Getting ready to paint a project bike. It was a theft recovery and has several colors of paint on it. Goal is to be my new track rat, so not looking for close to concourse.
I have sanded it down with 220 to remove the spray paint, have hit it with a Green Scotch Pad after. Is this enough to keep sanding marks out? Paint says to hit with 600.
What are my other rattle canners prepping with?
You could try hitting it with a couple coats of scratch filling primer, then sand with 600 and see what you've got.
I second the heavy primer. I usually only need two coats for a nice even surface. I forget the brand, but I painted some 3D printed parts recently and with three coats I could no longer see the print layers
Sanding prevents runs from when you lay rattle can on too heavily, though.
Make sure , when you are satisfied with the primer, to wipe down the surface. I like alcohol on a clean microfibre rag. Oily fingerprints will mess up paint. Also heat the spray cans in a sink of warm water. It will raise the internal temps and help atomization of the paint.
In reply to Appleseed :
All things that I skipped in a rush to get my entry into the Model show and it turned out like crap. Prep, prep, prep.
There is no reason a spray can job can't be nice.
scuff pads are generally the equivalent to 600 grit, but the maroon ones specifically for bodywork.
Lay down some primer. SEM makes great products. Sand with 600 until you've removed runs and imperfections. spray with your choice of whatever. Remember that most local paint shops will mix up a custom spray can of whatever you want for around $30. Two coats of base. Then 2 coats of clear. You can buy high quality 2k clear coat in cans now as well.
https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Chemical-Plastics-4333062164-Spraymax/dp/B0043B7UQY
If you choose to do this there is no reason you can't make a factory finish. It may be$50-70, but will look amazing as opposed to $15 for rustoleum and looking, well, not as nice. If you use any catalyzed urethane products you must wear a respirator. That stuff is nasty.
Appleseed said:Make sure , when you are satisfied with the primer, to wipe down the surface. I like alcohol on a clean microfibre rag. Oily fingerprints will mess up paint. Also heat the spray cans in a sink of warm water. It will raise the internal temps and help atomization of the paint.
Nice trick on the hot water. Thanks
Nofive_0 said:If you choose to do this there is no reason you can't make a factory finish. It may be$50-70, but will look amazing as opposed to $15 for rustoleum and looking, well, not as nice. If you use any catalyzed urethane products you must wear a respirator. That stuff is nasty.
FWIW I have had good success with Rustoleulm on a couple of bicycle resto-mod projects that I have done. Prep is key...lots of wetsanding. Cost was matching primer, color and clear cans and sandaper of various grit.
This might be a thread derail but I mean it in the nicest way; when I pained the wheels on my car a few years ago, I took the factory finish down with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper just to rough up the finish well and smooth out some damage as much as reasonable. Wiped down with mineral spirits and a clean rag. Laid down a few coats of Rustoleum Primer Sealer from a rattle can. Sanded a lot of that down to use as a filler of sorts filling in low spots. Laid down a few more coats of the primer. Over that I used Dupli-Color metallic bronze wheel paint. On top of that, Rustoleum high-gloss clear, and not the 2k or whatever they call their higher grade clear.
The Dupli-Color didn't adhere well at all. It has remained soft and is easily scratched. I had tires mounted on those wheels a couple of years after the job was done and they came back pretty scratched up. It was enough to put me off of Dupli-Color wheel paint entirely. Not sure what happened. About to get into repainting the wheels and plan to sand the current paint down well past the surface of the primer. The primer that's there has adhered quite well. My next plan is Rustoleum black appliance paint over whatever primer remains, Rustoleum metallic gold paint of some sort that I already picked up, and then the US Chemicals 2X clear w/ hardener that's already been mentioned in this thread.
Is wiping down with alcohol really better than mineral spirits? Is there something else that is most optimal for this sort of thing? Anything else I didn't do that might be useful for anyone else about to start a project like this?
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:The Dupli-Color didn't adhere well at all. It has remained soft and is easily scratched. I had tires mounted on those wheels a couple of years after the job was done and they came back pretty scratched up. It was enough to put me off of Dupli-Color wheel paint entirely. Not sure what happened. About to get into repainting the wheels and plan to sand the current paint down well past the surface of the primer. The primer that's there has adhered quite well. My next plan is Rustoleum black appliance paint over whatever primer remains, Rustoleum metallic gold paint of some sort that I already picked up, and then the US Chemicals 2X clear w/ hardener that's already been mentioned in this thread.
Is wiping down with alcohol really better than mineral spirits? Is there something else that is most optimal for this sort of thing? Anything else I didn't do that might be useful for anyone else about to start a project like this?
Flash times. You need to allow for more time in between coats or lighter coats. This is part of the downside of using spray paint with propelleant, paint, and no hardner. This is why I recommend using actual basecoat instead of spray paint. Although you can get decent results.
You have to be careful using things like acetone and mineral spirits on non catalyzed paints. Rustoleum even makes a panel prep if you're buying something specific.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
With respect to wheels, I have always had good luck with "Engine Paint", both DupliColor and VHT. I use brake cleaner for an initial cleaner, and alcohol for a final wipe.
I think I waited a day between the primer and color. I'll try to pick up some denatured alcohol in the near future, maybe during a shopping trip in the 'burbs this coming weekend. Out of all of the times I've used spray paint for projects, this was by far the worst result I've had, by a factor of huge.
I just use alcohol because that's what I have. Mineral spirits will work too.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I have done 2 sets of wheels, one with regular spray cans and one with Duplicolor wheel paint. They were both cleared but the regular set started chipping fairly soon but the set I did with the wheels paint has not chipped yet, I have even had new tires put on those wheels, and its been almost a year. I did end up using like 2 cans per wheel but the end result was worth it. If you are interested I can grab a pic of them when I get home today.
Pics don't help really. Making sure my plan makes sense and pointing out sources off problems would be more useful.
To the OP, sorry if this is wrecking your thread, I'm hoping it's useful information.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
In that case, from experience my advice would be to use wheel paint, take your time and use the wheel paint clear.
Not painting any wheels. Good notes on proper prep. Every piece on this bike is cracked and for short term. Just looking to do a quicky 10ft at night. I think I am going to risk it. Using these pieces to shake it down to see if it needs too much work or if it will be OK track rat. If OK, proper paint on the race fairings.
So far only in $500. Will need a front tire and a seat to make road worthy.
Nofive_0 said:There is no reason a spray can job can't be nice.
scuff pads are generally the equivalent to 600 grit, but the maroon ones specifically for bodywork.
Lay down some primer. SEM makes great products. Sand with 600 until you've removed runs and imperfections. spray with your choice of whatever. Remember that most local paint shops will mix up a custom spray can of whatever you want for around $30. Two coats of base. Then 2 coats of clear. You can buy high quality 2k clear coat in cans now as well.
https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Chemical-Plastics-4333062164-Spraymax/dp/B0043B7UQY
If you choose to do this there is no reason you can't make a factory finish. It may be$50-70, but will look amazing as opposed to $15 for rustoleum and looking, well, not as nice. If you use any catalyzed urethane products you must wear a respirator. That stuff is nasty.
I am mid painting my bumper and I am using the SEM primer with flex agent. You recommend two coats paint then two coats of clear. Should I wet sand the base w/600 before clear? Should I wet sand the clear or use polishing compound once cured?
Last time I did not wet sanding and the paint was dull, clear made zero difference. It was not horrible, but I want a better finish this time if I put in the prep. Thoughts?
I did many sets of wheels with Duplicolor spray paint.
One time I did steel wheels with the silver paint. I was 18-19 at the time, so I think I made minimal prep. I did primer, color and clear. Finish came out good and never chipped. However it was a bit uneven but you couldn't really see that. But if you touched the wheel, some parts were a bit rough. After a year, it seems like brake dust got in the porous finish and stained them a bit. I painted them indoors.
Second set I did, I lightly sanded the factory color and used duplicolor primer. Then their silver wheel paint and finally the clear. Came out with a good, even finish. Those were flat face wheels too, I thought it would be uneven but it was not the case. The finish lasted many years, but some areas chipped (not very noticeable) and once again I got the brake dust staining. I painted those outdoors.
Third set was a beater set of winter wheels. No clear, silver paint. Rough finish but it was probably around 5 degrees in the basement when I painted them.
Fourth set was a beater set of summer wheels. I used the dark gray wheel paint. Not sure I did primer. I painted the wheels in full sun and it was probably 30C outside. The finish was like sandpaper, it's like if the paint dried before hitting the wheel. I put clear on them but it didn't make a difference.
I have to redo the second set soon. I'll sand good and paint inside at a temperature of 20C. From all the spray painting I did over the years, I think the temperature, the humidity and being indoors are what made the biggest difference. I like to paint outside because the fumes don't get in the house, but the results are never as good. Bugs walk into the paint, dust gets on the paint, etc...
I also painted 2 intake manifolds with the silver wheel paint. One of them lasted years and never had a single chip on it. The other one was painted, installed on the car and it started chipping a week later. The engine never ran.
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