Hello guys,

Ive admired many photos, actually i've drooled all over the works shown in this part of the forum!

now to my question:

Im painting a frame, so i bought car paint in spray. Sprayed base paint 5 days ago, just printed out decals and am going to buy the Urethane clear coat spray tommorow. Can i clear coat my bike after 5 days of setting the base coat??

a good friend says my clear won't bond with the base coat, and peel off in a few weeks....im trying to do the best i can. PLZ help me

I haven't made that "F-up" yet on a bike but I sure did on the tail-gate of my pickup last year! I sprayed the base and didn't spray the clear until a week later. It is now peeling like an Irishman after a week at the beach!

Wet sand it down to the primer and start over.

this sucks!!!!

You just need to wet sand it but there is no need to take it all the way down to the primer. Also you don't need to sand every little detail. You are likely to sand through if you do - particularly where there is an edge so take care where there are transitions. Also keep your strokes always going the same direction on a tube. If you don't, you will see the sanding marks through the clear.

thnx

after sanding would you recomend a layer o base paint, then do the clear coat?

Actually I was thinking that you put a urethane color coat on. If you were using a base coat that was thin (called a base coat/clear coat system), than my advice was for a different type of paint. You still have to sand it with 600 wet but the good news is that you can ignore whether you sand through or not. Just smooth everything out. The bad news is that you have to apply enough color coats again so it all looks even without blotches. This type of paint is very time sensitive to when the urethane clear coat needs to be applied. I use House of Kolor paints so by the time I've cleared out the gun and mixed the clear, it is time to put it on.

However, one of the things I do when using a base coat/clear coat system is put a sealer on between the primer and the color coat. This does several things, it increases adhesion between the layers, it gives an even undercoat color because most colors have some see through ability and it can make the top coat brighter.

hmm...im not getting the part on changing paint... im not very versed on this subject yet i know that the paint i bought works with the urethane clear im gonig to spray, other than that i know its car paint and mixed for my climate.

yesteday i undressed the tapes, and sanded the frame with soapy water. today ill redress the chrome parts with tape.....hopefully saturday ill have everything done

my game plan

sand/clean/repaint/ beer/clean/decals/clear coat/ beer/clear coat/ beer

Good plan.

I'll defer to Doug's judgment on the paint he has sprayed a lot more than I. Personally though I would save the beer for later, No point in steepening the learning curve

lol 2 beers aint that much under a 90degree tropical sun....COLD BEER makes you focus! hehehe

no but seriously, im not really sure what doug meant when saying i should use different paint. i sanded the base paint smooth, it looks pretty cool right now, now im ready for a light paint layer, and put decals and clear coat...

I don't think Doug said you should use a different paint, he thought you were using a urethane color paint (single stage with/without hardener). 2 stage paint you have is better .

you might want to PM Dr. Deltron (or search his posts)

The 2 ways I know of to correct the problem of waiting too long between coats is (with the paints I use): 1. If it is an activated paint, then it can be sanded to create adhesion. If it is the type of color that is just reduced to be sprayed then a reapplication of color with work. I use Dupont Imron (a polyurethane enamel paint) and House of Kolor (which is mostly a base coat/clear coat system) for glamour effects. Each type of paint and manufacturer have different rules and I am only familiar with what I use.

If I am going to put on decals with a clear coat over them, things get a lot more complicated. After the color, I spray one coat of clear. I wait just enough time for the paint to harden and apply the decals. How long this is depends on the paint but probably around half a day. It needs to be at that time were it is just hard enough but still green. Then I apply the decals and put 10 to 12 coats of clear just over them. I put 2 or 3 coats on at a time and then have to wait (15 or more minutes) to do it again so all this paint won't run or sag. I spread the area just a little farther with each group application so the edge of these clears tapers a bit. On the last clear coat I cover the entire frame again so there is 2 coats of clears where there isn't decals. This is necessary so I don't sand through. That can be a big problem for several reasons. For best results, this needs to fully cure (at least 3 days and better yet a week). Well actually it won't fully cure until a month but I digress. Now I sand the decal areas with 320 grit paper until it is smooth to the surroundings. After that I have to wet sand everything with finer paper. Now I can put 2 thinned out final clear coats.

You can see a picture of the frame Herbie painted (with my help) in my shop under the subject thread "custom cast lugs".

thanx Doug!
heres the frame after decals and clear. Im gonna sand the clear a bit and use rubbing compound, to make it shine more!

It looks really good, nice paint job! Makes me want to try it out sometime.

Hi Echotraveler,

I have enjoyed reading your thread. I use to spray the frames I built with PPG in a spray booth. I had all of the equipment and supplies. I sold all of that, and dismantled the spray booth when I stopped making frames as a business. I still make them for myself, and am working on one now. I had the last frame powder coated and didn't use decals or a name on it. i am thinking of brazing on a stainless name and head badge this time, which complicates the paint job. I thought about spraying it with auto paint in spray cans, which is why I was so pleased to see your thread. Could you tell me exactly which paint you used, and where you found it?

Thanks,
Tom

Nice job. Looks great!

hello friend,

Im not sure what brand of paint i got, it think it was R-M paint, but im not sure. But i think you can get car paint in a can @ any Paint Shop that specializes in body shop materials will have it for sure, plus many other goodies you will need, like scotch brite sandpaper, tarak...etc.

Hope this helps.

My last frame repaint(2007) I bought base and clear from Napa ( Pittsburgh re-branded) IIRC Pint of base color was about $20 quart of clear with activator was about $50 reducer was about $18. It has held just as well as the more expensive PPG I used previously on my 2 roadbikes.

Keystone sells Spies Hecker which also comes in small quantities, I used that as a match on my Volvo's trunk lid a few years ago. It also has held up well.

I've painted 3 frames, all with terrible amateur looking results. I've also only painted using spray can paints from Home Depot, so maybe that has something to do with my ugly paint jobs. Maybe I should just get one of those airbrush paint sprayers and an air compressor.

One thing I don't get though is keeping the strokes going the same direction on the tube. Is that going to make that much of a difference? I guess I would feel like I'm wasting a ton of paint by doing it that way.

I dont want to diss store bought paint since i know a couple of good brands...but i can say car paint has given great results! its more expensive, but that cost made me prep the frame really good. taped and cleaned all chrome parts, cleaned multiple timese the frame since even the oil from my fingers would damage the paint job, sanded the heck out of the frame, bought a freaking great primer called self etching primer. all this work took me a couple of weeks and it was a pain!

Solid color are much easier to apply since you only need to apply even layers. Metal Flaked colors are very different because you need to have a steady stroke to make the flake alling and be even. If you have a multy direction stroke youll have more flake in some parts, less in others, swirly flake, etc. . Hence i used solid color less headache .

UPDATE: My first attempt at clear was a disaster! Had to sand the entire frame, retape and be super carefull about the stickers under the bad clear! Used a 1500 soapy sandpaper.... bought the clear coat and repainted, this attempt was worth 1000%!!!! its looking so good! like it went to a professional! i would post pics, but they dont do justice to the project. When the bike is finished ill pos tsome finished pics.

Do you sand right before applying the clear coat? I tried to do that, but I got worse results than when I didn't sand before the clear went on.

You should apply the clear coat a couple of hours after base coat without sanding....at least on my car paint you had to apply it within 4 hour difference....in my case i had to sand the clear because it was in bad shape, sanding the clear provided a surface (didn't get to the base color) for the new clear coat....but in your case you should just clear coat after base paint....remember that between coats you should clean with soapy water. Im no expert, and i bet many here are way more qualified to give tips...non the less im pretty proud of this project and the results.


lets see if you guys can spot the differences:

i like this thread


still not finished, but already riding... waiting on a honey brooks, and velorange elk covers