Hey all,

As the title said I Striped all the paint off my frame, suprisingly it looks quite "rawww"..dunno if i should repaint it or just leave it as bare metal + clean coat (to prevent rust).

Question is: Leave it bare metal or Paint it lightish sky blue??

Pic:




Cheer,
Dub.

PS: sorry for crappy quality images, and I need to do alot of clean up before clear coat.

clear coat it

That looks like steel...which, at least in my part of the country, rusts like crazy when left in open air. I'd agree with Retem: if you want the 'raw' look, you should prolly coat it with something. I don't know if you can get matte clearcoat, but that might be an option.

EDIT: I missed the end of your post, there...looks like you're already planning to CC it. So...clean it up and go for it, eh.

paint. Especially a light color.

looks kewl for about two weeks

suggest embrace paint

dremel tool with wire brushes
0000 steel wool
vinegar
rubbing alcohol
clean rags
use the steel brushes with a dremel and get the rest of the paint of of it
polish it up some with steel wool and a little vinegar. (vinegar will get rid of any tarnish)
wipe her down a few times really good with the rubbing alcohol and a clean rag each time. removes fingerprints, oils, dirt, ect and alcohol evaporates QUICKLY.
Shoot about 2-3 clear coats on it. Go light with the first 2.
Wear gloves especially when wiping it down. Prevents any oils from your hands getting on the frame which can show up BIG time once the clear coat cures.
EDIT you can get Matte clear coat at Lowes, Home Depot or a good hobby store or go to a store that sells Duplicolor auto spray paint and get the urethane clear coat....Try Walmart, Autozone, pepboys, ect. to get it

I seem to recall a thread on this subject a while back in which a few people chimed in claiming that a clear coat was not enough to prevent rust. If I remember correctly, they said that after a few weeks rust started to develop *under* the clear coat. There were at least two or three people that corroborated this claim. I've never done it myself---nor do I understand the chemistry that might explain why regular paint would prevent rust but a clear coat alone would not---but I would recommend painting it to be safe.

They do clear powdercoating
This would prevent the rust underneath

Thanks fot the advise guys....
Cheer,
Dub.

Not sure but I think the secret is to clearcoat ASAP after cleaning it up. I.E. Have everything ready and go from one process to the next and so on without stopping so there is no chance of a lot of oxidation of the metal as well as. Also I wonder if people use gloves when they did it. The oils in our bodies have salts which will start to eat in bare metal if left in contact. hence ALWAYS wear gloves when working with bare metal.
Also I think that the clearcoat that is used by some is not intended for a bike that is subjected to harsh conditions of riding, the elements, ect which is why I would go with urethane from say Dupli-color which is made for automobiles. They have a website. just google it.

also, if there is a color solution that allows the bare steel to show through, then clear coated... or a tinted clear coat. That would look fly.

There was a fad a few years ago in the hot rod world to leave cars bare, looked cool. A lot of those guys left it raw and put a coat of WD-40 on it every few days. I would say raw would look way better than sky blue polar opposites really. However, this is probably not practical and the bike should be painted...

Clear powdercoat would be my clear coat choice. Keep that thing oiled while it's all bare like that and you're still deciding.

I'm planning to do something similar to this (it's my first conversion project). My buddy who used to own a body shop is going to help me with painting. Our idea is to leave some of the frame bare metal, but to shoot clear over it -- he said that we will clean it with various sorts of acids first (and some other chemicals) to remove *all* of the oxidation, otherwise it will rust under the clear coat -- you basically will have trapped the problems in. Those who have corroborated rust under the clear coat probably didn't prep the steel sufficiently before shooting clear. FERAL's got the right DIY process if you don't have access to a friend does auto paint

(I hear debates about automotive finishes vs. powdercoat also -- we're sticking with automotive partly since that's what we know, and partly for other reasons that I can't articulate anywhere near as competently as my friend... so I digress.)

Clearcoating will not work. There was a post I can't find explaining why. Hard clear powdercoat applied by pros held well on a color layer below but didn't sustain on bare metal. After a year:

Clear wet paint will not adhere properly to bare steel. It is meant to adhere to primer which is meant to adhere to the steel. Powder coating is a totally different process, and I've heard that clear powder adheres to the frame just as well as colored powder and offers the same protection.

I rattle canned a raw frame with clear over a year ago, and while it is has not gone crazy with rust, it appears that there is something going on between the frame and the clear coat. It is not the pretty raw steel that it was a year ago. I may not have prepped the frame the way it should habe been prepped. It was all done in my dimly lit garage, under the influence of beer.

I have not had good luck with my rattlecan job. If you like the bike, pay $100 to powdercoat.

sorry to hijack the thread, but i hope someone chimes in so i don't have to start one of my own. i tried removing the paint on the back end of my aluminum frame. then, without having to sand i just applied some polish and this was the result. any opinions whether i should continue with the rest of the frame or just finish the back? sorry for the bad pic, the aluminum is actually very shiny!

Finish it hehe...love the bare metal free..but i am primering it today to see how i lik eit

\I expect photos my man.

Oh what frame is thaT?

Seriously I have noidea what frame is that..but ppl said its either kuwakawa or Miyata. PPl said kywakawa never produce track frame then i guess its miyata as ppl said.

Yer here u go the picture..the fork been painted with so call "creative blue but more like a peral sky blue..:


It closer to whiteish blue..the photo aint justifying the colour.

Will paint the riser and with white oary grip..any suggestiong??

light blue looks really trick next to black...it really pops. Consider it...white will pop the white not the frame color. Black parts tend to play up a frame color where lighter colors tend to downplay the frame color.

if you want to leave the metal bare, i suggest a monthly hot oil treatment on the bare metal. Take mineral oil and heat it up fairly hot, put on leather gloves and grab a clean rag. Wad up the rag and dip in the boiling mineral oil, then wipe down the frame, getting every nook and cranny. do this several times then buff to a sheen with a clean rag. Works very well, the metal develops a sheen and does'nt rust.

I am gonna do some white outlining around the lug..what do u guys think??

I am going old shcool with this cranks:

did you get this thing blasted before clear coating it???