paint type

[smitty600]

Hey everyone, I decided to repaint my bike. I dont wanna use rattle cans, What is the best type of auto paint to use? Keep in mind that money is tight (everywhere). I was looking at I think its duplicolor urethane paint, that autozone sells..
Any info is greatly appricated.

And yes I did search it out

[tmk7c9]

Not sure how much help i'll be, but I'll give it a shot....

I've painted 3 bikes now, each one gets a little better, but I'm certainly no expert when it comes to types of paint. Best advice I can give you, is to go to an ACTUAL paint shop/body shop, and tell them exactly what you've told us. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

If you're on a budget (like I always am), I found that NASON base/clear (made by dupont I think) is one of the cheaper paints that still looks good. Prime it, shoot color, and then shoot clear. The biggest drawback is that it isn't super flexible, and when my wife dropped her bike, it caused a "piece" of paint to sort of chip off. A higher quality probably would have just bent a little and been fine, maybe some scratches.

Either way, it turns out nice and shiny, and goes on fairly easily. My wifes 2 color paint job cost about $140 for the paint if I remember right (add in primer, sand paper, misc supplies, the whole thing was probably around $200).

Again, i'd recommend going to a real paint shop. those guys know their stuff.

[ATOMonkey]

I used lacquer, because it was cheap, shiny, and easy to lay down. I think I used the same NASCON stuff. It's about $20/qt (already reduced) and they sell it at Auto Zone.

The basic problem with lacquer is that it never stops drying and it will eventually spider web crack. Depends on how much sun it sees and other stuff. Also depends on how thick it was put down and if there was clear coat or not.

New Acrylic paints are much much better. They use an activator or hardener so they don't have the drying out problem that lacquer does, and acrylics are typically more flexible than lacquers. They are quite a bit more expensive though. A quart of acrylic color can easily cost $100 without any metallics or candy in it.

You can also get cans of Rustoleum or Krylon to spray, but they don't shine up very well since they typically don't have much gloss in them, and they don't look very clear or deep. I don't even know what base those paints would be.

I've also discovered that mineral spirits, while great at cleaning up paint and sprayer parts, eats through nitril gloves like you wouldn't believe! lol....

Also when you paint, it's a good idea to wear long pants and sleeves and a hat. I looked like a freakin' smurf after I got done with my last paint job. I knew better too, but it was ridiculously hot in that garage.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

[smitty600]

well, lacquer is out... much sun here and heat... when I drive it to work it sits in the sun for a couple hours.. I'll keep the other tips in mind...
A friend of mine suggested urethane, so im going to check that and some other stuff out...

[kevin2502000]

+1 Nason paint very affordable and good results.

[ATOMonkey]

Urethane paint doesn't shine well at all, but is very flexible.

Well, the urathane paint I used didn't shine worth anything anyway.

[zuma]

I used lacquer, because it was cheap, shiny, and easy to lay down. I think I used the same NASCON stuff. It's about $20/qt (already reduced) and they sell it at Auto Zone.

The basic problem with lacquer is that it never stops drying and it will eventually spider web crack. Depends on how much sun it sees and other stuff. Also depends on how thick it was put down and if there was clear coat or not.

New Acrylic paints are much much better. They use an activator or hardener so they don't have the drying out problem that lacquer does, and acrylics are typically more flexible than lacquers. They are quite a bit more expensive though. A quart of acrylic color can easily cost $100 without any metallics or candy in it.

You can also get cans of Rustoleum or Krylon to spray, but they don't shine up very well since they typically don't have much gloss in them, and they don't look very clear or deep. I don't even know what base those paints would be.

I've also discovered that mineral spirits, while great at cleaning up paint and sprayer parts, eats through nitril gloves like you wouldn't believe! lol....

Also when you paint, it's a good idea to wear long pants and sleeves and a hat. I looked like a freakin' smurf after I got done with my last paint job. I knew better too, but it was ridiculously hot in that garage.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

"Papa Smurf, again..."

[teddy]

Not sure how much help i'll be, but I'll give it a shot....

I've painted 3 bikes now, each one gets a little better, but I'm certainly no expert when it comes to types of paint. Best advice I can give you, is to go to an ACTUAL paint shop/body shop, and tell them exactly what you've told us. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

If you're on a budget (like I always am), I found that NASON base/clear (made by dupont I think) is one of the cheaper paints that still looks good. Prime it, shoot color, and then shoot clear. The biggest drawback is that it isn't super flexible, and when my wife dropped her bike, it caused a "piece" of paint to sort of chip off. A higher quality probably would have just bent a little and been fine, maybe some scratches.

Either way, it turns out nice and shiny, and goes on fairly easily. My wifes 2 color paint job cost about $140 for the paint if I remember right (add in primer, sand paper, misc supplies, the whole thing was probably around $200).

Again, i'd recommend going to a real paint shop. those guys know their stuff.

Good advice, although I tend to use regular DuPont Chromabase with the Nason clear. Chromabase is a simple 1:1 mix with Basemaker, whereas the Nason base is a three part mix. A bit cheaper in the long run that way, and the chromabase is stupid simple to lay down nicely. The Nason clear is similar to the Chromaclear but much cheaper, and lays down great and shines up real good when buffed and polished out.

[smitty600]

well, im not really worried about the shine, but it would be nice. I'll look into the chromabase, with nason clear. I also thought about the heat color changing paint, but I dont think i want to spend that kind of money...

thanks for the info..

[mrwhipper]

Urethane paint doesn't shine well at all, but is very flexible.

Well, the urathane paint I used didn't shine worth anything anyway.

Sorry to here that you had a bad experience but you will get GREAT gloss and DOI with a quality urathane coating system.

[smitty600]

but can you get the "wet look" with urethane???

[smitty600]

Ok, im thinking of trying the paint set that I seen in autozone. Its a 3 step process, primer, color clear.. I just have to see if it has a flex agent in it..
I'm gonna try chrome yellow...
give me a couple weeks, and I'll post pics...
If anyone used the paint let me know how it worked for you..

[teddy]

don't worry about the flex agent, the kat's plastics are so rigid you don't really need it. If you have sanded down to the raw plastic though, I would highly recommend an adhesion promoter, such as DuPont's Plasti-Prep.

[smitty600]

don't worry about the flex agent, the kat's plastics are so rigid you don't really need it. If you have sanded down to the raw plastic though, I would highly recommend an adhesion promoter, such as DuPont's Plasti-Prep.

I havent done anything yet. I not going to sand down to the raw plastic due to painting it a similar color. just enough to get the light scratches and this hard plastic, glued on protector off..

[JokerZwild]

just be sure to scuff it down enough to remove any gloss that was on there from the old color. otherwise your gonna find flaking later on from the new color not sticking properly.