Now this might have been better to ask prior to sanding but...

I have a 1974 Fuji Special Tourer that I picked up at an auction for $8. Nothing special, needs a ton of work, but I wanted to learn more about the mechanics and such, so I thought it would be a fun little project. Anyway, would this bike be likely to have lead paint on it? I've already sanded it, and of course, didn't wear a mask, made a huge mess in the garage/drive, and all that fun stuff, so little I can do now even if it did, but curiosity (and maybe paranoia) is getting the best of me?

Also, I know taking it somewhere to have it stripped would have been wiser, but I wanted to do it all myself. Call me stubborn, or maybe stupid.

https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/333778-lead-paint-bikes.html

Dunno if this helps

Lead paint is the best paint.

Don't eat it.

I would be curious to know myself...I have a bike from that era. I know with homes (in the USA at least) if your house was built prior to 1978 there are a few laws requiring lead paint testing and disclosure in certain real estate transactions. That makes me think that it must have been safely gone by then...but with other consumer products, hard to say. For example, I seem to recall hearing something on the news years ago about lead used in some garment silkscreen inks later than that.

I bet there is a cheap lead test kit at your local hardware store...try testing your dust and report back!

Likely it does, some colors more than others.


Lead alert facts: Lead in auto paints

Is that what older bikes are painted with? Auto Paint?

"auto paint" pretty much covers everything except latex house paint. So yeah.

Worried about the lead? Are you pregnant or have youngsters in the house?

Lead or not.... I can't think of a any sanding-dust product I'd want in MY lungs. If you have it on the garage floor... mop it up before you track it indoors. Then before you spray the frame... get some decent paper masks. You don't want to inhale fresh spray paint ether (with or without lead).

Always best to paint over lead paint. If you want to remove, use a chemical stripper. Never sand it.

Nope. No youngsters or pregnant women here. At least not yet..

True. I hadn't planned to sand it yesterday, but just decided to go for it. Luckily I had cardboard underneath where I sanded, so a lot of it landed on that. Will pick up some masks before I do anything else (and maybe a lead test just to see).

turn it over to a powder coater as is , just stripped down of the parts , they will do the prep blasting, and return it nicely glazed
with a polyester melted and bonded to the whole surface.

I bought a test from a local hardware store. Came back negative.