I managed to perfectly apply some vinyl decals. Introductions recommended spray lacquer. So I bought Testors Clear Coat Spray Lacquer. I sprayed it on...too thick. Went to wipe the excess. OOPS! There goes the ink of the decal. $#*&%@#*%&. My guess is that I didn't get very good repro decals if they're that sensitive to chemicals.

The Testor's acrylic lacquer has some fairly hot solvents. You need to mist on a really thin coat or two to seal the decal. Then you can spray heavier coats.

That is a bummer. I feel your pain. I have been trying my hand at rattle can painting my first frame. I had the bike painted real nice. I decided to try and bake the paint in my car to dry. I thought it had dried enough already but wanted to make sure I got it hard. Well that did not work out so good as the frame stuck to the car interior ruining the paint. Sanded the bike down again. Primed and re painted it to a real nice finish again.

Then I tried my hand a lug lining for the first time. I found out that I am really bad at lug lining. I ruined the finish trying to remove my lug lining. I had to re paint the frame around the lugs. I have the frame looking really good again. My wife did a great job lining the lugs. I will now not risk decals under clear coat.

There's a reason the pros charge what they do.

Thanks for sharing your pain so that others may not suffer. I've been thinking about painting on top of decals myself sometime.

I rattle-canned a frame for the first (and so far only) frame last year. It actually came out really nice, things never do for me on any sort of project. After admiring my masterpiece, I promptly dropped the fork on the concrete, chipping and bashing up days of work. In the end it didn't matter that much ("just" a Varsity), but it really sealed the deal of me screwing up any project I try. A great ego check!

been there.

Cyclomondo advises "Thin mist of clear, followed by a heavier coat"
Velocals has similar advice

When I had my wifes Mercian repainted at the Medici shop, they messed up the decals I had sent with the frame and they had to find another set.

yup.

You never want to wipe lacquer clear or paint. You should let it dry then wet sand your mistake. Let everything dry for a few days, your should be able to carefully remove the damaged decals. Wet sand the the bad areas and reapply new decals. Then be sure to mist the first coat of clear. Painting can make you crazy, good luck.

Oh man, sorry to hear this. Acrylic enamel is what you need. Lacquer is crazy for lifting paint and several other nice things you have worked on. Be careful with lacquer! But then that's just my cheap opinion.

I agree with your "cheap opinion". Acrylic enamel won't harm your decals, it just takes a long time to dry compared to lacquer.

That brings back a memory - my brother had just repainted his bike, had done a gorgeous job, so he set it on our front steps so we could admire that candy apple red gleaming in the sun. Then he went in the house, forgot about the frame, came back out - and sent it tumbling down the steps.

Nice, giant gouges all over the paint job. He repainted it. Since he had used lacquer, it was still soft enough that he was able to remove most of it with a butter knife.

My cousin owns a sign business and does vinyl lettering, he uses a clear coating called "Frog Juice". It won't melt the inks used on vinyl and has a high UV resistance as it is specifically made for outdoor signs. That reminds me, I need to get another can.

Okay I think this is pretty related, so I have a question. I had to lay a table on my bike yesterday and it looks like it ended up scraping off the clear coat over this decal. Would the clear coat lacquer OP used be the best option to cover it up again?

Don't use lacquer over anything except lacquer.

I inquired about transfers for a bike I was working on at vintagetransfers.it. The guy (Giorgio) said all he had for that particular bike was a transfer meant to be applied with a copal varnish. I think this was how it was done in the old days. But that made curious if copal varnish would be a suitable clear coat over a PSA backed decal, and if it offered any advantages vs. modern paint system clear coats.

Same here. I left the mistakes- I tried wiping some stuff with nail polish on a q-tip, but it didn't clean up well... It just so happens the biggest mistakes are in the most visible areas. I haven't gotten the confidence back to try lining the lugs on around the BB.