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Need Advice on Refinishing a Frame

I’ve had a frame hanging on my garage wall for years. It’s a Falcon San Remo that I bought when I was in college in the mid 70’s. I rode a lot of miles on it through the early 80’s; I was pretty strong back then, so the 531 straight gauge suited me. I retired the bike in favor of an aluminum Cannondale, but never parted with it.

Lately I’ve been thinking about rebuilding it with some of the stuff I have lying around. The first step would be to restore some semblance of the original Falcon colors, which were primarily powder blue with (I think) contrasting paint on the head and bottom-bracket lugs.

Here’s my question ... what’s the current state of the art in repainting a frame? I had figured I’d have to hand strip it, hit it with a couple coats of self-etching primer, then go from there. Is that the best way to go? Are chemical strippers or sandblasting an option? I’d appreciate any advice ... TIA.

How bad is the current paint job?

Quote:

Originally Posted by satbuilder (Post 20428706)

How bad is the current paint job?

Meh. Rattle can gloss black, little or no surface rust. The frame is pretty good, just ugly.

I generally shave as much paint off with a single edge razor blade as I can, the wire brush. I have a sandblaster but no booth and it's way to messy for me. I will use chemical strippers on those hard to reach places like the seat lug and bottom bracket, but that's it - again too messy. Following that, I just repair any dings, add braze-ons maybe, and then file ugly parts (all frames seem to have blobs of brazing filler left during manufacturing), finally a good sanding. Painting is something that needs a different thread.

All depends on how much you want to spend. Media blasting should only be done by someone who paints/powder coats bike frames. I've got a guy who will do it for $40 who does powder coating of bikes.
[MENTION=457988]Hoopdriver[/MENTION]'s method sounds as good as you need. Dings can be filled with JB weld, let it set overnight, then carefully file/sand it round.

How difficult is it to media blast a frame but not touch the chrome on seat/chainstays? Just mask it off maybe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by John HP (Post 20428865)

How difficult is it to media blast a frame but not touch the chrome on seat/chainstays? Just mask it off maybe?

Yep, just mask well. Look up soda blasting.

Birds Of A Feather?

Quote:

Originally Posted by byscott (Post 20428663)

I’ve had a frame hanging on my garage wall for years. It’s a Falcon San Remo that I bought when I was in college in the mid 70’s. I rode a lot of miles on it through the early 80’s; I was pretty strong back then, so the 531 straight gauge suited me. I retired the bike in favor of an aluminum Cannondale, but never parted with it.

Lately I’ve been thinking about rebuilding it with some of the stuff I have lying around. The first step would be to restore some semblance of the original Falcon colors, which were primarily powder blue with (I think) contrasting paint on the head and bottom-bracket lugs.

Here’s my question ... what’s the current state of the art in repainting a frame? I had figured I’d have to hand strip it, hit it with a couple coats of self-etching primer, then go from there. Is that the best way to go? Are chemical strippers or sandblasting an option? I’d appreciate any advice ... TIA.

As I very recently acquired a Falcon San Remo Straight/Plain gauge 531 with Reynolds 531 forks, I may be able to provide reference information if you're interested in restoring your Falcon? It's in essentially original condition, and probably is a 1972 from the date codes on the Campagnolo NR RD and FD. It has stamped dropouts. It's no doubt one of the "Numbered" San Remos and definitely not an "Equipe". I have yet to ride it, or photograph it, but here is one of the seller's pictures from their ad on FB Marketplace for a "Project Bike Needs Rebuild". One notable feature is the only braze on is a post on the underside of the downtube to fix the DT shifters, though in this case it's used to secure the Campagnolo cable guides for the Suntour Bar Ends.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0f0f3acf7e.jpg

I don't want to hijack your thread. I will be opening one for this bike, and if I can find a "Show Me Your Falcon" thread, I'll post to that eventually, too.

I'd sure like to see pictures of your bike!