So my big project for the fall/winter is going to be upgrading my old Tempo. The paint is a little rough but the frame seems fine (just a tiny bit of rust on some of the bigger scratches. I've never painted a bike, but since I'll have it stripped to the frame it will be a good opportunity to. From a distance it doesn’t look that bad...



But from a few feet away you can see all sorts of chips in the paint. I'm no pro painter but could probably manage, with some instruction and research. I do like the original colors though, its a dark metallic blue, and the white has this sparkle to it as well. I have no clue how to get colors to match the original colors, is that even possible? And I'm not sure where to buy paint anyhow, other than spray cans from the local stores. I assume since its a steel bike that one could use regular auto type paint, and there is a place a few miles away that does auto painting. Not sure if I should inquire to them about repainting it, though I'd rather do this on the cheap. Perhaps they could just get me whatever paint I need. Any advice?

The bike will be upgraded from the original 6 speed 105 to a more modern 10 or 11 speed most likely, still debating on what to do. Possibly even electronic Di2, since this will be my go to road bike where I'll spend most of my time on, and hopefully last me for a long time. So I'd like to give it a decent paint job, though it certainly doesn't need to be show quality or anything, I'm not into bling or having ritzy high end bikes, obviously.

Here are some pics I took, though in person I think the bike looks worse! lol

That paint is in pretty darn good shape. I think 90% of the gang in the C&V forum would tell you to leave it as is, touch it up if you must and most important, ride it like you stole it. I'd say repaint if you want to hang it in the garage and show it off. I have a beautifully repainted Colnago Super and I shudder at the thought of its first rock chip. It's pretty much relegated to wall hanging status.

Moved from Framebuilders to Classic & Vintage. 3 day redirect.

I wonder if you'd ever be able to recapture that color scheme and decals. I'd guess that "look" would be loss forever once you start sanding and preparing the frame.

Yet.... I've always wanted to do a re-paint myself! I do understand the attraction. The bike has lots of shinny parts... so a one bold (or bright) solid color paint job could be real appealing. Still lots of warm weather left.... to allow for a frame to sit and cure to a hard finish... clear coat included.

If you feel that you must retouch, head down to Walgreens or CVS and do a little color matching to the fingernail polish selections. This works surprisingly well and stands up to the elements also. You may be taken aback by how closely some colors can be matched.

I am rehabing my 1992 PDG 5 which is in similar condition. There is some surface rust on the underside of the top tube and the bottom bracket shell. I bought some touch up paint hit the spots under the tube after taking steel wool to the spots. I also got a can of spray paint (automotive) and masked off the BB shell so I could cover up the rusted spots around the cable guides. The white is not a perfect match, but it will be hidden. I also sprayed the rear dropouts as they were a little rough. I plan on riding this bike so I am not worried about it having perfect visuals.

If you plan to ride it, clean up the rust spots and cover them with something and enjoy.

Yeah I plan to ride this thing as my main road bike, no garage queen here, though I'll keep my LeTour around for wet or winter rides.

It did clean up to look better than I thought, a lot of what I thought was paint was actually tons of grime and dust. Still grime in all the crevasses, need to hit it with a steam cleaner thing where I can't easily get a sponge to.

The one thing that bothered me about touch up is that its metal flake blue. My LeTour is just plain blue and white and I think I can simple touch up the chips. This one is shiny metal flake blue and I think any touch up is going to stand out more. And the white - I have no idea what it is, it has a sparkle to it though it doesn't look like metal flake. I think I could preserve the original look with a complete repaint - its pretty simple with no detail. Just all metal flake blue except for the white top tube. Even if the shades of blue or the sparkly white isnt exactly the same as long as the whole bike is redone and pretty close I think it would look perfectly original to most anyone. But it is certainly a lot more involved and more dollars too!

I strongly advise against repainting. It's more more work and harder than you imagine, and I don't think the paint is in all that bad of condition, especially for a rider. If it were mine, I would strip it completely, give it an oxalic acid bath to remove surface rust in all the chips, corners, and nether regions, then touch up carefully. Auto paint stores have a multitude of color books and you may be able to find a close enough match to the metallic blue.

Lose the font reflector and dork disc when you put it back together.

Having some experience with such, I think your paint is a little too far gone to do a retouch job that you'll be happy with. And the bike is not rare or special enough to feel bad about destroying the original paint job. If it was mine, I'd get it powdercoated if I just wanted a nice looking bike to ride, or (first) get a full set of repro decals and (second) repaint it myself if I wanted to get very close to the original look.

The second route is a LOT more work, and if you've never done it before, you might not get very good results.

I would recondition the bike. You will learn a lot in the process. And, if it goes south you can always repaint then. I've had worse condition bicycles that look amazing with a little bit of work.

Here is an old PX10 that looked its age and was worth a repaint but it turned out great!. As far as nail paint that seems like a great idea. I've never tried it but going to give it a shot. Someone mentioned the Tester brand paint. I'm sure you can find a match. I have never tired the Tester but going to work on an Italian this weekend.

Edit: I went to look at your paint again and I think it looks rather good, IMWO.

Try Mcguires products, you can find that at PEPBOYS.

Before you make the decision, take the time to consider the situation carefully. Painting an old road bicycle is, often times a costly big deal. Have a look at Should I Paint My Bicycle?

Your paint looks good, not great, but good. Touching up, to me, would be the way to go - for now. If it does not work out, you can always do the repaint thing later.

Nail polish is available in many metal flake and pearlescent colors, so you should be able to get a match that would pass the ten foot test. I would not repaint a bike in that condition. For me, it would have to be much worse to make it worth the time and expense.

The brand is Testor's , used it as a kid on model kits, it's still around, found in hobby shops, easier to compare colors than online...

Repainting well is a lot of work. That's why it costs a lot to have a GOOD painter do it.

If you're into it, like me it can be rewarding
Cheers, Eric

well you won't be riding it much without pedals.
repainting it to original will cost, to get it right will require skill, time and money. the biggest possible hurdle will be the graphics I think. masking and exact color match just after that.
it can be done.
better investment in money would be to find another Tempo is better shape. Not easy but still cheaper.
Then you will have two and can experiment with one and have the other for reference.

I would take it apart, clean it, do any touching up with the frame apart.
Neutralize the rust on the top tube cable guides, mask them off and prime and paint those with a spray can.
Testors won't get you to that color.
It will be mixing time or mixing with another brand, possible Duplicolor from the auto parts store.
With the bike apart, that the fork with you unless your color memory is perfect.

Overhaul the drivetrain and bearings, ride it as is without repainting. Keep looking for a nicer Tempo or equivalent, the 1987 Super Sport is very similar, in your size and buy it if you like it. Then sell the old one as-is or swap the parts over.

I'm in the process of touch up on my Eddy Merckx. It is somewhat problematic in that it has a fade dark teal to white paint job. I'm using Testors paint and I think you might have luck with yours using that as your colors look pretty straightforward. I bought a bunch of different colors and use a pipette to mix in small drops of tint, in the case of my bike, mixes of Testors teal, white and green. Do the work under natural light. I just did my first round under a harsh incandescent, thought I got a good match, but the darker colors were too dark when I brought it out in the light.

Another pointer I saw in another thread: White paint is often too white for vintage bikes and mixing in a tiny bit of yellow will antique it up a bit.

If this were my bike, I'd clean and touch up. You'll still notice the repairs but that is all part of the bikes provenance. I feel that an older bike should have chips, worn paint etc. Perfect blemish free paint jobs are reserved for the new or in the case of "nothing was left of the old to enjoy" total rebuilds. Once you've committed to repaint, there's no going back, it's only original once.

None of my bikes are pristine, they all wear the scars of use and this I think will give their next owner the opportunity to repaint if he/she feels the bug to do so.

Lastly, a repaint is always a loss of coin you'll never recover.

But in the end, do what will make you happy, that's what the hobby is all about. I think you bike is fine as is or with a touch-up.

Take the bike/frame to a local auto body & paint shop.

For approx. $25. they can shoot the paint with their electronic paint match scanner.

They can mix up an ounce or two of matching touch-up paint in liquid or rattle/spray cans.

I'd go for the matching blue (and/or white) in liquid; get a small paint brush from a craft store.

It is really a simple process, the results are excellent for cheap money.

I'll throw in with the nail polish recommendation-

I've been fortunate enough to find REALLY close matches for my bikes at Target, and Ultra. I also got some Model Master paint from a hobby shop- I've mixed that with the nail polish to get some nice matches.

When I took my bike to the hobby shop- the clerk told me I couldn't have the bike in- when I told him I was trying to match paint he came down and was totally trying to help- That was cool to me.


*yes, I know it's "Ulta" but it's so much more fun to say "Ultra."

I've never found that touching up works. The reason is simple. Unless you have identical paint material true colour match is impossible. The standard way to show this is to look at a patch in daylight, fluorescent tube light, and standard indoor lighting. It is not possible to match all three unless the material is from the original batch of paint. Even a different batch will show slight differences.

It's not just the colour, it is also surface finish.

How you repaint depends on surface quality. The photo attached clearly shows pitting. I will not be able to have this frame stove enamelled as it will need pitting to be filled. I could lead fill, but this is a very slow process. However, I have successfully resprayed far worse using auto spray cans. I have moved on to using a compressor spray gun, because it is less expensive but cans are fine, and I can get custom colours whenever I want.



The damage on your frame looks slight, and after shotblasting there is unlikely to be any pitting

I touched up the Flamboyant Red paint Job with nail polish...worked fine for me. Now there's less guilt when I bang it up!

Kinda had to repaint this one. I painted it myself, It came out OK. Don't try it if you have no experience painting, though.

Wow lots of opinions, pretty much all aspects covered. Lots to think about. I might just try the nail polish first and see if I can get anything close. Can always repaint it later. I just think it looks a little worse than the pics show... so many chips in some areas would be more touch up than original. Or if I can find a local paint shop that will do as Peugeotlovermentioned, then I may do that.

johnggold I do have some minor pitting but nothing too concerning. While you're correct about the slightly different paint appearance even between different batches of the same color, this isn't a show quality job. If its going to be all repainted, as long as its a medium/dark metal flake blue and white I'll be happy.



Looks good!

I have some paint experience but not much. I've painted body parts of tractors and implements and also some odd parts of my 78 Bronco... nothing hard to match anything hard though, just black parts on the Bronco, and IH Red and White, which are a specific color.

Good tip taking the fork in. Not too interested in selling this and buying one in better shape, I specifically got this one to fix up! Not sure what you mean about the pedals, certainly I have the pedals, I'm just starting to tear the bike down. There are some graphics out there on ebay.

Yeah I'll likely remove the reflectors. Not sure what a dork disc is though...?

If you really love this bike, a repaint might be justified. If you do it yourself, either it will take longer than you expect or the results will be disappointing. If you pay an expert to do it, the results will be good, but it will be very expensive.

These are really nice bikes, but they're not all that handsome in my view. It's an opportunity to give it a new look if you're not attached to the current looks. In other words, it might be an improvement. But it would be expensive, either in money or in time. I just painted a frame for myself, and I don't think I'll ever do it again.

A dork disc is the spoke protector on the rear wheel between the freewheel and the spokes. It prevents the rear derailleur from catching ont he spokes, which can cause big problems not only to the wheel but also the derailleur and derailleur hanger. They serve a purpose, but only if you don't know how to adjust a rear derailleur properly.

I did say earlier that I would touch up carefully. However, with many, many small chips, sometimes touch up paint can look worse than chips if not done well. If you are not happy with the initial touch ups, for a "rider" I may consider just treating the rust and then touching up the chips with clear nail polish to prevent any additional rust. One trick is to apply the touch up with the end of a toothpick and stay only within the chip, not overlap onto the original paint.