter (unless it was a bike specific shop) to remove those pieces before powdercoating. That's your job.

I don't know that much about powdercoating, but I'm pretty sure that headset is trash. If you have to sandblast off the coating there's no way it'll ever be good again. Fortunately the steerer tube where the crown race sits was not coated over (because there was a crown race there!) so a new headset will fit on there just fine. Next time make sure those parts are masked off.

I hope the BB threads weren't coated!

I agree you should removed the headset parts before submitting the frame and communicated with the company doing the work about what you needed/wanted done.

This may help your Bicycle Anatomy


http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1362881392
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303451

On the bright side, the head tube won't need to be faced.