Stripping paint and refinishing/repainting/powdercoating a bike

Anybody got any tips or experience? What should I use to strip it? What should I use to prime it? What should I use to paint it?

have you tried searching through all the other threads on this forum about frame painting?

like this one

Anyone have any idea about the best thing for stripping a frame? I want to leave it kind of ruined so don't wont a pro job.

Nitromors

i just got an old gt racer conversion but the paint is pretty horrible, scratched and rusty. how should i remove the old paint before respraying it (wire brush or paint stripper)?
if paint stripper then can someone recommend a good brand?
or should i even bother or should i just lightly sand it down then go over the top?

Use the search button - there's been loads of threads on this.

and how did you strip the paint off?

Yea nitromors is good, but u need gloves cos its also good at stripping skin ;)

nitromors will be fine.

Could any one help me give me tips on removing paint from a frame?
or what kind of things you use?

Have you tried searching first?
Sorry if you have and haven't found an answer.

if you want to completely remove it nitromors will do it

+1

Nitormors, wire wool and a lot of elbow grease! About £4 from B&Q.

Just finished mine and applying my primer!

I'm looking to strip the paint of a charge plug frame and chrome it up. What would the best way to do this be? What should I use to strip the paint? Then should I polish and polish the frame until it gets shiney? It will work right? I know its steel so.

Sorry about the jibbering. Cheers.

Apart from that, for the above enquiry shotblasting higher grade columbus is probably not a good idea as it weakens the steel. Depends on who is doing it though-bike specific places like Mercian or Argos have more experience. Your local auto shop will probably butcher it. Hence the penchant for Nitromorse. Messy, burny and evil for the health of the human body and environment but wonderful for not damaging your steel bike.

For all other enquiries the forum has a pretty superbe search function that relates to all manner of bicycle related events and occurences that may have already occured within the universe to this date. For polishing I recommend using 'Google' and searching for 'Ray Dobbins'. His bikes are nice. A bit too nice sometimes, but well, he probably enjoys it so that's fine with me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34123558@N08/4819360862/

before: this doesent show you quite how rusty and in generally shit order the frame was in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34123558@N08/4831552481/

after.

It took 2 days on and off, the green tin nitromorse, steel wool and some sandpaper.

Get a pair of proper thick rubber gloves and watch your eyes nitromorse isnt nice I've used it on boats and furniture before and im still wary off it, good ventilation too.

All that effort for an old raleigh frame, I must be mad lol

thanks for the advice, regarding stripping my Columbus frame, im well wary of using Nitromorse, I easily get problems with my chest ( once used some of the Oven cleaner stuff , oven pride with all windows and doors open, still ended up at the doctors ) so id be very reluctant to do that myself as i readily succome to respiratory problems with solvents.

I may have to get it professionally done, anyone know any good spray people around the East Yorkshire region thanks

can i ask if it is a definite no no to have the sandblaster take the paint off my columbus SLX frame?, why I ask is the guy sandblasted a very delicate steel grill for me last year and he didnt break any of the grill , which was very thin steel.
there is also a bit of rust to the underside of the bottom bracket which could be removed at the same time.

if he knows what he is doing, it should be ok

To add I believe that the frame is completely chromed under the paint which is the original paint job, im sorry to say that under the bottom bracket this chrome and been compromised and there is an area of surface rust through to the steel below, shame that I couldnt strip it to see if its all chrome which im sure it is but still the problem with the chrome being broken through in that area, any ideas would be helpful, ive just taken the following pic which shows the paint , and chrome which has been compromised Wayne

There's a place called Druid Cycles, near London Bridge, that does a lot of resprays. Also specialises in repainting them in nice interesting ways. They will show you how to do it perfectly for a really low price...or a barter probably. Very friendly. http://druidcycles.co.uk/

This thread has been very helpful, thanks. I start stripping tonight!

This is a brilliant thread. I'm not very technical, but looking at this I reckon I could strip my old Trek down and respray it myself. Does it have to be powder coated?? I was thinking of stripping it donw myself and then getting it resprayed at a car resprayers (actually spraying my self) would that work?? Car paint???

2-pack acrylic car paint works fine, it's not quite as durable as powdercoat although it is very durable (moreso than enamel or rattlecans obviously). You can get a better quality finish with it and the range of colours and special finishes (metallics, pearlescent, candy, liquid) is pretty much infinite.

The drawback is that it's gonna be more expensive than powdercoat, especially if you have fancy paints and a complicated paint scheme. Some car painters won't touch bikes either because they're difficult to spray - motorbike painters might be more helpful and probably more experienced with custom paint schemes.

Unless you're very friendly with a sprayer, they almost certainly won't let you use their equipment. Running a paint booth is so expensive that they'll want to make the most use of it that they can, and won't want to wait for you fannying around.

Okay so I want to get my ladies bike finished for Christmas. I have decided to powdercoat at Armourtex as it is cheap and durable and close, and the guys have always been nice to me, however...

Waterslide decals are in the post, not vinyl ones. Apparently it's too much bother to get vinyl ones made up for me :(

So my question is: Can I rattlecan clearcoat over the powdercoat lacquer?

Or; Should I ask them just to powdercoat on the colour, and then clearcoat the frame myself (again, rattlecan) after applying decals?

Reviving thread to ask:

I've got a frame on which the paint is a good colour, and seems nicely done, but is too thin. I think the paint will chip far too easily. Short of getting it powercoated properly, I was going to touch it up a bit myself.

Should I try to find spray paint in the same colour that it is now, or could I user clearcoat on it? Then I could do 1 or 2 coats on top. Will this damage the paint that's currently on there?

If powdercoat gets chipped or cracked it can hold water between it, and the surface it's on. I've seen the result of this on a motorbike frame, I wouldnt use it on a steel cycle frame.

Oops!! Forgot to say that blasting is ok if you use a gentle media, like crushed walnut shells (I kid you not).

Hi,

Can someone give me any feedback on my idea to strip my aluminium frame and ride it without any paint or coating?
I've heard differing reports about whether this is a good idea or not. Has anyone done this and do you have any tips? I understand that the surface gets burnished after a while and needs regular polishing. Is that right?
Also, what's the best way of striping the frame?
I could take it to Mario Vaz and get him to do it cheaply, or I could use Nitromors. Is Nitromors ok on an alu frame?

thanks for any help.
Ives

This has been done a number of times before so a search may prove beneficial, especially on nitromors.

Pistanator took his somewhere in South London. It got rice and bead blasted and his Langster looks ACE! FACT!

This thread is good, especially as Pistanator does exactly what you're thinking of;

http://www.lfgss.com/thread21589.html

Pisti and I had our frames polished here: www.acmf.co.uk

As did I, good lads.

Hi,

Can someone give me any feedback on my idea to strip my aluminium frame and ride it without any paint or coating?
I've heard differing reports about whether this is a good idea or not. Has anyone done this and do you have any tips? I understand that the surface gets burnished after a while and needs regular polishing. Is that right?
Also, what's the best way of striping the frame?
I could take it to Mario Vaz and get him to do it cheaply, or I could use Nitromors. Is Nitromors ok on an alu frame?

thanks for any help.
Ives

The active ingredient in Nitromors is dichloromethane; it won't react with the Al and is fine for any brazed or welded metal frame. I've used it on steel frames very successfully. Never had an aluminium bike but have used this sort of paint stripper on model trains made of Zn-Al diecast alloys with no ill effects.

David

Hi David...thanks for the info.

Hobo: how much did they charge to polish the frame?

Hello All

This thread, although long and full of funny stories helped me build and paint my first fixie. I didn't have the money to get it painted, so had to do it myself using a can. I decided to do it this way to get more intimate with my bike...strange I know, but there is something to be said about a man and his creation. This is the result and story...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8576799@N04/5693081730/in/set-72157626534603605/

I used Nitromors on my Alu Ribble winter frame and I couldnt be happier with the results.
Took me a few applications of Nitromors but the paint came off pretty easily.
I then polished with Brasso and the surface become really shiny.
The pic below on a cheap camera, doesn't really do the finish justice since it's really quite shiny and not dull as it appears.

Ives, is that Ribble just polished or is it lacquered afterwards?
If it is, I'd like to know what with.
Or do you just keep polishing it?