Rust Prevention Before Paint Touch Up
 

I just scored a 1985 Trek 620- and I removed the kickstand that had been on there- probably since new, leaving nasty patches of bare metal on the frame. I was thinking of just touching them up with clear nail polish- as I don't have a match for this Trek blue. I was thinking of using some sort of rust removal/prevention method to keep rust from forming under the nail polish. My idea was to do the vinegar soaked paper towel and let that sit for a few hours, wipe it up and apply the clear. Does that sound like a good idea? Or is there a better method?

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Naval jelly will convert existing rust into something harmless.

But if there isn't any (can't tell from the photo), just paint it I think.

Might try something besides nail polish. Not very durable. How about clear enamel from the hobby shop. Not the greatest either but better than nail polish.

I agree with rootboy, the nail polish can be pretty brittle (according to my wife :)) I found a somewhat close match in Testors model enamel for my Trek TX300 in the same color.

I recall that another user here (jamesxj, I believe) got a bottle of the correct touch up paint from Joe Bell, but I don't know the details of that transaction...

I believe my 1984 Trek 510 is the same color...I would love to hear about this matched touch up paint!

For cleaning off surface rust before touch-up painting, Waterford recommends using an ink eraser then Windex. It's quick and it's not messy.

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Thanks for that Stan!

For those of you playing along with copies of the home game...

I've sort of been out of it the past few days- broken tooth, resulting infection, root canal...

Today I got out of the house, did a little bit of shopping. First to find matching paint- the guy at the hobby store let me bring my bike in to attempt to match the paint- and he gave me a hand with it- giving his opinion. After that I tried finding an ink eraser. The hobby store didn't have one. I went to the craft store next door, they didn't have one. I went to Office Depot. They didn't have one. Who carries ink erasers anymore?

I turned the bike on the stand so the bare metal patches were at a little under eye level. I mixed up a paste of Barkeeper's Friend- applied it to the bare metal- and took a Q-Tip and scrubbed the area that rust appeared to be starting on, and then I let it sit. I started shaking up the paint- probably for 3 or 4 minutes. While I was shaking the paint, I got out my brush, grabbed some paper towels and Q-Tips and went back out to the garage. I wiped up the Barkeeper's Friend paste and then wiped it down with Windex. After that dried, I uncaped the paint and stirred it with a toothpick for a good minute or so and started applying it with a little skinny brush.

I thought the paint would be much thicker- but it was like blue water going on to the bare metal. So the next brush dip, I didn't wipe it off on the edge of the jar- and a big ol' glop of paint went on the bike- and I *hope* I caught it in time with a Q-Tip (we'll see when the sun is shining), and I hope it evened out.

If I were to do this again, I'd practice painting on metal before I did something that was worth something. Just so I knew about the paint. I would also think a little better and know that I should be applying the paint in thin coats. I really shouldn't be in a hurry- riding kind of really hurts my face right now.

As far as the color match...

I used Model Master "Arctic Blue Metallic"

We'll see how it looks when it dries- I'm glad it's on the underside of the chainstays- the match is fine for there. If it were in a more prominent spot... we'll see.

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I'm glad you found this color. Does it have the metal flakes like the original paint?

I think that you can get something comparable to an ink eraser called a rust eraser or something like that at places like Home Depot or an auto parts store. I picked one up a while back at a 99 cent only store. It is about 3" long and 3/4" square; a light rubbing of it over surface rust removes it down to bare metal quickly and easily. I'm surprised an office supply store doesn't carry ink erasers. They are readily available on the Internet, including Office Depot and Amazon.

I'll take some pictures in the sunlight tomorrow- there is "metallicness" to it, but it doesn't have the depth the original paint has.

I haven't looked at it in a couple of days, but it's "good" for a touch up paint attempting to match a 26 year old professionally applied finish- About as good as the "Subaru" factory touch up paint matched my old 98 Outback.

Looks like you removed the rust completely ? I'd probably have used a Q-tip to control a gray primer to those spots and then gotten a small bottle of automobile touchup paint.