Steel frame restoration, powdercoat or paint?

[ducatilover]

Main thing to note, if you pay peanuts*, you'll get monkeys

*I hear peanut shells are actually quite good for media blasting.

Walnut leaves a better finish,

I'd soda blast the frame, then Durapox or something similar.

[leathel]

LIC40/43 (40 gloss 43 matt) 2 pot paint, Soda/bead blast then colour.... No primer required and as long as there is no trace of rust it goes well, any trace of rust prime with Brunox first as LIC will not kill surface rust and it will spider under the paint, Not done a bike frame that way but done plenty of rifles... including the bolt and it wears well and next to no prep after blasting

[benhall]

thanks for the advice!, feels a little over the top for an old '88 shitter i'm rescuing but hell it should come out looking pretty spiffy can practice and learn on this thing then do something nice up down the track

[The Reibz]

Bro just pick up some septone paint from supercheap, I did a set of rims and a swingarm in gloss black and it turned out sweet. Just make sure you give it 3 days to dry.
Septone make good shit for the DIY enthusiast, don't write em off. You can even clear it and buff it back if you really want

[bogan]

Powder can be surprisingly cheap, last stuff I had done was about 150 for a couple of cabinet frames etc (had budgeted 500). Do the prep work and seal up all bearing surfaces properly and probly be under a hundy for a pretty choice color.

[pete-blen]

I used engine enamel on my Montessa frame then went over it with a heat gun
after a couple of days drying...Ended up with quite a hard finish... Will still chip if hit hard enough...

[Pedrostt500]

I'm not a fan of powder coating, as I find it chips to easily, a good 2 pac, or if you can find some one who does baked enamel finish.
It all comes down to the finnish you want, how much you want to spend and what you can do for your self.

[malcy25]

Soda blast and paint. I'd never use powdercoat as Grumph says, too hard to deal with f you have to do a repair.

[F5 Dave]

I'm not a fan of powder coating, as I find it chips to easily, . . .

Means it hasn't been applied properly within right timeframe. It should not chip.

[Pussy]

Two pack paint for the win. Miles better than powdercoating.

[gavinnz]

I am a painter and I have had this discussion on a few other news groups so
I will paste comments here
Gavin
......................................

Powdercoating...

Lets put some background in place.
1. I am a spray painter with 25 years experience.
2. I have painted a few motorcycle frames in my time.
3. I have seen powdercoated things including frames also.
4 AS a painter I have an eye for details that the non painter will never see.

Example.... another might think a paint job or powdercoat job is
perfect....
and yet a professional will see lots of things that are obvious to us, but
not seen by the non painter. (like me looking at an accountants work.. am will
not see 10% of what they see in the figures)

5. These are only my opinions and could be wrong.

So with those things in mind I now will tell you what I think...

I have NEVER seen a powercoat job that is up to the quailty of even
"flatness" and gloss of a well done 2 pack spray job done by someone who
knows what they are doing.... By flatness I mean an even surface texture...
some would call it "orange peal" effect.

Powder coat is a great industrial process, or when something is flat, new
and uniform. But for a complicated used structure like a frame their will
ALWAYS be areas where the powdercoat does not cover as well or gloss up
correctly.

My recomendations are.....
NEVER dipstrip a frame.
I did it once with a Ducati frame and their was a pinhole in a weld and
the frame filled with chemical!!
And their are too may hard to get to places to get the frame perfectly clean...
and steel is porous and will take in some chemicals... even when chemically
cleaned you can not be sure it is not inside the steel and coming back out
later after coating causing paint to lift.

Have it "sand" blasted. (not to course... ask them what they are using...
"shot" blasting is mostly way too course)

Right away (without touching by hand) dust off (clean dry compressed air
only) and spray the frame in a good 2 pack primer/undercoat.... but ONLY putting on
what is needed in the way of paint thickness as the more paint the more
chance of chipping later.
After priming.... once upside down then turned over wet and sprayed from the
top....

After it drys... I would leave it a about 4 or 5 days in summer... more in
winter.
All threads should then be cleaned out with a grease free tap...

Then dry sanded, taking care NOT to cut back to steel anywhere and if you do you
HAVE to spot prime that area again...
Take care around areas where other parts of the bike will face onto the paint... cut them as thin as you can without cutting to steel.... less chance of it chipping when assembling when their is less paint.

Then dust off and gloss the frame upside down... again ONLY enough colour to
get the colour correct... any more is wasted and going to cause chips more
shrinkage and bits of paint build up to come off when assembling around bolt holes etc...

The when still wet turn it over.... I make hanging jigs and practice
turning the frame first!!
Top coat the frame from the top... with extra coats ONLY on the most seen
rails...

Then over again and one or two coats of clear... then over the right way up
and the final coats of clear. (clear is optional with a solid colour)

The two pack paint is what is called "gloss off the gun" and does not need
"cutting and polishing" like most single packs and it is easyer to use
then the old single pack enamels which dry to slowly for a frame and tend to
run on a complicated structure however careful you are...

I would then leave a frame for a week un touched... I do not bake them like
some do... but that can be good if done at very low temps.
Then I would use a VERY VERY fine liquard abrasive like brasso... (NOT car
cutting compound as they are WAY to harsh) then a good hard hand applied wax
coat.... then assemble the bike.

When putting it together always put a small dab of oil of any washers that
face the painted surface... and make sure the CURVED face of the washer
faces the paint.
This will reduce damage to the paint when torquing up bolts....
Also remember to make sure you earth wire bolts and washers have contact
with steel when needed.

Other points..
For frames.... a smaller "gravity feed gun" with a pot above or beside the
tip that can be angled to any angle is the best way to get the frame done
right... the last one I did was a 1993 900SS frame and I needed my smaller
(yet good quality) gun to get in and around all the tubes.

Powder coating assumes the steel surface is perfect... fine for new
indrustrial things but a used motorcycle frame is going to have detects that
need to be got rid off and the priming and sand process finds and deals with
those...

Some powdercoating processes involve chemical dipping, coating with powder
and heating.... both hidious things to do to a frame!

Also I have no doubt that a good powdercoat job will be way better than a
bad spray job... but NOTHING beats a properly done spray job in ALL ways.

Rave over then!!

Regards,
Gavin

[benhall]

for price and finish and ease i got it powdercoated, all you see here was 230 bucks blasted and coated rust be gone!

[F5 Dave]

Yeah looks nice, be sure to ducttape the frame rails when you put the engine in. Wish I'd followed my own advice last time.


Hmm. . .disc mounting area doesn't look like it was masked. . .Should be bare metal flat. Check all threads & bearing holes before starting a build-up.

Could be some playing with a dremel & sanding mop.

[gavinnz]

From the pictures it does not look very glossy.... which is typical of powdercoat jobs I have seen.

Also don't Ducktape the frame to protect it!!! The tape is too strong and might pull paint or powder off.
Wrap something around the frame rails and tape around the stuff to hold it their, not directly onto the frame. I have used a double layer of corogated cardboard in the past.

Regards
Gavin (painter)

[F5 Dave]

Ahh bullshit. Powder will easily cope with that. We tape our kit as it goes through the factory to avoid scratches so it looks new it then gets dragged over testing benches, submitted to hot and cold tests -40 to +60 and a water bath test. Tape is removed a few days later and wiped over.