86 SR500 Project is Moving into the Strip and Repaint Stage

[wild]

Finally, after two weeks of fighting galvanic corrosion and plain old rust, I've got the frame of the R500 ready to strip and repaint. As you can see from the pictures, life at the beach has been hard on the old girl, but the corrosion hasn't gotten to the point where the structural stability of the frame is an issue. I'm hoping that the slight craters can be feathered with either J-B Weld or Devcon epoxy and sanded before priming. Paint color is a concern because the 1986 catalog description for this bike with all of the hardware (Shimano 600) exactly matches the SR500, with the exception of the paint, which looks like the ST500. This frame does not have any of the provisions for the touring package mentioned in the catalog for the ST500 either which leads me to the SR500 conclusion.

Any suggestions for color will be greatly appreciated.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I can't suggest a matching color. Are you using automotive paint or aerosol? You could have that color matched but even that isn't fool proof. You might come as close with something off the shelf.

 

[wild]

I'm thinking of taking it to a paint shop after prepping, and having it done right. I'm also thinking of repainting this in 1968 Corvette yellow with red decals, one of my favorites from when I used to be a motor head.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I had a yellow 1968 Corvette when I was a senior in high school. I never researched the color but guess that it wasn't original. The 1967 color was much lighter. I can relate to "used to be a motor head". It takes a lot more effort and money to be one than it used to. Glad to hear that you aren't married to the original color. I'd paint it any shade that suits you.

 

[wild]

Wow, small world indeed! I used that color on several projects over the years. We must be close to the same age. I was a grad in 1966, and instantly found myself in the Navy. It took years to recover! LOL

 

[wild]

Half way through the stripping in about 30 minutes! I'll finish that up tomorrow and get to sanding the frame for a primer coat.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Must be good stripper. I have one here that I started on, worked a lot longer than that with less results.

 

[wild]

Must be good stripper. I have one here that I started on, worked a lot longer than that with less results.

I bought it at Home Depot. It was the only one that would strip epoxy, so I knew it would cut the Imron if this had the original paint. It is 'JASCO Premium Paint and Epoxy Remover". They had it in a spray bottle also, but I like to brush the stuff on thick. It also cleans up with water and soap. Now I have to hustle up with the paint selection since it looks like that is going to be a lot sooner than I had supposed.

 

[wild]

The frame is about 99% stripped now and I am finding evidence that it had been epoxied before the last paint job, and not a very good job either. None of the areas seem deep, but it could explain why the last owner junked it. Oh well, One man's trash...

 

[black lightning 1987]

I can't tell where those spots are. Handlebar slap on the top tube would be the most common place for a dent.

By the way, if you need a repair stand the ones Aldi sells work pretty well. As I recall they were only $25-30. Not sure if they still have them.

 

[wild]

I can't tell where those spots are. Handlebar slap on the top tube would be the most common place for a dent.

By the way, if you need a repair stand the ones Aldi sells work pretty well. As I recall they were only $25-30. Not sure if they still have them.

I appreciate the info. My wife shops at Aldi so we can check there in the morning. The strip job went too fast. I'm going to pick up a can of sanding primer tomorrow and see what colors are available in aerosol. I think I will probably shoot this one myself if I can find a hard enamel to clear coat over. I'll post some more pictures once the primer is ready.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Sounds like a good plan. I would recommend a stand for painting. Put a seatpost in the frame and clamp the post in the stand. The stand will allow you to quickly rotate the frame 360 degrees. That will help a lot as it's hard to get an even coat on the multiple round tubes of a bike frame from any one position. It's essential to work quickly in order to avoid orange-peal in some spots and runs in others.

 

[wild]

Sounds like a good plan. I would recommend a stand for painting. Put a seatpost in the frame and clamp the post in the stand. The stand will allow you to quickly rotate the frame 360 degrees. That will help a lot as it's hard to get an even coat on the multiple round tubes of a bike frame from any one position. It's essential to work quickly in order to avoid orange-peal in some spots and runs in others.

Aldi doesn't have the stand in this store, but I will fab something before painting today. Thanks for the seat post tip! I shot four coats of primer yesterday and will wet sand that this morning. I may get the base coat on by tonight, but am not rushing the job. Here's the plan, sort of. I'm laying a base coat of silver metallic which will then get a coat of metal flake followed by several coats of clear. When that is finished, I'm going with red decals to finish the project.

 

[wild]

A big hat tip for the suggestion of using the seat post for a pivot while painting. I didn't have a post, or a stand, but I cobbled up a fixture with some old hardware that was laying around. Rain is keeping me from doing anything but sanding today, so I'm on standby until it clears up.

 

[black lightning 1987]

The nice thing about the stand is that you can easily rotate the frame to get good light on both the top and bottom sides of the tubes and put all surfaces in a position that's easy to reach. It helps me a lot to be in a comfortable position when spraying, rather than having to squat and contort in order to coat the undersides of tubes. Nice progress though. Wish you were closer, I'd drop a couple more frames in your lap for painting.

 

[wild]

I'm not sure I'd want to do this more than once, LOL. I did get a pretty good day and shot three coats of metallic. Tomorrow, I will give it a couple of coats of clear, and then let it set for a few days to harden up. I haven't done the forks yet, and the pedals won't come out of the crank arms. I found some red decals in England some place, so that will be the way this one goes. Still lots of cleanup on the derailleurs and handle bars, but I might be riding this thing in a couple of weeks.

 

[wild]

Okay, three coats of clear this morning, and the main frame is finished! (except for the decals).

 

[black lightning 1987]

Looking good. It sure has been challenging to have everything threaded fighting you. Be sure you are turning the pedals the right way, right hand threads on drive side, left on non drive. Maybe a bit of propane torch heat right on the end of the arm will help. Have a helper heat while you twist. You can probably put more torque on them with a hex bit than a two flat wrench. Most decent pedals have the internal hex.

 

[wild]

Looking good. It sure has been challenging to have everything threaded fighting you. Be sure you are turning the pedals the right way, right hand threads on drive side, left on non drive. Maybe a bit of propane torch heat right on the end of the arm will help. Have a helper heat while you twist. You can probably put more torque on them with a hex bit than a two flat wrench. Most decent pedals have the internal hex.

I used heat and a big cheater on these, but the hex rounded off. I'm afraid these don't have the socket. My next attempt will be to set up the drill press and get a pilot hole in the middle, then drill to about 1/2" and turn them out. Back in my Millwright days this would have been a piece of cake, although a lot smaller than what I worked on. LOL

FYI, I did notice something interesting concerning the SR models as opposed to the ST models. The SRs appear to all have the lower tube bosses to hard mount the front derailleur, and the STs use a clamp. This one was supposed to have the Shimano crank, but there is no name on it besides "made in Japan".

I'm going to re-wrap the handle bars in red after I decide on what to do with the stem.

 

[black lightning 1987]

The clamp FD was a better setup for several reasons. It never registered with me that the ST frames used clamps, even though I've owned several.

What crank arms are you working with? Guessing that I have something here that would replace them with much less effort than drilling out pedal threads.