Aluminium Anodizing/Powder Coating

[imjonta]

Hey Everybody,

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Anodizing/powder coating an Aluminum bike. I have a 1985 Guerciotti ALAN frame. Currently it's a Maroon/Red color, don't get me wrong the finish on the frame is great for its age, but I removed the decals and there is a two-tone in color, hence the Maroon/Red. I was planning to paint the frame a metallic blue, if possible, and get the lugs re-polish to bring out the chrome luster. I've been reading around on all the bike forums and everyone is saying that you can't/shouldn't powder coat an aluminum frame because the sandblasting and heating process from the powder coating would cause stress crack. I was hoping to find a paint shop around the West L.A. (one-hour drive is okay with me) that would help me with this. I found a shop in Vista, CA (CyclArt) that does great custom jobs, but the drive is WAY TOO far for me. Does anyone know of a similar paint shop around the area?

-Cheers, Jon

[Steve Mattson]

I believe your frame is lugged.  It uses lugs at all the joints on the frame and instead of using a brazing technique, these bikes were made with aircraft epoxy to bond the tubing to the lugs.  Heat, might be a problem and damage/weaken the joints.
Plus, to me, it would lose a lot of it's vintage charm...DON'T PAINT IT!  Sorry, I had to let that out.
What  I'd do?
Keep the original classic anodized finish.
Buy a set of decals made by this guy (look up his store) : Cyclomondo on ebay.  He makes perfect reproductions of these classic decals, I know, I've bought quite a few for restorations.
You could do the bike up as either an Alan or Guerciotti.  As to me, it should be.
You'd spend about $50 for the decal set, could have the pleasure of looking up some original bikes and see where all the decals went, buff out the lugs to get them to their original ALUMINUM luster, keep it as the head turner it's meant to be.  It sounds like the anodizing faded a bit. 
There used to be a guy who repaired these frames and replaced damaged tubing.  I don't know if he's around anymore...

[JB]

+1 to what Steve said.  Keep that one as is or restore it.

If you're determined to paint it, any decent auto-body shop should be able to do it, and can probably polish the lugs or arrange for that to be done. Don't sandblast aluminum though, make sure they strip it, as sandblasting can weaken the tubing.

Also, that's probably not a frame you want to dremel any of the brazeons/cable stops/shifter mounts off of, as it's worth more if it can be restored to road bike use.

[ScottS]

Plus, to me, it would lose a lot of it's vintage charm...DON'T PAINT IT!  Sorry, I had to let that out.
What  I'd do?
Keep the original classic anodized finish.
Buy a set of decals made by this guy (look up his store) : Cyclomondo on ebay.  He makes perfect reproductions of these classic decals, I know, I've bought quite a few for restorations.

Yep, I agree. My personal belief is paint should always be kept original unless it's so bad there's danger of rust damaging the frame and by that I mean most of the paint is gone, not rust spots which can be touched up or just put some clear nail polish over the spots to prevent further rust. Even though my Fuso was repainted a much nicer color by my friend before he sold it to me, I sure wish it was the original ugly color.

Before you get reproduction decals, it might be worth a call to CyclArt to see if they happen to have any original decals around.

http://cyclart.com/

Once when I was down at CyclArt I saw a Bianchi they had just finished painting. It was painted in the original celeste color but hand detailed with rust spots, cable rubbed areas, etc. to give it a nice aged patina. Pretty cool.

-ss

[imjonta]

It seems to be that everyone is in agreement (including my girlfriend) that I should just leave it as is, lol. I can't argue with the masses. Well the only thing that is annoying me are the surface scratches and a paint chip (?) near the down tube shifters, does anyone know a shop that specializes in custom bike paint?

Steve, I'll be bringing in my bike today (3/2) today to BikeRoWave, as well as my rattle can bike to work on.

Thanks everyone, Cheers,
-Jon

[JB]

CyclArt, or any autobody shop can do a custom match, or, your bike being red, you can wander through the nail polish aisle at your local drug store and find something so you can handle the scratches yourself.

[ScottS]

It seems to be that everyone is in agreement (including my girlfriend) that I should just leave it as is, lol. I can't argue with the masses. Well the only thing that is annoying me are the surface scratches and a paint chip (?) near the down tube shifters, does anyone know a shop that specializes in custom bike paint?

Steve, I'll be bringing in my bike today (3/2) today to BikeRoWave, as well as my rattle can bike to work on.

Thanks everyone, Cheers,
-Jon

Also Joe Bell down in the San Diego area 619.469.4312.

He does painting for a lot of the custom framebuilders.

If it's just a chip that you want to paint yourself, go to a good auto paint supply. Years ago I went to one on Centinela between Venice and Washington. Took my frame in there and they did a pretty good job of mixing up a few ounces of paint to match.

The sad (pathetic?) story was I was taking my BRAND NEW 1993 Team Novell Colnago Master Light frame off a workstand and it slipped out of my hands and bounced on the cement floor. Put FIVE nice chips in the crappy Italian paint job. Yeah, it's funny now but back when it happened...

-ss

[Steve Mattson]

NO PAINT, this bike is anodized aluminum!  Leave it alone, decals yes, but no paint.

[kp]

I used to not be able to leave imperfections alone. I've learned since. Let it be.
Patina and chips showing use and age are priceless. Case in point...
Antiques Road Show.
Someone walks up to an appraiser with a shiny brass fixture. A rarity in perfect condition, but it is worth fraction of what it should because the jealous owner polished it.