What is the easiest way to strip paint from a frame without taking it to a body shop? 
Paint Question
- Thread starter Gfreak
- Start date
If it is paint/paint then I have taken it off with Jasco Paint stripper...the gel kind.Gfreak said:What is the easiest way to strip paint from a frame without taking it to a body shop?
I bubbles the paint and you brush off the crap once it has bubbled the old paint.
Tips:
1- Be outside or in a WELL VENTILATED AREA. I was seriously drunk from the fumes when I did mine. I have 3 big box fans to pull the old air out and put new air in to the smallish room I was in.....wasn't enough. :dancing:
2- Temperature. I did mine in the winter and it was right at freezing and it would not work....I took it inside and it was amazing how fast the paint bubbled once it warmed only a little bit.
3- Wear gloves...that **** BURNS when it is on exposed skin....I had some drop on my forearm while I was applying it.....ouch! Oh and wear eye protection.
After you get the majority of the paint off and ther are little chunks left....go at them with fine steel wool or light sandpaper to get the stubborn stuff.
Then steel wool the whole frame. My GT RTS was raw and brownish....but the FINE steel wool cleaned it right up. A fine grit aluminum polish will make a bright chrome like finish with a little elbow grease.
Are you just stripping it for a repaint or Powder coat? If you are polishing it yo umight want to look into a clear coat....I didn't do it to mine but it was to hard to touch up the trouble spots that became scuffed.
Steps:
1- strip bike to frame (taking suspension apart if it is a dually)
2- find well ventilated area.
3- use gloves and eye protection
4- slop it on with a brush and let sit
5- brush off junk paint and reapply until frame is clean of most paint (it make stick better around welds, that was my GT's trouble spots)
6- The Jasco washed up with water if I remember clean it after all is said and done
7- Tackel any tough spots that jsut wouldn't come off.
8- clean again
9- depends on if you ar epolishing it or not......
thats good to know, i want to strip down and repaint my cross bike
Thanks for the Info. I just bought a used hardtail that I wanted to turn into a project bike. I'm not sure if I'm going to strip and clear coat the frame or if I'm going to spray the frame with a rubberized paint like Rhino Lining.
What do you guys out there think I should do, rubber paint or just bare aluminum with clear coat? The frame is a Snipes Elemental. All I want is a bike that I can dish a lot of pain too and not feel bad about scratching the paint.
What do you guys out there think I should do, rubber paint or just bare aluminum with clear coat? The frame is a Snipes Elemental. All I want is a bike that I can dish a lot of pain too and not feel bad about scratching the paint.
By the way, where do I pick up the Jasco Paint Striper?
I heard the best place to pick up some stripper is to go to Ricks! 
Or you could just go to Lowes or Home Depot, but it won't be as fun! 
Or you could just go to Lowes or Home Depot, but it won't be as fun!
Your right, Ricks would be the best place to pick up some stripper!! But I'd much rather die had the hands of Jasco stripper fumes than in the hands of my wife.
The best stuff I have found is AIRCRAFT PAINT STRIPPER, or some funny name like that. Just go to a Shucks Auto Parts store. That stuff is the sh!t.
Do not use the Jasco gel, that **** gets all over and doesn't eat through good paint jobs, well at least with one coat. If you really want to get the paint off, and in alot of casses the powder coating, get the AIRCRAFT PAINT REMOVER sold in certain shops like auto body places "pepboys" or hobby shops. It's an arrosal and it does the job, the other **** is messy and doesn't work nearly as good. BTW, I'm speaking from experience with my old homegrown hardtail. I started with jasco get crap and moved onto the Aircraft stuff, it's the shizzzznit !Gfreak said:
Mine came from Ace Hardware in Ellensburg.Gfreak said:
BUt just about any hardwares store of mega store should have it.I can't vouch for the gel working on powder coat....my RTS was painted....very well painted. Much better than many bicycle paint jobs of the day.
If your frame is powder coated....and I can't vouch for the effectiveness on that type of stuff I would say get the aircraft stuff.
The Jasco gel is no more messy than anything else.
WARider must ahve been overcome by the fumes early It bubbled the paint pretty much right away on my GT.Point is you don't need to take it to a shop to have it removed. Try the Jasco or the Aircraft stuff and take the safety precautions. It isn't hard to do...but it isn't a clean job with anything.
Can't you just rough sand the frame and then "rhino lining" it and skip the stripping? That is if that is what you want to do.Gfreak said:
If it is a beater bike I would do that.
RhinofromWA said:
Your right, if I did decide to go with a Rino Lining, all I would have to do is scuff the paint. But I'm not 100% sure how/what I'm going to paint the bike. We'll see what my imagination can come up with.RhinofromWA said:Can't you just rough sand the frame and then "rhino lining" it and skip the stripping? That is if that is what you want to do.
If it is a beater bike I would do that.