Nitromors hints and tips

Good Saturday to you,

just picked an old Bob Jackson off Fruitbat and the plan is to strip it and respray it myself as I don't have the cash to get it done professionally. I have roughly sanded and rattle canned a couple of frames before to decent results, however, I would like to put a bit more effort into this one.

The painting part is not a problem as I've done that before. I've just never used Nitromors.

The question is; what little tricks and tips have people picked up along the way other than the bog standard instructions? What's the best way to get into those little nooks and crannies and around fancy lugs? Will Nitromors damage a bathtub or lino floor?

Any other advise would be welcome, cheers.

Aaron

Will Nitromors damage a bathtub or lino floor?

I wouldn't do the deed indoors - the stuff stinks.

advice is spend £40 at a local powdercoaters.

rattle cans of primer and paint, emery paper, steel wool, and paint stripper will end up costing you, what, £25-30+ ?

I had heard that, although I have also heard of others doing it inside and also my mother-in-law used it to strip some paint off some tiles.

Very good point Rob, must think this through. Although it is a way of spreading the cost. Armortex is £49 last I checked and I can't really outlay that much in one go at the minute.

Also, if I strip it it will be easier to see what dings need a bit more attention before getting it powder coated. The mother-in-law has some Nitromors left over.

do it outdoors!
use an old toothbrush!
the tricky thing is getting rid of all the painty gunge once it's 'melted'. do you have a hose?!

actually, RPM is so right. to do a good job on a frame with nitromors and aerosols is a massive job. £40-60 isn't that much so I'd splash out or put it on hold until you've saved a little. On the whole rattlecan paintjobs are a false economy.

Hijack!

How's nitromors for exposing chrome?
I'm thinking of stripping my forks and rear stays a couple of inches at the ends

can you get neat edges?

it's mental stuff. I used the Homebase own brand of paint stripper, which was so easy, just paint on and the paint bubbles off. Definitely do it outside as it stinks. It even nearly got through the rubber gloves i was wearing. Also whatever you do, do not wipe the sweat off your forehead when you have paint stripper on your gloves, it hurts. It is good stuff and it does what it says on the tin and it's a million times easier than using sandpaper and wire wool, but a professional job will be worth the extra £20. Neat edges will be hard but maybe if you apply it slowly with a paint brush it might work

''An old tooth brush is good for gettin the stuff into tricky corners and if you use masking tape - applied firmly - then it easy to keep straight edges.'' - courtesy of Handy Andy!

get the nitromors that comes in a tin and you paint on. apply it real thick and you wont have to go over it again, and the paint will litrally fall off without much scraping. i dont recommend getting the massive tin unless you plan to use it for other projects, once opened the nitromors will degrade pretty quickly.

the first bike i stripped i used the spray can version, it worked, but i had to use three cans and some elbow grease to get it all off. more expensive and doesnt do as a good a job.

toothbrushs are really useful, you can get packs of 5 at superdrug for a couple of quid.

stripping is one thing, but i dont really recommend painting it yourself as theres no way you can do it cheaper or better. unless of course you have a bunch of fancy equipment. i get my dad to powder coat frames for me at his work, i just have to order in the paint.

Wear THICK gloves. I had some surgical latex ones which were fine to start with. But halfway through the process the nitromors ate through them and started burning my hands.

Don't get any of it on you. at all.

Wear goggles. I didn't like a dick but got away with it. I got it on my arm and hands and it burn't like a bitch - I wouldn't want that in my eye!

Apart from that follow the instructions and you should be reet.

will it harm a bath tub?

Yes, to my best knowledge they have an enamel coating and when you get through that they just stain and become a pain to clean any bit at all.

Do NOT use nitromors indoors. No matter how well you try to protect the place, some of it will get on a floor/wall/piece of furniture and fuck it up. Whether it'd hurt a bathtub probably depends on the construction and finish of the bathtub, but if you can't afford £49 for Armourtex you don't want to have to replace one, since the tubs themselves start at about twice that ;-)

Stevo, it will harm a bath tub, If you're getting the frame powdercoated why not put a shout out and see if other people want cranks, stems etc powdercoated and split the cost to make it a bit cheaper

leave the old paint be.
scratches give a bike character.
and even an old paint job that's seen better days
will be more attractive than a shit home spray job.

Stevo just do it out doors and wear gloves its really not that difficult but as RPM has said it will probbably work out just as expensive and time consuming than a trip to aurmourtex.

If you do decide to go down the nitromoors route just apply it liberally and leave it for a little while to work and penetrate and then start scraping it off. Just make sure you clean and wash it down properly with plenty of soay water (fairy liquid) afterwards or you will get a chemical reaction when you apply paint which often leads to a cracking effect which means starting all over again.

I'd say for a frame like a bob its worth spending that little extra to get a proper job on it, not only for yourself but in even of selling it on your re sale value will be better.

As Big daddy wayne has suggested it may be worth seeing if a group deal is possible, i may be up for it so let me know if your interested and maybe i'll buzz them this week.

Hijack!

How's nitromors for exposing chrome?
I'm thinking of stripping my forks and rear stays a couple of inches at the ends

can you get neat edges?

i considering doing this aswell, but likewise i'm worried about the edges.
i think wrapping a thin band of tape where the edges meet might work, but i'm not sure how good that would look..

I'm now thinking that i quite like most of the dings and scratches seeing as they're part of the frame's history. If they get covered by the powdercoat that's fine but if they don't i reckon they'll be part of its character, its never going to be a show bike on my budget. One question, how good is their shot or grit blasting at removing the little spots of rust you get in scratches and around brake holes etc?

Mullerbugs, i'd definitely go in for a joint job in black, i'm not going to be free during the day until after 16th though. PM me.

i considering doing this aswell, but likewise i'm worried about the edges.
i think wrapping a thin band of tape where the edges meet might work, but i'm not sure how good that would look..

So you bought the cups, then what? I have a Carlton; the bottom bracket seems OK (haven't been in to check) but would like a new crankset and work out the best axle length for chainline.

I'm now thinking that i quite like most of the dings and scratches seeing as they're part of the frame's history. If they get covered by the powdercoat that's fine but if they don't i reckon they'll be part of its character, its never going to be a show bike on my budget. One question, how good is their shot or grit blasting at removing the little spots of rust you get in scratches and around brake holes etc?

Mullerbugs, i'd definitely go in for a joint job in black, i'm not going to be free during the day until after 16th though. PM me.

the powdercoat will cover all the scratches. the dings will remain.

and the character of the bike will be covered up in a thick, unsubtle coating. it will look like every other bike and the resale value will plummet. it will still be a bob jackson, but it wont look like one.

keep the scratches and original paint until you have enough money to get a proper restoration job (with original decals). if you want to beautify the bike, find some chrome polish and a polishing wheel (or elbow grease) and get everything to a near mirror finish (and very inexpensively). a vintage & well-used frame + shiny components always looks incredible. check out the bike porn thread - you never see vintage & powdercoat together for a reason, but you do see scratched and chipped frames with overhauled & polished components nearly on every page. the vintage frames have been powdercoated or rattle canned usually end up in the anti-porn thread.

The current paint scheme looks like a shell suit. Besides getting rid of that the powder coat is to prevent any further deep rust.

Goggles + Thick gloves + outdoors + away from anything that nitromors will melt e.g cars and other things like that.

Its serious stuff.

The current paint scheme looks like a shell suit. Besides getting rid of that the powder coat is to prevent any further deep rust.

I dont know what you mean by paint looking like a shell suit, but ok.

If you have surface rust, just get some clear nail polish and apply it after taking a fine-grade steelwool to the spots removing the rust. This is will stop the surface rust from expanding. Then frame-save the inside tubes and drill a tiny hole on the bottom of the bb shell (and place a piece of electrical tape over it - after riding in the rain, take off the tape to drain whatever water might have accumulated inside).

Rust will no longer be an issue.

Anyone got any additional tips on using nitromors to get rid of powdercoat compared to paint?

There seem to be some conflicting opinions around as to whether nitromors works on powdercoat and i've got to part strip my Steamroller to get a couple of braze ons added to the frame.

I nitromorsed some old powdercoat off no problem.