lunch money

I have a 90' vintage pinarello and the paint and decals are good. I can see the decals are just starting to crack a little. The clear coat is super thin and really have my doubts about the finish lasting...I want to clear over the original(fragile) decals and paint. Has anyone tried this? I'm worried preping the frame by wet sanding or buffing may damage the decals.

RobbieTunes

There's a thread somewhere where a guy did it, and it turned out fine.

The Pin' decals are notably fragile. While a proper clear requires a wet-sand, some hobby clear does not, and you may be able to shoot a protective coat. If you have questions, perhaps someone here will help, or maybe ask Buddy at porkchopcustoms.com He knows his stuff.

duane041

Here's the dilemma; to get the clear to stick well, you'll need to clean your frame and at least scuff it, both of which could ruin the decals. Or you could skip the clean/scuff, but then the clear might fisheye like crazy because of oil/dirt/other. I've done this same thing to an early 80's Gios and it worked out fine, but you never really know til you try. Hmmm. . .

Loose Chain

I have done it and it will work fine. Consult with your paint shop professionals for products. I did not scuff the paint. I washed the exterior of the frame in hot water and Dawn. I followed up with an isopropyl wipe down followed by a degreaser and then finally a silicone remover. I made sure there was no dust, lint etc with a light pass of a tack cloth and then I shot the clear. I did mask off chrome areas.

cudak888 

Don't do it.

Duane's advice is sound, and the Pinarello decals themselves may not react well with the clear. For that matter, here's a little interesting data point for you: My 1989/90 Pinarello Cadore (Cromor) has all of its decals clearcoated over - EXCEPT the main Pinarello downtube and seattube decals themselves. What's more, the clearcoated decals have successfully lifted off from under the clear, taking the clear with them.

My advice would be to contact JRestore and have him make you a repop set. Use your originals in the meantime, until they start to crack off everywhere - then replace them with JR's. Simple as that.

-Kurt

lunch money

Thanks for all of the advice. If i dont do anything-they all flake off taking peices of clear with them. repop decals would be a easy fix... I think i might roll the dice and see if i can clear over everything since the cracking isnt that bad. The decals on the tube have started to come off...so i need to do something.

Grand Bois

You'll probably go from peeling decals to peeling clearcoat.

cudak888 

Yep - that's another thing. If your new clearcoat doesn't peel, it might react with the existing paint.

-Kurt

cudak888 

Wait a second - are you telling me that your large seattube and downtube decals are cleared over? Mine aren't - as I said before, only my TT decals (Pinarello signature and "CADORE") are cleared over.

-Kurt

gridplan

A few years ago I had CyclArt clearcoat over my Pinarello's original decals. I've had no problems since with any of the letters wanting to lift off the surface of the paint.

cudak888 

Key phrase. You didn't grab a can of clear from Wally World.

-Kurt

gridplan

Correct. I'm just saying it could be doable depending on how intact his decals are. I'm sure people here have had varying degrees of success doing it on their own. I tend to leave these things to pros simply because I don't want to botch it.

lunch money

No, same as yours, no clear on seat tube or down tube. I should have said TT signature and Bassano. Those have clear and have peeled already. I can live with that, the rest I would like to preserve so I can ride this with no worries.

lunch money

I'm not going to rattle can this, most likely a frame painter in my area. CycleArt, i'm sure could do it...but i dont have that much to spend.

cudak888 

Since the other decals aren't cleared, I'd simply let them live out their natural lifespan, then have them replaced with the repops that will last for much longer. The reason I suggest getting new repops done now is because you have access to the originals at present.

-Kurt

luker

If I need to cut in a little clear I use Blair gloss spray clear. This is the stuff that I use to protect smudgy artwork (like pencil or pastel) from, um, smudging. It seems to bond with just about anything and reacts with nothing I've had it on. I've never tried to clear large areas with it but it seems to be durable where I've put it.

Grand Bois

Peeling clearcoat is a big problem, even when professionals apply it using the best equipment and materials. I see a lot of cars on the road with the affliction. There's one sitting in my driveway. When you clearcoat over shiny paint that wasn't intended to be clearcoated, you're asking for trouble.