toosahn

So I have a few paint chips on my bike that I would like to deal-with appropriately.

I can see bare metal with all the chips.

Based on my searches, I've come up with this tentative plan:

1. Go to hardware store and buy Barekeeper's Friend. Go to Hobby Store and paint-match with some Testor's paint and buy it.

2. Clean the area with some solvent that won't harm existing paint (any help here?)

3. Make a paste with the Barkeeper's Friend and gently put it on the chipped area. (Would this be safe for the existing paint near the edges of the chipped area?). I'm doing this to get rid of any minute existing rust.

4. Wait and then gentle remove the Barkeeper's Friend.

5. Use a brush to paint on the Testor's paint and let it dry.

Does this sound good or should I do something else? Basically I just want to get the chips covered in the most efficient way and get rid of any minute rust that may already have developed on them (I can't see any).

Also how would this change with paint-loss near or on the drop-outs. Like at the seat and chainstays as well. Would the paint be durable enough?

Thanks for any help?

Ex Pres 

Sounds good, and the BF mix shouldn't hurt the existing paint. Since you're already using the BF, I'm not sure the need for step#2, but you could clean the whole area with rubbing alcohol if it makes you feel better.

Durability? It's not going to stick on your dropouts once you clamp a wheel in there. But as long as you don't move the wheel around inside the dropouts that's not really an issue. And it's not going to be as durable as your original paint on any surface. If you're having chain stay slap issues, I'd recommend covering the stay (after you paint) with the protector of your choice.

Bianchigirll 

unless it is really bad I sometimes just ignore them. I seldome ride in the rain and I always wax my frame pretty well before building. depend on the scratch and location I just use some clear nailpolish and let the battle scar show.

toosahn

Thanks for the replies. I'm just looking to put some durable paint on these spots. So is the Testor's the best option?

rhm

Depending on the finish, you can consider Testors, nail polish, and car touch up paint. If you ever see a car of the same color as your bike, note the make/model/year and see if an auto parts store has the touchup paint.

OTS 

+1

zandoval 

Cover it with stickers... Just kidding...

One drop of clear or colored nail polish on the spots till you can get to it latter - On CV bikes little dings are often considered true character of age...

toosahn

Took a look at naval jelly at a hardware store yesterday and it scared me away. It explicitly said to keep it away from painted surfaces.

Oldpeddaller

Yes, but Barkeeper's friend (Oxalic Acid) doesn't stain paint. Naval Jelly does (did on my car's wheel arch anyway).

irwin7638

Or embellish the scar with a contrasting color. The repair always shows up anyway.

Marc

khatfull

I would have picked a color other than orange, hard to see any rust that way?

Sculptor7

I've never tried this so don't know how practical it is but, assuming the chips are just minor surface imperfections and not structural weakness, perhaps the method bronze casters and furniture restorers sometimes use to hide small blemishes would work: Mix up a hard wax with an appropriate color and after removing the rust with perhaps a Dremel tool just fill the hole or scratch and polish it smooth with the surface.

khatfull

Here's the way I deal with paint chips.

Prep...

• Find the best paint match possible...auto touch up preferred, modeling paint like Testors second.
• Clean the spot well with alcohol.
• Take a good stiff toothpick and probe the edges of the chip and make sure there's nothing else waiting to flake off. No sense repairing a spot only to have it flake after.

Application...

Larger areas: Use a thin coat first to allow further applications to adhere the best. Once the first thin layer is very dry I overfill the flaw by a goodly amount. Having a workstand so that you can get the flaw, no matter where, horizontal is almost necessary. Overfill the flaw so the surface tension of the paint mounds it up and be sure to overlap the edges of the flaw a little. Once this is dried more often than not the solids left will have done a pretty good job of filling in the flaw.

Smaller areas: Like dings on chainstays and the like. I don't pre-fill these. I take the BACK of a small brush, dip it into the paint, then drop a single little mounded drop of paint centered over the ding. This should do the same as above, overlap the edges and once dry, enough solids should be left to make it pretty flat.

Finishing...

Most flaws will be just level with the surface of the frame or a tad below and I don't find that a problem as long as there's enough paint to seal the flaw to the edges. If the paint has fully dried and is mounded up over the surface of the frame it is possible to sand it back CAREFULLY. Use 1500 grit sand paper and go very slow. I'll finish up with 2000 grit. Then regardless of whether or not I sanded, just a quick wipe with a bit of polishing compound then Nu-Finish as I put on the rest of the frame.

Notes...

• Going over chrome can be tricky. Many of the colors used are semi-transparent and that can make it hard to find a good match. Do the best you can.
• With light colors, if your flaw has gotten dark (isn't shiny metal) you may need to prime with just a tad of a white or light gray primer to bring the base color to something more like the primer color the manufacturer used. If you don't do that you'd have to mound on a heck of a lot of paint of a light color to "overcome" that dark spot underneath.
• I ALWAYS use auto paint if possible. It dries faster and harder and is more suitable to being sanded if it comes to that. Even though Testors is a pretty hard enamel its just not has hard as auto touch up.

iab

If you are no where near salt water, I'd leave them alone. Or, if you don't want chips in your paint, don't ride the bike.

khatfull

And what contribution does this gem make? Why do people apparently feel the need to be so snarky lately?

This thread, the one about sidepull brakes? What gives?

The OP asked a simple question. He asked how to fill paint chips, not if he should nor did he ask to be lectured about the merits of doing so.

What the H-E-double toothpicks is going on here lately?

khatfull

Hahaha, when I'm in the process of cleaning up a new frame/bike the first thing I do is throw the fork in the car. I drive around for a living so I see tons of cars all the time. I've even followed someone and asked if they'd mind if I looked at the paint code in the door jamb. They chuckled but it wasn't a big deal.

iab

Incorrect. The OP ask how to "deal" with chips.

I suggested leaving them alone as with out a corrosive element like salt, nothing will become of them. How is that snarky? I mean other than not having the same anal-retentive attitude towards chips like yourself? (Now that was snarky.)

khatfull

Incorrect. Sure, he asked how to "deal" with chips and then outlined a plan for doing so. Reading that made it plainly obvious his desire was to paint them and matcht he frame as closely as possible.

No, the bolded part was the snarky part...you conveniently forgot to mention that.

As to anal retentiveness...if you're going to go through the trouble to cover a chip:

1) Why not do it right? (Since the presumed purpose of doing so is to protect the frame right?)
2) Why not use as close a match to the frame color as possible? Why use clear, or orange, or chartreuse?

iab

Like death and taxes, chips are inevitable if you ride a bike. The only way to avoid chips is to make your bike a wall queen. Except there is an old saying, it's a tool not a jewel. A chip will not affect the performance of the tool in any shape or form, it is purely cosmetic in the absence of a corrosive.

So it seems to me, there are 3 alternatives to dealing with chips. Fill them, ignore them or don't make them. Are you saying when someone poses a question to the forum, any answer must be exactly within the parameters of the question? Alternative but on-topic replies aren't welcome? Personally, the best responses I've gotten were alternatives I never thought of.

ciocc_cat

I resisted the urge to touch-up my frame for many years, but ultimately decided that protecting the steel from rust trumped a less-than-perfect finish. I use auto touch-up paint (fairly easy for me since my early 1980s Ciocc is white). Touch-up paint is visible within three feet, but then again you have to know where to look.

Touching-up is a periodic, never-ending process if your bike is a regularly ridden "go-bike" rather than a "show bike".

khatfull

No of course not, sorry. Must be the Percocet for my foot. I just thought telling him not to ride it when obviously his post made it clear he was looking for a way to fix them was a a poke at the fact he wanted to fix them.

It just seems to me some civility has "leaked out" of the forum lately. For my part in contributing to that here, my apologies.

dahut

Godwins Law oughta be kicking in here, any minute...

Sounds like you have the chipped paint problem pretty well sorted.

If it is just small nicks and scratches, I just keep filling with matching paint after the prep until the paint reaches the level of the original paint. Maybe a little fine grit sanding followed by polishing compound.

khatfull

I had to Google Godwin's Law...I don't think we're THAT bad yet eh?

You do exactly what I do...works great doesn't it?

toosahn

Yeah I definitely don't wanna be a paint-Nazi and baby my bike, just wanna protect it from rust.

Uh-oh...it's true!!!

dahut

Well, there's a difference between filling nicks and repairing paint on a larger area. Really a matter of degree, but the difference leads to dedicated techniques for each.