Restore a Bike's Finish by Mixing Touch-up Paint

Restoring bicycles can be a lot of fun, and sometimes you can make a profit by flipping them. Mechanical repairs and adjustments are almost always required, but damaged paint is somewhat problematic. A complete strip-down and repaint is a lot of work, and probably not warranted unless the paint has a lot of its surface area damaged. Many bikes just have a chip or scratch here and there that would look better if corrected as well as prevent the progression of rust on steel frames. This instructable will show you how to find or mix matching paint for your bike resto project. I have used this method a couple of times. A Raleigh is the subject of the included photos, where its story is told.

Tools

small paint brush

smart phone

Supplies

paints

rags

Clean the bike frame thoroughly. Use whatever method appeals to you. I typically use a spray cleaner and rags to wipe it off, although more serious filth (e.g. chunky mud) might induce me to use a pressure washer. While washing the frame, make mental notes of locations of scratches and dings. When done, it should be spotlessly clean, partly so that you can get a good photograph of it, and partly so you can find and paint all the chips later. You don't want to paint over dirt. Besides, if you're restoring it, you will want it to look nice in the end. If there is rust in the chips and scratches, as often occurs with a steel or CrMo frame, try to get it out via careful rubbing with steel wool.

Take some photographs of the frame. If the bike has more than one color with chips in the paint, be sure to get an image of them all. Try to get some even lighting, such as outdoors under overcast skies or a shady spot on a sunny day. Do not use flash. You don't want specular highlights (bright reflections) in the photo. Look at the photos on your phone and hold the screen up next to the frame. Do the colors match? If so, you are ready to go. If not, try to photograph the bike in different places until you get a good match. Usually, this is not a big problem. You are just trying to get close with the color.

Before proceeding, let us mentally prepare. Are you wanting to make the bike paint job perfect and like new? That's not going to happen, at least not with this method. Chips stand out in your visual perception because there is a lot of contrast between the paint and the bare metal. All you are trying to do here is make the paint dings less noticeable by decreasing that contrast, which will improve the overall look of the bike. The paint doesn't have to be an absolute perfect match to the original, and your attempt to paint over the chipped bits doesn't have to be perfect either. Paint can come in an essentially infinite number of colors, shades and tones. With this method, you may not get a perfect match, but you can come very close.

Now go to your local hobby store. Bring your phone because it's a lot easier to carry into the store than a bike. Do I need to mention the stores by name? My local Hobby Lobby has a pretty good selection, and I suspect that Michael's does as well. Many readers may not know that JoAnne Fabrics has a huge wall of hobby paints. Go to the hobby paint section and whip out your phone. Call up the photos of your bike and compare the color of the frame to the insane variety of paint colors present. I actually found a near-perfect match with a previous bike. Keep looking until you find the one that matches your bike the best, and buy it even if it has a very silly name. The best type of paint would be enamel, but acrylic works remarkably well and is tougher than I thought. If the color is not a perfect match, buy a bottle of white or black to lighten or darken it. A bottle of acrylic paint is normally about $1 USD. You'll get a lot of use out of that black bottle; most bikes have some black bits on them. Just a note: if you go to the auto parts store to look at automotive touch-up paints, you'll find they're MUCH more expensive (like as much as $18 USD).

When you get back to your workshop, hold the paint up to the bike frame. Do the colors still appear to match? If so, shake your paint to mix it. With acrylic, I squirt a small amount into a bottle cap or similar throwaway container. Dip your brush into the paint and dab a bit onto the paint chip. If it doesn't match well at all, wipe if off with a rag. If it's only a little different in color, let it dry and see if it matches then. You can take it off with the appropriate solvent if you don't like it, or you can paint right over the top of your previous effort (as shown).

If the paint is a bit too light or dark, take a bottle cap and squirt some paint in it. Add a bit of black or white paint, respectively, and mix it with a toothpick or similar random object (I used a nail). Try the mix as described above. If it's not right, add more paint or white/black until you get it right. It took two mixing attempts for the Raleigh, as shown in the images, to get the paint dark enough. This paint is so cheap is that you can keep trying until you get it right, and it costs you almost nothing. Time is your biggest investment, but if you take the time to get it right, it will look better for a very long time!

Under good lighting, inspect all surfaces of the frame for paint damage. You should remember some of it from washing the bike. Typical trouble spots are the top tube, sides of the forks and chain stays. Turn the bike upside down to check the undersurfaces (down tube, bottom bracket, chain stays) for chips from kicked-up road debris. Check for spots where the cables rub the frame. Make sure to remove the wheels and examine the dropouts (where wheels attach), as these will almost always have some paint missing. Fill the chipped spots with paint from edge to edge as well as you can.

Remember, it's not going to look perfect. When the paint is dry and you've reassembled the bike, stand 10 feet (3 m) away and look at it. Can you see the imperfections now? Perhaps, but mostly because you know where they are.

If inquiring bikies want to know, the Raleigh received new grips, but no other upgrades. I buffed out a bit of rust from the chrome parts, removed reflectors and adjusted shifters and brakes. The Raleigh was given away as a gift. Happy biking.