Paint restoring

[Old&slow]

Newbie alert.

Hello everyone,

Wondered if anyone has any good advice they would care to share on paint restoration/renovation ?

You see I'm just in the process of dragging out (between pints) a couple of my old bikes from the garage rafters after spending some 15+ years all lonely and unloved , I know that the paint will never be as nice as the Aston Martin pub car, or Ferrari weekender I've got tucked away up there, but it'd be nice to see at least a glimmer of sunlight reflecting off the paint ! Any retrobikers have any tips or suggestions please.

Steve

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Depends how bad they are, but if it's just a bit of a shine you want to bring back then a nice wash with a good car shampoo and then some Autoglym SRP would do a nice job. Easily available in Halfords and get a couple of microfibre cloths for applying and removing.

If you want to get more heavily into restoring the paint then the guys over at detailing world have plenty of knowledge to share.

 

[Old&slow]

Re:

Thank you - firedfromthecircus

Microfibre cloths :shock: , Autoglym paint ! thats my beer money gone this week then Shucks!

I'll go and wash them off then with some soapy water then I'll see how bad the paint is I suppose , Autoglym sounds all a little serious though , Mr Sheen and a yellow duster any good ?

 

[firedfromthecircus]

If they have been sat in a garage for 15+ years then mr sheen and a yellow duster would be an improvement to the dust and spiders crap that is probably over them just now.

And indeed, once they are clean and shiny then mr sheen and a (clean) yellow duster will be great to shine them up again, but if you want to do a proper job then you need proper stuff.

 

[Old&slow]

Re:

I hear you firedfromthecircus (great name by the way, bet thats a great talking point at the pub)

I've actually got some autoglym polish that I use on the ceilings, so once I've washed the thick of it off the frame , I'll blast that into it cheers

Also do'ya have any idea please if diamond back (I assume they still are on the go) do little tubs of touch up paint for their 24 year old bikes still, as mine looks to have a few scratches on, bit disappointed as that bloody salesman told me the paint was tough and was long lasting !! Hummmm!!!

Robbed!!! ... .where's the number for Trading Standards.

 

[JonTom]

Re:

Grab a handful of 0000 grade steel wool and drench it in WD40. Then very gently wipe it over the paintwork (this will take any marks and scuffs off the clearcoat, and it'll feel smooth to the touch). Repeat as many times as it takes to get the frame to a state you're happy with. Just be careful how much pressure you apply - better to use a little and often.

Give the bike a really thorough wash (to get the WD40 off).

When you're done, get an auto paint restorer (I use Mequiar's Ultimate Compound) and apply it to the paint using an old damp washing-up sponge and a bit of pressure (the damp helps it glide on). Let it dry to a haze and buff off with old t-shirts. Again, repeat as necessary.

Stand back and admire.

I've used this technique on a quite few old bikes and it never fails.

 

[artfulflounder]

Meguiars ultimate compound has done me well restoring the shine to a few of mine.

 

[02gf74]

T cut can be used to polish out the faded surface.

It is very mild abrasive, jif will probsbly work just as well, and probably be cheaper.

 

[Old&slow]

Re:

Well progress has been made and this is now in full swing, Thank you to all that have contributed their tips and suggestions of which I'm most grateful cheers.

JonTom , I decided I liked the sound of what you suggesteed, myself having worked with 4'O's steel wool in the past on furniture , and it being successful , I though hell , why not try it on the frame, its only wire wool and oil is'nt it , :shock:

Amazingly the 4 O's and WD worked really really well , and I'm inspired to use this method in the future , thank you for that

artfulflounder & 02gf74 thank you also for your suggestions, although I've gone a slightly different restoration route using the steel wool and WD , your methods are duly noted and logged

So , progress has been made and the frame is now clean , and looking bright and sparkling, I decided I would use the range of Autoglym products available as i've used this manufacture of car products for quite a few years, and whilst not the cheapest I've always found it returns good results, and this time there is no exception , again faultless and quality products (and no, before anyone ask's , I don't work for a major Car cleaning company based in Letchworth) ,

After the first couple of initial washes with some warm water and with the addition of a few squirts of Autoglym's body work shampoo , the majority of the thick grime and oily muck that had obviously been preserving the frame was gone, and finally the frame came back to actually looking like a bike frame and not an oily heap of junk stuffed up in my garage rafters

I moved on to the next stage , and dried the whole bike off and proceeded to soak a big bunch of 4 O's steel wool in WD40 as suggested by JonTom (cheers once again) and then gentle started working small areas of the paint in a circular motion , eventually after 5 or so minutes (actually it could have been 5 hours ! , drink has a funny effect on my body clock and vision) I had completely been over the frame using this method , once I'd completed this and was happy that any deep ingrained dirt and grime was gone and I was back to almost the last few layers of paint laquer , I wash the whole bike again , using the above Car cleaning product , dried the entire frame again and proceeded to done 3 pints.

After the frame was dry , which funnily enough was about the same time it took me to guzzle down 3 pints of porter, it was time to move onto stage 2 or is that 3 ?

Earlier this day I'd paid a visit to the local 'car bar' , where I'd somehow managed to purchase some share's or was that an additional mortgage to buy enough Autoglym (other manufacturers car products are available) car paintwork cleaning products to complete the task at hand.

Back to work and this next stage involved Autoglyms paint renovator , and I have to say this product is truly stunning, a considerable amount of time, effort and alcohol consumption was involved with this stage, ensuring the frame was worked in small sections at a time , making sure nothing was missed or over looked,

After several minutes had passed or was that hours , amazingly all those little scratches and tiny annoying marks I could see after the initial wash off and 4 O'ing had vanished and I was left with an ultra smooth paint surface

Progress thus far certainly had been a lot easier than I was expecting considering the yearsworth of dirt and crap that had somehow magnetically attracted to the frames outer skin.
Certainly at times this outer layer of grime and dirt was sticking like super glue, this 'layer' seemed to behave almost like a symbiotic relationship between steel and Tennantsfosterstoutcider alcoholic/spider type living organism, and it certainly did not want to leave the home it had established over the fifteen years of peace and quite in the rafters.

So finally , The Luminous Orange of the paintwork could now started to be seen , and after all these stages of treatment this frame was now starting to finally shine and appeal to me as it did when I first purchased it from 'Wheels' in Louth , Lincolnshire many moons ago , happy man.

So last stage is down to the polishing, I think were onto stage 3 ... :? is it 5, (does it matter) and I find I'm using yet more car cleaning product from the company based in Letchworth , this time in the application of Super Resin Polish.,

So far I've got to say I'm amazed that the frames paintwork has returned to such an acceptable state.

More soon when I've had my morning Vodka.

Steve

 

[xxnick1975]

Hiccup hiccup cheers to that