So I finished painting the Proteus this past weekend. 1 can (3 coats) of primer followed by 1 can (3 coats of color) chased with 1 1/2 cans (4 coats of clear). The paint I used is called "Dupli-Color," which is automotive lacquer you can get at any big auto parts chain (e.g. Pepboys). If I had to do it again, I think I'd use a different brand--this stuff was real hard to get an even coat out of--it seemed like the spray never came out evenly until you get 1/2-way through a can, no matter how much I shook it. I've read on other blogs that cheap Rustoleum or Krylon actually work better and are more durable--but the color selection is not as good. All the Rustoleum and Krylon I saw in stores were real basic colors you'd use to paint patio furniture. Anyways--here's some pics:

This last one is a shot of the ding I bondo'd over. It came out pretty good--not perfect, but good enough. If the light hits the tube at the right angle you can see where it's been repaired, but you really have to look hard.


That's it. I thought about painting the lug windows/cutouts, but now that the clear's already on, I'll probably skip it. Or maybe later...Erika said she'd do it for me and she's got a steadier artist's hand than myself. I also may get some decals done for it to match the originals--depends on how much they cost.

Bondo

To fix the ding I mentioned, I bought a small tube of Bondo...never used the stuff before. Spackle for metal, I figure--how hard could it be? Here's a pic of the ding:
Mixed up a tiny bit of the Bondo and puddied it on there with a strip of plastic from a milk carton:
Let it dry for 2o minutes or so, then sanded it down:

It feels smooth & flush to the touch. I may put another layer on just to be sure. Hopefully it'll hold. I assume that's what was on there before beneath the paint and I never noticed it all, so hopefully it'll be fine.

Frame Project

About 10 years ago I bought an old Proteus frame from a swap meet in Maryland. It's a pretty cool old frame--Reynolds 531 tubing, nice lugs with cut outs, Campy dropouts, etc. I think I had around $40 for it and built it up as a beater. I stripped it down several years ago to use the parts for other projects and it's been sitting in my garage ever since. Recently I got the itch to refinish it. Haven't decided yet whether to spray it myself or have it done professionally, but this weekend I finally got around to stripping the paint off. Here's the before pic:


To get all the paint off, I used this stuff called "Jasco."


This is some toxic stuff...I think went through about 10 pairs of latex gloves--it just eats through everything. Got some nice chemical burns from it too...if I do this again def. go with some thick rubber gloves! It eats through the paint pretty nice and bubbles it all up so you can scrape it off with steel wool or a wire brush.


The tough part is all the nooks and crannies around the lugs--especially the bottom bracket shell. It took a lot longer than I expected--probably 2-3 hours total to get it to the point where I think it's ready for primer.

Some of the after pics:





The more I got everything cleaned up, the more I realized this frame is pretty well built. The brazing seems very clean. I did find a ding on the seat tube that had been filled in with Bondo, however. The Jasco ate through the Bondo while i was stripping the paint. So I'll have to fill it back in before I paint it. It's small so hopefully it won't be big deal.