This thread is to document my progress of stripping the paint from a Marin Quake frame I bought on Ebay for $60. This first picture is just the frame as it came into my possesion. The paint job is not too bad, but want to start fresh. I plan to strip the paint off, polish and clearcoat. I have been reading though the forums and decided to get a chemical stripper at my local auto store. Updates to follow

I plan to strip the paint off, polish and clearcoat.
If it's aluminium, I don't think there's a need for clearcoat.
I'm planning to do the same thing in the future, aluminium bike paint stripped and hand polished... I'll call it the Mirror-bike.

The only reason I was going to clearcoat is because I want to put on some custom decals and I thought the clearcoat on top would help the decals from peeling away.

Aluminun does rust but on a different way than cro-mo. If you want to have the bare aluminum look and decals clearcoat it.

Take it to a paintshop and use automotive strengh clear paint, spray can clear is weak and chips away very easy.

Take it to a paintshop and use automotive strengh clear paint, spray can clear is weak and chips away very easy.
I found out the hard way...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/jonowee/Polygon%20SS%20project/100_0476.jpg
My old Hi-Ten steel frame, hand polished with sandpaper and metal polish and with cheapo stickers placed on.
After a couple of weeks, it starts to rush, bugger!, hand polished it again, then broke almost every rule when spraying (auto touch-up paint) the poor thing.

Not as ultra clear mirrot look as the image above, more dull but you can still see the bare steel and colourful blazed on bits. Here are a few pics of one junction of the frame:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/jonowee/Polygon%20SS%20project/100_0244.jpg
... in the process of stripping
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/jonowee/Polygon%20SS%20project/Jono8.jpg
... after a bit of sanding with 200 grit sandpaper
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/jonowee/Polygon%20SS%20project/100_0473.jpg
... polished but no paint (how stupid)

Haven't taken any pictures of the painted frame or of it since I started riding it. Every time I scrape it on a stuff like brick walls, the stupidly soft paint chips and I have to recoat that area.

Professionally applied paint or powdercoat would be much better than my sh!tjob.

As you can see in the last picture above the differance in 'shine' of the bare frame and the stick on it. Now imagine the shine of the sticker on all over the bike and you get how shiny my bike is now.

Wait found this pic, here's hand polished mirror finish for you.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/jonowee/Polygon%20SS%20project/100_0464.jpg
(spot the cameraman, Hi)

Aluminun does rust but on a different way than cro-mo. If you want to have the bare aluminum look and decals clearcoat it.

...and cro-mo doesn't rust if it's polished and waxed. (Ooops...I just read all the posts, and don't mean to discredit Jonowee's work - perhaps my reference points are with higher quality steels. Jonowee - did you use a well buffed wax when you finished the job? Applied correctly, wax is almost more durable than any clearcoat.)

I'd only consider NOT clearcoating aluminum if I knew I could get EVERYTHING polished and waxed well. (Use at least a 1200 girt followed by pumice, rottenstone, and a rotary buffer with SC Johnson's Paste Wax.) Perhaps it's just personal preference, but I hate aluminum oxidation much more than surface rust.

Oh, and depending what kind of decals you're using, they might not need a clearcoat. Plain ole' sticker decals will be fine, but wet- or alcohol-applied decals will need some kind of coating. Also, be very careful with what clearcoat you choose, because nothing adheres very well to bare metal - especially if it's polished. I'd just brush it finely and use a high gloss clearcoat rather than try and spray a clearcoat onto a polished surface. Good luck - S

...and cro-mo doesn't rust if it's polished and waxed. (Ooops...I just read all the posts, and don't mean to discredit Jonowee's work - perhaps my reference points are with higher quality steels. Jonowee - did you use a well buffed wax when you finished the job? Applied correctly, wax is almost more durable than any clearcoat.)

Good luck - S
Paint stripper, 200 grit sandpaper, 800grit then 1200 grit then some cheapo "metal polish", I knew the paint would have extra difficulty sticking to the polished surface I wish I could find clear metal primer (if there is such a thing) or bought the plastic primer which was sitting next to the metal primer and it was clear.

My next project is another steel rigid painted with a tough coat of I don't know what, current idea is to get some chalkboard paint and create this tough matt surface which I can write stuff on with chalk and change it when every or after showers. Kinda like a slight variation of what some of the other bikers on this forum did with spray on truck liner stuff.

Wax... I'll try looking for it and try it in the future.

Paint stripper, 200 grit sandpaper, 800grit then 1200 grit then some cheapo "metal polish", I knew the paint would have extra difficulty sticking to the polished surface I wish I could find clear metal primer (if there is such a thing) or bought the plastic primer which was sitting next to the metal primer and it was clear.

I doubt a clear primer exists. Primer won't stick much better than paint to a polished surface - they're damn near the same thing, only primers are designed with absorbancy in mind. I've had serious problems getting primer or auto-grade rattle can to stick to aluminum that's just been brushed - no polish whatsoever - and haven't really found a solution, which leads me to my next point...

My next project is another steel rigid painted with a tough coat of I don't know what, current idea is to get some chalkboard paint and create this tough matt surface which I can write stuff on with chalk and change it when every or after showers. Kinda like a slight variation of what some of the other bikers on this forum did with spray on truck liner stuff.

Powdercoat. Some local shop can do this for cheap, and clear is almost always in the gun, so there isn't an extra charge for the change up. Powercoats will stick to almost any metal (that can tolerate some heat - no decals here except bake-ons) because there's a chemical bond. If you're looking to have a frame coated with just clear, I'd give up on trying the DIY methods (I know, it's hard!) and just have it PC'd.

Wax... I'll try looking for it and try it in the future.

SC Johnson Wax of Racine, Wisconsin has been making the same paste wax since the early 1930s. It comes in a big yellow can is is available ANYWHERE in the world. Use it for your bike, your furniture, your car... Put it on, let it dry, buff it. (Cheesecloth works just as well as a rotary buffer.) Do this once a year and you'll be just fine.

There is a clear primer called XIM (it's also available in white). It'll stick to pretty much anything, even glass. I use it to prime sheet aluminium for oil painting.

Matt

Powdercoat. Some local shop can do this for cheap, and clear is almost always in the gun, so there isn't an extra charge for the change up. Powercoats will stick to almost any metal (that can tolerate some heat - no decals here except bake-ons) because there's a chemical bond. If you're looking to have a frame coated with just clear, I'd give up on trying the DIY methods (I know, it's hard!) and just have it PC'd.

I should call around about PC services because I've seen clear PC and it looks flawless and much more chip resistant.
On average what is the pricing you've encountered for:
- 1 colour PC
- 3 colour PC
- 4-10 colour PC
- super detail PC like Ventanarama's Sycip Diesel

tigerdog which XIM product do you use exactly because looks like there's a few? Thanks.

On-One Gimp frames come in Raw steel, which seems to have a clearcoat of some kind. Looks way cool, you see all the color differences from heating.

I should call around about PC services because I've seen clear PC and it looks flawless and much more chip resistant.
On average what is the pricing you've encountered for:
- 1 colour PC
- 3 colour PC
- 4-10 colour PC
- super detail PC like Ventanarama's Sycip Diesel

tigerdog which XIM product do you use exactly because looks like there's a few? Thanks.

I've seen $65 for one color, but the only place I've seen offer multiple colors are places like Spectrum, who charge, I *think*, $300 and change for a multi-colored job. It's probably much higher than this for 10 colors plus decals and/or lugs, fades in/out, or any other crazy stuff you can dream up. I'm sure they can do it, though. Want to see some crazy PC work? Go check out Land Shark's website. Lots of enduro road and trackie gear, but crazy nice paint nonetheless.

On the PC topic, does anyone know of a PC company that has reasonable pricing in the Baltimore Maryland area?

Craig

I 'stole' my sister's Sony digi to take these pics today so forgive the quality of the pictures...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/jonowee/Polygon%20SS%20project/DSC00210.jpg
(wanna spot the number of conflicting parts?)
The chain you see there, I broke it a few hours later. Here comes a non-shifting BMX chain, yeah!, no more old geared bike chain.

That looks good. What did you end up doing as the entire process of cleaning? Did you take it to a powerder coater to get the clear coat put on it? If so how much cash did it put you out?

Just curious as I have an old aluminum Trek 7000 that is my single speed that I thought about stripping and clear coating or PCing.