Frame respray
A change of plans around mid December and into the Chrismas period left me with some free time to treat the Marin to a rattle can respray in Silk Black finish. This will never be as good as powder coating, but the upside is that and chips and scratches can be easily repaired in minutes.
The paint is very cheaply available from CPC/Farnell for around £4 for a 400 ml can, spraying is very user friendly, you are better off laying it on as thickly as you dare and there is no cutting back to do on a silk finish. I have used this type of finish at work for speaker stands, stage lighting and even flight cases.
As it was quite a cold period and the garage, though well ventilated, can be prone to dampness in winter, I arranged to hang the frame with a simple heater running at about 1Kw directly underneath. The heater has no fan and doesn't kick up dust or debris as a result.
After a couple of weeks to give the paint a chance to harden off, I fitted a new headset utilising a simple tool I built from some studding, nuts and plastic plumbing thread adapters. This was my first ever attempt to install a headset and it worked a treat.
Then it was time to refit the freshly resprayed forks, stem and handlebars. With the addition of the wheels it was starting to look like a proper bike for the very first time.
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