Hi, I'd love to get my Motobecane frame painted/powdercoated (thinking of white...its currently a shoddily painted red) but living in SW London Armourtex (yep, I've done a search) is a bit of a trek. So if anyone can recommend somewhere in the South West / West that offers a decent service I'd be much obliged if you could give me details.

Cheers!

open up the yellow pages / yell.co.uk

powdercoating is no specialist thing, most cities have tens of them. Call about and you might even get a better price than armourtex.

Cheers mr pack, guess with all the reading I've done on this forum I was thinking its armourtex or nothing! *reaches for yellow pages* although i'm guessing armourtex are used a lot as they provide a good service...

they're good - but more importantly they're bike friendly

While on this subject anyone recommend a varnish to finish off a shit rattle can job?

nitromors ;)

Funnneeeee... That's what got me into this trouble in the first place.

Dont suppose anyone knows a good powdercoater in Dublin.....?

Paddy's?

Hah very helpful hippy.

bono's?

Actually....

I probably should call in the morning...so lazy....

I got mine done at windridge had to pay postage but did a nice job.

They look good, but after a bit of research it looks like armourtex is my best bet - £60. Called them up and they were very friendly.

i'm kind of wishing i'd just got mine done by armourtex now.

i'm currently into week three of the paint-it-yourself process (with a couple of weeks of riding it stripped back to the primer). did three coats of white plasticote last night and sanded them back this morning. if the weather's good tomorrow morning i'll do another two or three then sand and clear coat it. it's been impossible to get two clear dry days in a weekend for AGES. i'm at the stage now where i've committed and am bikeless until it's finished. fucking annoying. every day i have to get the fucking tube and watch as yet more rain ruins another potential evening's spraying.

on the plus side it's quite a satisfying job (when you're able to actually work on it) and looks great already.

top tip: do not sand a bike back to the white basecoat and THEN dismantle it and take off the very dirty chain. it took me the best part of a day to get the oil stains off it after that.

^ out of interest, how much do you reckon you spent on paint, stripper etc? I vaguely priced out doing it myself but decided the saving I would make vs armourtex was not worth it. But you do get to look at your steed afterwards and bask in the warm satisfaction of having painted it yourself.

I'll be stripping the bike down to the frame before I take it to armourtex. Can't say I've ever done that before (just replaced or 'serviced' parts individually), was thinking it would be OK, I have a decent set of tools etc, anyone think it will be a hassle?

cost of paint used: £18 (2 cans of white and one clear coat)

i suppose that's the basic cost.

but:

paint bought and not used (kept changing my mind about colour, plus bought stripper but decided not to use and just sand back to primer instead); £18

other bits (glass paper, sanding blocks, cloths, sponges, masking tape, string, gloves etc) maybe another £10-£20

plus i needed to buy a new chain splitter and crank puller as my old ones were at my folk's house.

overall i've probably spent a fair bit more that i would have getting it done at armourtex. you're right tho, it is satisfying doing it yourself. plus it's a learning experience and the tools i had to buy will get used again so... i wouldn't recomend it if you want it done quick but if you have the time, inclination and patience to learn from yr mistakes i'd say it was worth it.

oh as it rained again tonight i couldn't spray again. i've now taken tomorrow morning off to get it finished (weather permitting) and i suppose you could also factor in a week's tube fair and general buggeration factor while the bike's been in bits.

yep. it's character building alright.

So long as you're not too worried about the differences in finish. I've had varied results from different powder coaters - the latest was (on reflection) shite

I was looking into powdercoating my frame and fork a few months back, I gave the guys at AC Powder Coating in Yeovil a ring.

Although Ive never used them (went for a sprayed finish in the end) they seemed pretty knowlegable having coated quite a few motorcycle and bike frames in the past.

If you want to know more about powder coaters in the south west, why dont you just google something like "powder coaters in *town*" then click "local buisness results" to get more info on each.

Ollie