[KyleER]

I'd like to redo my old Mongoose BMX bike that I use as transportation around campus...I'm also considering making it into chopper of sorts, but for now I want to just disassemble it, repaint it and replace some parts. So, that leads to my question is there somewhere I can find a reliable how-to on the "right" way to repaint a bike? In my head it seems simple 1. Remove all part 2. Sand/grind 3. Paint 4. Reassemble. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that there are some subtleties to it that I'm missing...

[BlazingPedals]

Originally Posted by KyleER

I'd like to redo my old Mongoose BMX bike that I use as transportation around campus...I'm also considering making it into chopper of sorts, but for now I want to just disassemble it, repaint it and replace some parts. So, that leads to my question is there somewhere I can find a reliable how-to on the "right" way to repaint a bike? In my head it seems simple 1. Remove all part 2. Sand/grind 3. Paint 4. Reassemble. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that there are some subtleties to it that I'm missing...

Unless you want to give it a fancy custom paint job, I'd say the steps are:
1. disassemble
2. take it to the nearest electrocoater and have the frame sand-blasted and powder coated
3. reassemble.

If you don't want to spend the bucks to do it right, I'd recommend not painting it yet. Besides, if it looks too nice it'll get pinched.

[Industry_Hack]

Powdercoating will probably give the best and most durable results. If you're inclined to take shortcuts in your prep work, you'll never get good results spraying it yourself.

[joeleitz]

BlazingPedals has a good point, if you make your bike look too nice it will likely get stolen. The number of bikes that get stolen where I live is totally ridiculous. Sometimes I worry about my fixies and they're not even very expensive bikes.

[KyleER]

well, powder coating sounds great, but you have to bear in mind that this is a cheap mongoose from sports authority circa 2000. it still has plastic pedals and weighs a ton. as far as it being stolen, my campus is pretty secure and I'll most likely have the luxury of keeping it inside much of the time. as far as painting it myself, i have a paint sprayer at my disposal, but i was hoping someone would say i could get away with several coats of spray paint and some sort of sealant. part of my plan was to paint it myself in order to get the experience of preparing the metal since id like to be able to do that on the bits of rust on the inside of my jeep doors.

[KyleER]

also bear in mind that im a 20 yr. old poor college student and i have loans and a Jeep engine replacement hanging over my head. for me part of the fun would be in doing the work myself any way. ive never disassembled/reassembled headsets or chainsets. might i encounter any problems there?

[BlazingPedals]

The rattle-can stuff is easy on, easily scratched. I've never had good luck with it. The fancy $87/quart, 2-part paint might be better, but then you'd have to come up with a sprayer. Even then, prep is very important to getting good results. If it's not worth an inexpensive powder coat job, chances are it's better left the way it is.

You can do the disassembly/reassembly without repainting anything.

[Skidmark]

If you have the spray equipment and prepaired to do the prep work look for a base coat / clear coat system of painting. They are epoxy. Thats what is on many autos now.

[KyleER]

to remove the old paint/tiny bit of rust should i just use a wire brush drill/angle grinder attachment? does the paint need a smoother finish than that?

[kedive]

Originally Posted by KyleER

to remove the old paint/tiny bit of rust should i just use a wire brush drill/angle grinder attachment? does the paint need a smoother finish than that?

A friend of mine did his fenders with one of those and you need to be rather careful as those wire brushes that attach to a angle grinder can really bite into the metal if you are not careful.