I am restoring this old no name 70s or 80s ten speed road bike partly out of necessity, but mostly because I've always wanted one of these.

I am going to try to see what parts from my current fuji 1998 hybrid bike I can use by consulting my LBS. Assembling the bike may be difficult but I will be getting help from my friend who has built some nice rides including a newly converted fixie.

I'm worried about the paint though. I am using a pumpkin orange krylon spray will be getting rustoleum white primer.(Can I use painting tape while painting for white lettering and striping?) I am not sure about clear coat... I am too worried that I will screw it up but maybe I'm wrong? I guess my other option would be to have my LBS do it? If I give them my paint and primer maybe the cost will come out less...?

Either way aside from paint products, the only parts and accessories that I need to buy are brake levers, brake cables, handlebar tape, and a tube+tire set. Any thing I should watch out for in particular?

What are you planning to move from the Fuji over to the road bike?

The crankset, seat post, and brakeset hopefully.

Make sure you give the paint about two weeks to properly dry.

I can see a few possible problems, but I can't say for sure.

1. The brakes may not mount the same way, the old brakes are probably nutted and the new brakes may have a recessed allen bolt. You can always modify things a bit to make them work, but it adds a bit of difficulty. Here is a picture of the difference:


2. The brake reach may be different. Meaning the actual arm of the newer brakes may not be long enough to reach the rim surface once you mount it on the old frame.

3. Depending on the old frame, the seat post from the Fuji may be the wrong size for your old frame.

I ran into that recessed bolt thing; in my case I just swapped out parts between the two brakes until I got it to work; don't exactly remember the details.

+1 with Doo...non-technical bike zen advice: Try stuff.

Sometimes, not knowing any better can have good results, so give it a whirl. You'll end up with things that worked, and things that didn't, and you can focus on the latter.

Most compatibility advice comes from manufacturer specs and from people (us) who tried something and failed and found out why. I'd bet most of us have tried stuff on bikes and found some things that worked when they weren't supposed to, maybe not perfectly, but they worked, and I''m sure the flip side of that, too.

mrmw's tourer is a fine example of making things work. I'll bet he's got several "issues" that were not supposed to work, but he simply went forward with the intention to make everything work, figured out the problems, and worked on those.

Check the seat post with a micrometer. There is tremendous variation brand to brand and model to model between seat post sizes (diameter). Use one that is too large, and you will probably end up with a stuck post. Use one too small and you can damage the seat post clamp (the bike frame). Doubtful it will be the right size.

Personally, I avoid frames that need paint. I use those bikes as donors, unless they are some unique high end model (which does not appear to be the case in your example).

Financially, I would sell the Fuji hybrid, and use that money to buy a good 1980s bike with standard bike sizing. There are a lot of great bikes from that era that you could buy for what that Fuji brings. Heck, if you do the thrift store/garage sale circuit, you can probably find something pretty decent for around $20 to $30. I find that I can rehab such a bike (new cables, tires, tubes, bearings and grease) for less than $30. At that point, you have a winner!

Its amazing what you can do when you dont know you cant.

hmmm... Well thankfully I still have the crankset, seat post, and brakes from the old bike.

Famous last words.

The paint products will dig into your budget. You're gonna need at least half a dozen rattle cans, the more, the better. The more coats you do the better it will look (within reason of course). Paint the frame, give it a few days to cure and then paint any detail work and lettering you want over top of the finish coat. Then hit it with clearcoat if you want.

Like USAZorro says, give it 2 weeks to dry before you attempt to mount any hardware to the newly painted frame. Paint needs a while to fully cure.

2 weeks to dry after clear coat? I heard that one 12 oz. can should do the job. I mean I'm not sure if I can do it given my location and what I have to work with(no buffing equipment either)... I'll see what my LBS says.

also I am not stripping the paint off of the frame. Is that an issue?

UPDATE: Well it looks like I'm on my own as far as painting goes; the LBS doesn't do paint. I'll get started on thursday or friday and will post pictures soon of my frame as it is now and continue every step of the way.

It's a rattlecan job. It will be as good as or slightly better than your last rattlecan paint job. Stop worrying, paint it. Expect it will look okay from a short distance and be happy. If that isn't good enough, then find the local powder coating shop and hand him the stripped frame and a Benjamin.

Aerosol spray paint is notoriously slow hardening. It takes a long time before really setting up and often takes months to become as hard as say a conventional car paint, if ever. It can look good but will be prone to scarring.

So let me get this completely clear before I start:

1. prime(1 or 2 cans)
2. wait a few days
3. paint(1 or 2 cans)
4. wait a few days
5. clear coat
6. wait 2 weeks
7. assemble bike

I'm nervous because the only thing I painted was my handlebars and that was a crappy job. probably because it was windy and I didn't use primer though.

You can augment that schedule to just wait at least 24 hours between primer and paint. Just wait 2 weeks after whatever you spray on last before you assemble the bike.

the key to a good rattle can job is to do lots of thin coats rather than just a couple thick coats. If you spray thin coats you won't get drips. Most spray paint will be ready for the next coat after 10-15 minutes. Spray a coat, have a beer, Spray another coat, have another beer....if you make it through a case you'll have a great paint job, provided you don't get sloppy drunk

Be sure you remove all the parts from the frame before you start. Including the Headset and bottom bracket cups. Then be sure to mask the inside of the BB and head tube, getting paint in there will make it harder to re-assemble the bike.

you should at least do a minimal prep job, go over the frame with some fine grit sandpaper just to rough it up a little and get it ready to take primer. My old man always used to tell me, "your final product is only as good as your prep job".

IN my experience, the clear will almost always either run or give you an orange peel effect. Practice if you can on something else.

the brakeset on the old one is a caliper one while the fuji is a cantilever. Before buying a new crankset and brakeset(if I do), I think I'll just paint it first and buy brake levers and handlebar tape since I need them anyway

either way I found these:

crankset: https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1113
pedals: https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=592#
brakeset: https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ils&ProdID=482

As you can see, it's all "economy".

Oops looks like I need to check the reach and I'm pretty sure the brakes are caliper traditional nut style. Just keeping some deals on tabs when I see them.

Nvm Sheldon Brown's site seems to be helping a lot. So I can use recessed on my frame after all.. Just need the reach measured..

In my experience spray painting bicycles, though rewarding, is ultimately a test in patience and proper application. I did a fair amount of research before spray painting a junker mtb. These are the following steps that I used:

Strip paint with aircraft remover
Sand down frame for good adhesion
Prep with alcohol and tack rags
1 Coat of Adhesion Promoter
1 Coats of Primer
Sand
1 Coat of Primer
Sand
1 Coat of Color
Sand
1 Coat of Color
Sand
1 Coat of Color
Sand
1 Coat of Clear
Sand
1 Coat of Sparkly Spray paint goop (the can splooged all over my paint and dripped horribly). Give up in frustration and let bicycle sit for a year.

I did wait at least a day between each coat, or at least several hours in 90 degree direct sunlight between each coat.

After letting it wear in the elements, I found even the best care would still cause the paint to scrape off. It's rather disheartening, and I was down about seventy dollars in supplies (1 Spray paint mask, tack rags, three cans of high quality Montana brand spray paint, good sand paper, etc).

But if you're still willing to go ahead with the project, I really suggest getting a 3M spraypaint mask with filters. It'll cost you money, but it's worth it. The first time I sneezed after spray painting without a mask was an enlightening moment: I sneezed out spraypaint colored snot. Think about your lungs!

did anyone mention powdercoating?

you can get a frame done for under 100 bux. Quite a bit less in some cases

the local auto body shop stripped and painted my frame for 150.

I found a powder coater who blasts and coats for $50. I'm not painting a darn thing any more.

ooo really? I just found a bunch in the area so I will be calling them tomorrow. My buddy gave me some spare shimano wheels and the back wheel fits in fine but I'm having some real trouble with the front one. Shouldn't it fit?

I'm also having trouble removing my fork-- I dunno what to do after removing the top cone.

UPDATE: well there's one nearby that powdercoats for $50 no sandblasting though so I guess I'm gonna have to bust out the paint stripper!

But first I'm going to the LBS either tomorrow or Friday to get the bb, crankset, brake reach, seat post, and wheels checked. I'll probably be getting new tires and tubes as well.