Gravel bike project

[JhnBssll]

I managed to keep out of the garage most of the day so the filler primer had gone off nicely when I went to sand it back. Its done a pretty good job of filling all but the biggest chips, here's the back of the chainstay after a quick sand...

I've just put another few coats on, I'll probably sneak out a few more times over the course of the evening and layer it up a bit more so I can sand it back again tomorrow evening 😊 Hopefully I'll be in a position then to go over the whole thing again with the grey primer and see how we're looking 😄

 

[JhnBssll]

I've put a few more coats of high build primer on the frame and brought it inside to the warm to let it go off for 24hrs before I flat it back again tomorrow evening.

I've also cleaned, lightly sanded and masked up the forks ready for some primer tomorrow.

 

[JhnBssll]

The chips are nicely filled now after flatting the filler primer back so I went over the whole frame again in grey primer.

Once I'd done that I realised I'd forgotten to open up the hole in the seat tube before priming so I waited for it to go off slightly then got the dremel out. The hole needed to be both lengthened and widened but only by a few mm so I'm not worried about strength. Once that was done I epoxied around the edge of the hole and glued the new grommet in to place, then once that was all cured I primered the seat tube again.

Part of me wants to get some filler out and just go round the edges to get rid of the step, but a much larger part of me can't be bothered so it'll likely stay like this

I also got a couple of coats of primer on the forks which are looking great, nearly ready for the base coat now 😄

 

[JhnBssll]

So the primer went off nicely and has allowed me to put the base coat on this evening 😊 I went for the recommended base coat for the Candy colours I'd chosen which is 'coarse metallic silver'. The paint seems really good and went on smoothly and evenly which is always a relief

I can certainly see why they refer to it as 'coarse', should make a lovely base to build the Candy up over though

Next job is to work out what my scheme is going to look like and mask up - I suspect thats a job for tomorrow evening 😊

 

[ColinJ]

Nice work.

(It was particularly you whom I had in mind when I mentioned meticulous CycleChat members yesterday in the fettling thread! )

 

[EltonFrog]

@JhnBssll I think you need to fill the edges of the step, its feckin annoying me.

 

[JhnBssll]

@JhnBssll I think you need to fill the edges of the step, its feckin annoying me.

That ship has sailed now the base coat is on, it'll be covered in mud in no time anyway haha

 

[Grant Fondo]

That ship has sailed now the base coat is on, it'll be covered in mud in no time anyway haha

Too true! Ride it like it's stolen, not meticulously fettled

 

[JhnBssll]

I'm trying to replicate a colour scheme I've seen in a few places with the inside of the forks and rear triangle in one colour and the rest of the frame another with an added embelishment on the head/top tube... I masked up and sprayed the green this evening, it's gone fairly well overall but it turns out Candy paint jobs ain't easy

Anyway, the midnight green is almost black in some lights but really lights up when you catch it right, it should look rather nice once it's got some lacquer on it I've now got to wait another 24 hours to mask up againand spray the purple where the silver basecoat is still showing...

I'm not aiming for perfection with this one, it'll be nice to get it as close as possible though before I throw rocks at it

 

[JhnBssll]

I stayed up and did some more painting - the green went off nice and quickly so after about 3 hours I masked it up and sprayed the purple 😄

Tomorrow evening I'll try and give it a clean then get some 2k lacquer on it, then it'll be time to think about building it up That reminds me, I need to source a headset...

 

[JhnBssll]

and lacquered 😊

This was taken about half an hour after I applied the last coat so still slightly tacky but I'm hopeful the shine will stay - I'm looking forward to seeing it in the sunlight tomorrow

 

[T4tomo]

good job, I bet getting the purple on and masked properly was tricky. It looks smart

 

[JhnBssll]

good job, I bet getting the purple on and masked properly was tricky. It looks smart

Yeah it was fiddly, and the cheap amazon vinyl tape I used didn't do me any favours. It's not perfect, there are some big runs in the lacquer down the seat tube for example, but it's definitely good enough to get dirty I've brought it inside now to sit by a radiator for a few days

 

[Jenkins]

and lacquered 😊

View attachment 668911

This was taken about half an hour after I applied the last coat so still slightly tacky but I'm hopeful the shine will stay - I'm looking forward to seeing it in the sunlight tomorrow

Good luck with finding some sunlight round here today!

 

[avsd]

Like the inside of the stays and forks. Not so sure of the headtube but I suspect it will improve with wheels and handlebars etc. Amazing progress as ever. Well done.


what precautions are needed when spraying with 'rattle can' paint. Face mask and door/window open or do you move the bike outside?