[WTGPhoben]

I just bought an aluminum frame for my beater bike, but it may have the ugliest paint job I've ever seen. I want to strip it and give it a custom paint job myself including a base color and detailing (for small $$), but I have a few questions:

* What's the best thing to strip it with?
* What kind of paint should i use/how should I apply it?
*what special equip will I need, if any?

throw me your thoughts.... I know some of you monkeys have done this before.

 

[Toshi]

Yo, post a pic of your ugly bike.

 

[jodysbike]

I used to get some sort of spray on paint stripper made by DuPont from Fed Meyer or Wal Mart. Worked real well. You just have to go back over it with some fine grit sand paper to get the little bit in the welds and tube joints.
Check in the phone book and see what some local body shops or powder coaters will charge you for a nice job.
Other wise Crylon works well as long as you give it plent of time to dry. Don't try to get it all done in one day. Take your time and give it several coats so you don't end up with runs.

 

[WTGPhoben]

Originally posted by Toshi
Yo, post a pic of your ugly bike.

I'll post one when I get the frame in the mail... It's not nice to dis some dude's old ride while its still sittin' in his garage (but the pics are out there if you look hard enough )

 

[ant:]

if your willing to spend $40-$100 you could get the frame bead blasted and powder coated... most bike shops will have contact info for at least one local powdercoat shop...

powdercoating is the same finish that most bike manufactures use...

 

[MikeD]

Strip the paint yourself, and get some of the do it yourself spray bedliner for pickup trucks. That coating should last you a while, and it's easy to touch up yourself. Plus, you get the mad max look we all prize so highly.

If, however, you do want it to look nicely finished, get it powdercoated. Most big-manufacturer frames are actually wet-painted, but powdercoat is a favorite of the smaller builders and bike enthusiasts. It'll cost you not much more than you'd end up spending yourself, I'm sure, and look a heck of a lot better. You might even consider getting a clear powdercoat done over the bare metal for your beater bike...looks cool (that mad max thing again), but not so appealing to thieves as a nicely-decorated bike.

Personally, I'm building a beater singlespeed, and I'm just going for a gloss black powdercoat and white cork tape on the bars.

MD

 

[WTGPhoben]

too bad I'm a pretty boy, or that bedliner thing would work out real nice.

 

[WTGPhoben]

Originally posted by WTGPhoben
too bad I'm a pretty boy, or that bedliner thing would work out real nice.

or not.

 

[Honeywell]

Hahaha....It's not that bad in person. I wanted to peel the stickers of because they do look really cheesy but the suckers are under a layer of clearcoat.

I've heard of people using some kind of "aircraft striper" to do the job, but I don't know any brands.

Here is a link with instructions on how to strip aluminum car wheels, I'm guessing a bike frame would be the same/similar.

How to Strip Aluminum Wheels

But hey, it's a beater bike, you don't want it looking that good .

 

[WTGPhoben]

In case y'all didn't know, Honeywell was the proud previous owner of the frame in qusetion (thanks for the painting tip by the way). So now that the cat is indeed out of the bag... here's the subject of our discussion:

 

[alex spencer]

i like the forks, got a nice little hose guide for 8" hope e4's

 

[Honeywell]

Originally posted by alex spencer
i like the forks, got a nice little hose guide for 8" hope e4's

So that's what that's for! I've always wondered what the little thing was there for.

 

[alex spencer]

they're normally on really really budget forks to hold the cable discs cable in place, its a shame they can't do something like it on real forks, zipties look crappy.