Fred Smedley

I just finished a frame withe the Duplicolor ceramic engine enamel. The base coat was great but I had troubles getting the clear to go down wet enough without running. I ended up clearing with the regular duplicolor enamal clear, it sprayed out much finer and did a much better job IMO than the ceramic clear.

unworthy1

Funny coincidence (or maybe just great minds thinking alike and shopping alike) but I have 2 cans of Duplicolor ceramic engine enamel I just bought to use on a re-spray of a friend's Raleigh. These will not be anything like Raleigh colors, but they are the 2 he selected (main and panels). I was just going on intuition that this paint would be a good choice, seems like it will. I don't plan to spray any clear over, but we'll see.

monsterpile

I am intrigued. How many cans does it take to paint an entire frame with this stuff?

WNG

I'd recommend at least two cans. I used Dupli-color Caliper paint to paint a Trek 800 frame/fork earlier this year. Similar specs to the engine enamel. Surprisingly tough. I accidentally hit the top tube with the handlebar after it dried. No chips, can't say that for regular spray paint.
2 cans covered the old finish evenly and completely. I sprayed over the old factory paint after sanding it.

zandoval 

Yes - At lest two cans - Its not really the area of spray but the fact that you are taking short strokes from a distance and loose allot of the paint...

Don't forget to make sure its completely dry before the clear gos on - When is it dry? - Thats when it no longer smells like fresh paint - After drying for two days you can hang the frame in the attic for a really hard bake...

Also what ever clear you use needs to have a really good nozzle for a fine spray - The engine block paints don't have this...

lostarchitect 

Has anyone used their "metal specks" paint? Just wondering if it looks good or corny in practice.

https://www.duplicolor.com/products/metalSpecks/

MrEss

Zandoval, how are you feeling about this paint a few months later? Has it continued to hold up well?

Fred Smedley

I think it is OK to shoot clear right over color if you stay within the 10 minute time frame stipulated on the can instructions. I doubt the solvent cares of their is pigment present or not.

zandoval 

Yes - Very much so - The only dings I have are from obvious abuse - The coating is not as good as Powder paint or two part professional epoxy but still it is strong in its own class - There is a limited color selection but the colors available will do...

After all - It is just rattle can...

noglider 

Hmm, maybe I will try rattle can after all. So two cans of color and then, what? One can of clear? Two? Can you recommend a specific name of clearcoat?

I'm thinking of doing a two-tone scheme, with racing green as the primary color and yellow as the secondary. Is that too ambitious for someone who has never painted a bike frame?

MrEss

Tom, I did metallic blue with creme panels and clearcoat on my Atala. You've seen how that turned out, and it was my first time painting a bike frame. I bet you can do it! Basically, just take it slow and treat the paint with respect beyond its price tag.

My biggest regret was not realizing how easy lug lining and homemade waterslide decals are. Mine are on top of the clearcoat, but if I'd planned ahead better I'd have put them underneath it.

Anonymoose

This is a point worth emphasizing. I've used these duplicolor paints in the past to spray valve covers and the nozzles definitely leave something to be desired. If the can is not held straight and once you get close to the end of the can the nozzle has a tendency to splatter larger flecks of paint at what you're spraying. Shake often, very often and I wouldn't use a can to it's entirety. A couple other things I've learned about spray can jobs; like all painting thoroughly prepping the surface first makes the most difference in the outcome. Also, start the spray off the frame and move over the frame from there so you get an even coat over the whole thing instead of a big wet spot where you started. I'd also practice on something else if you've never done it before. It's not hard but a little practice will help get wet even coats without runs. After you clear wet sanding and polishing the paint will also make a big difference in your finish. It's fun.

lemondirgopie

So what is the process for painting this way? Do you strip the frame, or is this used over the existing paint, or just for touch-ups? I have a Stupmjumper that has patches of rust we"ve been sanding away but can't find a good way to re-paint those patches/the whole frame. It's my brother's bike who doesn't have the money to powdercoat it. If I can figure out how to do it, maybe this would be a good option.

Anonymoose

You can look up painting techniques on google. Car forums would have very good walk-throughs. Basically I would remove rust either chemically or mechanically or both first, and sand down the whole frame (I personally wouldn't go down to bare metal unless you wanted to go nuts with it.) smooth. Then you'd spray it with a sealing primer, then use filler on dings or nicks (remember the frame flexes so you only want to fill very minor marks below level) then sand the filler smooth, then paint a first coat, then sand down the frame again as a solid color will most likely reveal that you didn't sand the filler well enough, then paint, then clear, then wetsand and polish. That is a very rough guide and like I said look in hotrodding forums and the like for much more thorough explanations. Also, be conscious of where you're doing this. If you spray outside bugs and crap can fall into the paint. If you're doing it inside dust is a concern, hose down your garage floor first. Wear a mask and gloves. I have personally seen rattle can jobs turn out VERY nice by people who took the time to do it right.

WNG

The bright yellow Trek 800 was painted by my 15 y.o. son, so Tom, I think you can do a splendid job.
Just remember, lots of thin coats, not thick coats. First few coats won't cover much. As it builds, the coverage is total and quite smooth.

Prep depends on how bad the previous finish is. If you have lot's of rust, you're better off stripping it all off, attack the rust, then apply a can of etch primer then the base color. A lot less frustration and better results.
The added expense is a can of Jasco stripper and a can of primer.

zandoval 

Yes - I have only had to completely strip two bikes - Both from Galveston with small pimply rust - But I have primed all my bikes before painting with a primer as close to the final color as possible - After the primer recheck for defects and sand where needed - When putting on the final coat be sure to have multiple pairs of eyes to spot for you - This helps allot - Like I said you loose allot of spray but its worth it - And if it gets messed up you can always do it again - Or even pick another color...

Oh - Another thing - You really don't need a clear coat if your not using decals - Sometimes the finish comes out shiny enough to go without it...

Fred Smedley

True , this is before clear. I wanted clear as some sort of scratch protection.

MrEss

Whoa, whoa, what? Whoa.

Did you spray an 80's fade with rattlecans, or is that just an extremely strong shadow cast across the frame?

noglider 

Heh. I've never understood how that's done.

fuji86

I used engine enamel on the bmx I painted. The color selection is pretty good, head over to an auto parts store like Advance or AutoZone. They had it at Home Depot, but that's where color selection was limited to black only. There is a larger variety of engine enamel colors over the years. I chose it for durability, I figure they paint engines with it, even other things like transmission housings or those huge industrial pipes and those last forever, that a bike frame would have a durable finish too. I went with new Ford gray and am pleased with the way it turned out. Powder coat for $ 50 ? I'd do that over engine enamel. Anyway, couldn't get that deal so I baked my frame & fork in the car, solar oven style. Only took a couple of days. One 10 AM to 6 PM is probably more than enough though. BTW, I painted over chrome, self etching primer sticks pretty good for that. A good thing about the engine enamel, the color is a coded mixture that won't disappear anytime soon, so touch up is as easy as buying another spray can of the color you chose.

WNG

Here's a 2-color 'fade' I tried for our first paint job. I used Krylon tough duty epoxy paint. I overlapped each color successively near the transition area. Ended with the red as it's lighter than the purple. As the paint is still wet, they blended into each other well enough for our purposes. The paint wasn't as tough as claimed.

zandoval 

Nice job - Still - Its only paint - I guess thats another point for Rattle Can cause the colors are easy to get and retouch or just redo the whole bike...

fuji86

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...haro+backtrail

Amesja

Another durable option for a utility bike or cargo-tank on which you don't want to spend a lot of money, care too much how "nice" it looks, or mind a weight penalty, is roll-on bedliner.

It can be applied directly over anything with a roller or brush with only a scratch-buffing or light sanding and cleaning with Xylene. The stuff is even stronger than powdercoat and is very simple to repair even after being damaged by putting on more after the same preparation as the initial coat(s).

If you don't like black you can even find some basic colors. The downside is that it's going to weigh about 4x as much as paint. I'm going to build my own home-made xtra-cycle and this is how I'm going to "paint" it.

Reynolds 

Has anyone tried Krylon or Rustoleum engine paint? I can't get Dupli Color.