I want to paint my frame and T7 on my Nimbus 36er to customize it. I have talked to me LBS and ALL KNOWING neighbor. I am cheep (most definitely under $50 and hopefully under $20) and am not going to powder coat. It seems like the best way to go is to sand the frame down until the shine is gone (with 320 grit according to my neighbor) and then spray paint it with industrial grade spray paint (rustoleum was recommended) in many very light coats with at least 30 minutes in between coats. Then spray with one or two coats of varnish or finish. I was just wondering if any of you guys had any more advice to add to this, I am specifically wondering how Cathy’s Nimbus 36er was painted.
The only thing that I would add is to not let the paint dry more than 2 hours between coats. If the paint gets completely dry the next coat will not stick as well.
I think that half an hour to an hour is recommended depending on the thickness of the coat.
edit: agent Q is right
You will get better results if after a few coats you let it cure(dry completely) and give it a light sand. You will have to clean with soap and water and let dry before adding more paint. This is the only way to get a strong final project. The way to correctly spraypaint something will take you atleast 2 days.
no hurry, it’s winter and it snows here
I did a write up on a rattle-can job of an old KH frame in the “tutorials” forum:
Over a year later, the paint job’s got some chips in it… poor quality paint and/or mishandling between coats may be to blame. Meh. I got what I paid for…
Check it out. If you’ve any questions, feel free to PM me.
thanks, that’s a really detailed tread
Cathy’s Coker
If I remember correctly, Cathy’s Coker was powder coated by Roger at Uni.com uk. Good luck.
Aj
p.s. What color are you gonna paint it?
I did a little uni painting tutorial about a year ago. Camo stuff: New Video: MUni painting "Camo" Demo/tutorial
I would recomend using more than soap and water to clean your frame, I would give it a quick rub down with acetone, it takes like two seconds, and is almost guaranteed to get rid of all the grease left behind by most soaps.
I would also recomend using a thick brand of paint, like Rustoleum, don’t go for the cheap stuff, Rusto’s are like 3 or four bucks a can and its well worth it. I would also recomend sticking with their painters touch stuff as alot of their offshoots won’t hold up to anything and aren’t made with good pigments.
Lastly the most important thing is to clear coat, no matter what kind of paint you buy it will probably cheap pretty damn easy still, although sanding beforehand will definatly help.
I would actualy recomend doing one extra coat than seems necesary (with good paint you should only need one so I would recomend doing like two or three with enough drying time in between to prevent drips), then sanding with mad high grit paper, just enough to rough it up then clearcoating like four layers with enough drying time in between of course.
It still won’t be as strong as powdercoating, but you can always experiment with layering clearcoat and paint and stuff. O and using a primer should help too.
I don’t think Roger did it himself. He took it to a local powder coaters
a dark/forest green