My Official Newb DIY Paint job - On metal.

[J_Walker]

Alright so I've started painting some of my metal bike parts. I started small. With the heel guards. Not the chrome parts. Now remember. I'm no pro. anything I say/do may or may not be correct. This is my own write up, and if you wish to follow my steps. your gladly welcome too. but if you mess up you cannot blame me.

First I stripped the paint from the heel guards. I used paint stripper/metal chisel/sand paper/dermal. to get the paint off. if you use aircraft paint stripper. Might be able to get it off with less work/steps. Once I had the paint almost ALL the way off. some hard spots from dents in the metal, you can leave those. so that's what I did at lease. after the paint is removed I used some 2000 grit sand paper and ruffed the surface out for the painting part. after I scuffed everything up. I warmed up some water. Placed into a bucket. added dish soap. let the parts soak in the water for about 5 mins. took out. poked/removed dirt/grime/old paint from the holes. dried off the parts. my parts than looked like this.




Once I dried them off and made sure no grime was on them. I whipped out my spray paint. My first layer of paint was using Rust-Oleum self etching primer. its kind of a green color.



First I tied a string [didn't have string so used some old wire from a computer] Around a looped part. Remember to plug all your holes for your screws and bolts with something. I used printer paper that I teared up into stripped rolled like a joint ^_^ and slid into the holes. the paper should fit snugly so no paint seeps in. I went outside and hung my heel guard from a nice safe place away from my house and anything I didn't want over spray on.

time for painting! I shook like mad for 2 mins. the self etching spray paint. The stuff is thick, can says 1 min but I felt 2 mins was more proper, better safe than sorry! no wind, at lease 72 degrees F or higher low humid. I kept my hand about 10 inches away from the object and did a VERY LIGHT COAT!! Remember LIGHT COAT. You should see 70% of the metal still. Wait 10 mins. Set a stop watch/stove what ever. 10 mins tho! once 10 mins is up. Spray your object with a medium coat. should cover up almost everything, but don't make the spray runny/sloppy, your base coat/primer is 90% OF A GOOD PAINT JOB! Now I was gonna do my 3rd and final coat, of spray paint. but seeming that the temperature was dropping once again, and the sun was setting I called it a night.

This is what I had, Note; I'm spray two pieces one of the pieces I didn't spray yet. so you'll see two different parts shown, but I followed the same steps for each and every part. Also if you have more time unlike me, after your medium coat. Spray another medium final coat on after ONE HOUR!



as you can see, I need another coat to finish off those tight spaces.


More to come tomorrow, writing this up as I go along, So Check back tomorrow!