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Professionally Painted Frames?


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Who all on here has painted frames, not krylon...but like automotive paint? How's it holding up?

 

The reason I ask is my powdercoater just jumped my price from $60(me doing all prep work & providing the powder) to $250-500 depending on how many coats...blablafuckingblabla....needless to say I'm a little pissed. Hell for that much I could krylon my quad 50 times. banghead Anyway, I got a buddy who paints cars for a living, said he'd paint my quad for Free. I figure if we put on a good primer coat & about 8-10 coats of paint, followed by 5 or so clear coats that ought hold up for a while? Anyone have any insight on this shizzle? :unsure:

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I personally like the durability idea of PC, but being able to touch up paint would be nice too, just depends on how much damage you plan on inflicting on the frame. The price jump seems WAY to high, have you checked with another coater? Sorry man no experience with painted frames (other than stock which is not that impressive).

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I would much rather have it coated & may still...best prices out of the 10 within 500 miles from me is $225-$250 **providing there's only one coat needed, I provide the powder and do all prep work**AND around a 2 week turn around. Basically I had a deal, but waited too long & am screwed now I guess. I'm going to be doing some MX & mainly just duning. I'm not worried about it being a beauty queen...just something to stand out, and like I said I could just re-paint after a while if necessary. I already have the frame gussetted like a tank. I'll get it sandblasted before it would be painted.

 

 

On a side note,...anyone know how to remove paint from a powdercoated surface without screwing up the powdercoat? :unsure:

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banshee370 hooked me up with some good info a few years back...

 

Did the frame on my first CR500. Sandblasted all the stock white paint off, and painted it yellow (looked nice..hehe). After sandblasting I used an etch primer, and then a single-stage urethane (PPG stuff he recommended, mixing with reducer/hardener) and sprayed it. Think it got about 3 coats maybe? no more than that though... and no clear on top, even.

 

Anyway... the end result. I'm an extremely newbie painter and used a ghetto spray gun, pretty much one step up from a Wagner powerpainter ;) It came out to a pretty smooth finish, very glossy... and extremely hard/durable! Wiped out on it a few times, rode the bike pretty hard, tunked a few rocks, whacked the frame a few times getting the bike reassembled, and so on... and it held up really well. Ironically I ran into the ad on the internet a year after I sold it, from the guy selling it again -- still had the yellow frame and the close-ups showed that it still looked great!

 

No complaints here...

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Forgive the ugly tablecloth and the crappy resolution.. the yellow looked a bit brighter in person than the pic does it justice... but once again, it was very durable and relatively inexpensive. Single stage urethane. It was pretty glossy too... you could just wipe the stuff down really easily.

 

90frame.jpg

Edited by nater006
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I painted my frame. Rust Oleum Hard hat OSHA safety yellow. (spray bomb). What can I say. We use the shit at work all the time on machines. We are an OEM machine builder. It is tough as nails. 3 coats. One coat of clear. Fuckin fantastic!!!!! :headbang:

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I painted my frame. Rust Oleum Hard hat OSHA safety yellow. (spray bomb). What can I say. We use the shit at work all the time on machines. We are an OEM machine builder. It is tough as nails. 3 coats. One coat of clear. Fuckin fantastic!!!!! :headbang:

I read that too fast and almost thought you said you use it on all the time machines ;) was like... WTF? yellow DeLorean :D

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I think as long as you have the frame sandblasted for the primer to really adhere and paint with a good auto paint followed with clear you should be okay. I had my frame sandblasted, then powdercoated Mysty Lava (met gray) and clear along with the carrier and swingarm for $210. All I had to do was remove all the oil and grease beforehand. My stock a-arms are painted with commercial grade met gray that was close to the powder paint. I had the powderpainter sandblast them $25, then I applied a self etching automotive primer, the paint, and 2 - 3 coats of clear (u-pol #1 brand). Not cheap, the primer and clear must have been $30. I tried to paint the swingarm first with Hammerite, but if you don't sand the metal for the paint to adhere, believe me it comes off way to easy! Luckily I ride in the sand, and so far the paint is holding up great.

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Led:

I'm sorry I havent had a chance until now to post to this... So here is my .02c worth.

 

First from the beginning. IF you blast the frame yourself... Make sure you use very fine grade sand. Most is coarse and will pit the steel leaving it feeling rough. As soon as your done blasting it make sure you apply 1 to 2 coats of an etch primer or an epoxy primer. The metal will start rusting almost instantly (not visable). Clean and wipe the frame as best you can, and apply your etch/epoxy

 

After the etch primer you will need to apply 1 to 2 coats of a urethane sealer. There are NO top coats that will adhear to just etch primer. The acids in the etch will eventually push off the top coat if sealer isnt applied.

If you decide on an epoxy then you can go directly to top coat. I recommend letting the epoxy sit overnight. Lightly scuff and re-apply a light coat of sealer or another coat of epoxy as a sealer.

 

Now for topcoats.... Yes you can base/clear but I recommend against it for a frame (unless your into the flashy show colors. Basecoats are non cataylized products that wont hold up to the abuse that a urethane single stage will.

I recommend 2 to 3 coats of a high grade single stage urethane. DO NOT WASTE YOUR time w/ Enamels!!! Do NOT think that more is better! Its NOT. I would not go ove 3 coats of urethane single stage. Let me know and I will send you some flex additive that you can mix in the epoxy/sealer/single stage. Its the only brand on the market that will stay in the mix while leaving the end result chip resistant. Its obvious if you hit a solid rock it will chip.. but for the most part light stones will bounce off.

 

If you have any questions let me know and I will do what I can to help..

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And you know seeing that paint in real life makes the pictures look like crap. Even with a layer of sand dust on it, it still looked fantastic. Hell it even looked better when (was it Walt?? Can't remember) someone wiped the sand off of the nose with their bare hands to show the paint better. LOL. Such a killer paint job....... :headbang:

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And you know seeing that paint in real life makes the pictures look like crap. Even with a layer of sand dust on it, it still looked fantastic. Hell it even looked better when (was it Walt?? Can't remember) someone wiped the sand off of the nose with their bare hands to show the paint better. LOL. Such a killer paint job....... :headbang:

hehe Stan.... What else was I going to wipe it off with??

Thanx guys.... I just hope my paint holds up to some coal!

hehehe

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