Monday, September 24, 2007

REPAINTING THE FRAME OF THE BICYCLE...OR NOT!



When I first laid eyes on that bike I fell in love with that finish. The deep burgundy red, the scratches and even the rust told an untold story. I wanted to just clean it and that was it. But a lot of surface rust didn't look that cool and I wanted to have a smooth finish. So out came the 600 grit sandpaper and water.

Now before you think that I went ahead and scrubbed this thing mad, I didn't. I made sure that my sandpaper was VERY wet and I literally caressed that frame. All I wanted to do was to make the surface rust vanish and have a smooth surface without removing the original paint. You always remove some paint when you wet sand, so that's why I was real careful.

I used a clear lacquer because it was lying around my shop and it was already paid for. The result was pretty good, just click on the images to have a better look and you'll see what I mean. This was the fastest paint job on a bike I have ever made. The rust shouldn't come out, but this thing will be sleeping indoors and will not see rain. I'm not sure it would remain rust free otherwise.

Keep posted

Gerry :)

1 comment:

Mary C. said...

Dude, thank you so much! You just gave me the courage to hope to salvage the paint job on a vintage Raleigh I picked up instead of sandblasting and re-painting it :)