So what had happened was.... I got some BMX bikes from the good will while I was in Dayton Ohio 2 weekends Ago. I bought two because I have two kids, and I snagged them joints for $50 total. I feel I was overcharged but hey, you really can't really work over the old ladies volunteering at Goodwill just to save a few bucks. So I started with a real pile of shit.. In the process I removed all the stickers, sanded down the frame, and then painted them using the classic RustOleum revitalization method. During this laborious task, I even invented a name for my BMX company..... CREAM..... what do you think? I mean loose leaf is still the holding company, but Cream has a nice ring to it.... Just ask prince bitch...
I had to clean the bike after I removed all the stickers. Hands down that was the absolute worst part of the whole endeavor, removing stickers sucked. I don't care how many you tube videos you watch or how much GOO-OFF you spray, taking off stickers takes time. If you look close, you can see a sand paper brick in the sink. I was wet sanding the bike frame in the kitchen sink of my apartment. My girl was a sour patch kid the rest of that night. The next day after sanding and washing the bike down, I took the parts to my work and spray painted the frame and the forks. I decided to leave the frame white because that was it's core color when I removed the decals. I found it was much easier to touch up the core color rather than to completely change the color. You can see the P.O.S. I started with in the picture and I broke it all the way down to what you see below. One major decision I made was to paint the rims. It was a time consuming to mask and tape every single spoke on both of the rims, but the finished product was well worth it. It really set off the paint scheme. I watched a few you tube videos about spray painting a bike and almost all of them showed people stripping the frame and the parts down to bare metal before painting. That might make senses if you are going to powder coat or use some other technique, but when it comes to spray painting a BMX style bike, a little sand paper will get the job done. After every thing was spray painted, I used a flat clear coat to cover everything. I used an entire can on the bike because I thought it would prevent the paint from scratching right off. It certainly helped, but don't think spray paint a clear coat will be as durable as a factory paint job. The bottom line is this, when I was done with the first bike, which is what you see here, I was pleased with the outcome. You can't beat a 25 dollar bike with 12 dollars worth of spray paint that looks this nice. I also spent $2.50 at my local walmart for a 1/2 yard of black vinyl material to make the seat look better. It had some funky design on it that wasn't in tune with my ocean breeze color selection.....nah mean.... 64
I think the finish product came out decent. At around 37 dollars in cost and a few hours labor it was well worth it. My only concern is if the paint job will hold up against abuse. If it can take some punishment, than I might have a side hustle. If the paint falls of after one ride, than I will chalk it up as a learning experience.
So what had happened was.... I got some BMX bikes from the good will while I was in Dayton Ohio 2 weekends Ago. I bought two because I have two kids, and I snagged them joints for $50 total. I feel I was overcharged but hey, you really can't really work over the old ladies volunteering at Goodwill just to save a few bucks. So I started with a real pile of shit.. In the process I removed all the stickers, sanded down the frame, and then painted them using the classic RustOleum revitalization method. During this laborious task, I even invented a name for my BMX company..... CREAM..... what do you think? I mean loose leaf is still the holding company, but Cream has a nice ring to it.... Just ask prince bitch...
I had to clean the bike after I removed all the stickers. Hands down that was the absolute worst part of the whole endeavor, removing stickers sucked. I don't care how many you tube videos you watch or how much GOO-OFF you spray, taking off stickers takes time. If you look close, you can see a sand paper brick in the sink. I was wet sanding the bike frame in the kitchen sink of my apartment. My girl was a sour patch kid the rest of that night. The next day after sanding and washing the bike down, I took the parts to my work and spray painted the frame and the forks. I decided to leave the frame white because that was it's core color when I removed the decals. I found it was much easier to touch up the core color rather than to completely change the color. You can see the P.O.S. I started with in the picture and I broke it all the way down to what you see below. One major decision I made was to paint the rims. It was a time consuming to mask and tape every single spoke on both of the rims, but the finished product was well worth it. It really set off the paint scheme. I watched a few you tube videos about spray painting a bike and almost all of them showed people stripping the frame and the parts down to bare metal before painting. That might make senses if you are going to powder coat or use some other technique, but when it comes to spray painting a BMX style bike, a little sand paper will get the job done. After every thing was spray painted, I used a flat clear coat to cover everything. I used an entire can on the bike because I thought it would prevent the paint from scratching right off. It certainly helped, but don't think spray paint a clear coat will be as durable as a factory paint job. The bottom line is this, when I was done with the first bike, which is what you see here, I was pleased with the outcome. You can't beat a 25 dollar bike with 12 dollars worth of spray paint that looks this nice. I also spent $2.50 at my local walmart for a 1/2 yard of black vinyl material to make the seat look better. It had some funky design on it that wasn't in tune with my ocean breeze color selection.....nah mean.... 64
I think the finish product came out decent. At around 37 dollars in cost and a few hours labor it was well worth it. My only concern is if the paint job will hold up against abuse. If it can take some punishment, than I might have a side hustle. If the paint falls of after one ride, than I will chalk it up as a learning experience. 
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