Spraying Frame

DCR00

Morning all

Who from here has had a go at respraying their frame ? and how difficult was it to get a good finish ?

My "new" frame is a bit tatty in places, and ive been thinking that maybe a nice matt black with grey decals finish would look pretty damn good

Having done some research on the web, there is a mixed bag of people saying "DON'T DO IT" and those who have done it, and made what appears to be a good job of it

Ive seen one guy on here that resprayed his Trek and it looked the boll*cks, and he didnt have any professional training, so im wondering if it is actually that hard to get a good finish, or if its one of those things that if you take your time and do it properly, its not that hard

Im the kind of bloke that would prefer to do it myself if i can, but i know where to draw the line and pay someone when necessary, so should i pay, or should i give it a go ?

Cheers

DCR

campbellrae1

My cousin did similar thing with his Session, did it in red and that looked insanely good! I think it's one of those things that as long as you do your research and tke your time it should be pretty do-able! And at least if it all goes wrong, it wont have cost too much and you can still get it done by a pro!

1mancity2

Ok low down on painting,

Strip the frame completely, bearings etc rub down or remove the existing finish.

Prepare the frame for spraying mask all surfaces, bearing housings, bolt holes.

Clean it with "anti static" cleaner or a mild solvent based cleaner.

Apply appropriate primer.

Let it dry don't rush it, rub down with 400grade wet and dry, tack cloth it clean and apply a second coat of primer if needed.

Applying the top coat is better done in thin coats assuming your using a rattlecan, build it up slowly leaving time in between each coat for the paint to "flash" once you think one more coat will do it, let the frame dry and rub it down with 1000grade wet and dry, tack it clean, wipe it with a mild solvent like "anti static" then apply the final coat leave it to dry for a couple of days before rebuilding.

Try to make a shelter of some kind so wind etc does not blow your paint everwere.

Or send it to a sprayer or powder coater. (perk of my job )

stratblue

Just find someone that does powder coating. Strip and rebuild the bike yourself. It cost me about £60, no hassle and i get it done once a year or so, whenever I fancy a change of colour.

buzz1

stratblue wrote:

Just find someone that does powder coating. Strip and rebuild the bike yourself. It cost me about £60, no hassle and i get it done once a year or so, whenever I fancy a change of colour.

+1 for me, I sprayed mine this year and by the time I'd bought all the gear I'd spent around the same as the cost of powder coating, so my advise is to get it done by a pro. as you probably wont do it cheaper yourself.

DCR00

interesting

found a local powder coater who have done bike frames in the past. Am on hols next week, so might take the bike up there, see what they would charge

1mancity2

if your frame is Ally make sure they etch prime it first other wise the powder won't key to the frame correctly.

Most coaters charge between 40 and 100 depending on the required colour, and what prep they have to undertake.

mikeysickalrigh

DCR00, if you have a spesh (your pic), I am pretty sure that respraying it will void the lifetime warranty.....

DCR00

its 2nd hand mate, so not an issue

plus it only cost me £200, so no great shakes if i had to replace it

S-M

I have done a few, also painted a few cars in my time (including my current one)

End results = time put into the job

Recently did an old 1998 Specialized FSR, powdercoat is usually a better option IMO, but the local powdercoat place to me is pretty gash, they did one of my old employees alloy wheels, and the alarm bells were ringing when they asked who had painted them previously as "they have done a mint job" (i had sold the wheels to my employee and he kerbed them within a week)

This lads alloys came back utterly horrible, i would not use them myself.

1mancity2

There are a few "rough" ones around that tarnish the rest of us, we do a lot for a major high street brand so we can't afford to be bad at our job.

xcMuttley

I sprayed my road bike-singlespeed conversion and it came out beautifully ive been asked a few times where i had it sprayed, Strip the frame then Prepare the frame with Red lead then primer, Put 2 or 3 coats of paint on then lacquer it, cmon im 15 and mine came out fine

kinmofo

i've always painted my own bikes. it is easy once you know how, if you;ve never painted with rattlers before get something to practise on before you hit ur bike with it. just a sheet of metal or the like.

everyone else has pretty much covered anything i could say, research, read, ask etc

the only thing i'd say is if you do decide to do it your self instead of giving it to 1mancity2 for powder coating, dont be afraid to pay for decent quality paint. own brand stuff is usually pretty poor. good quality paint, sand paper, scotch pads etc. buy the best if you want ur bike to look good.

also, paint color. black / matt black has been done to death, why not go for something more vibrant like a dyno rod orange on the front half faded into a mattblack on rear?

DCR00

TBH im veering more towards a dark grey with black decals

either that or the same colour as my old Megane Sport (Ultra Blue)

1mancity2

Some nice grey metallics about now, have a look in halfords at the mini colours, a nice dark metallic grey in that range.

hedkandi

Travis autos does custom paint jobs for monster bmx rider harry main. Normally charges 80 a frame. Search for him on Facebook