Morris Minor Owners Club

Hey,
Today ive tried to paint my bike as it was looking very shabby, ive been doing 300 miles a week on it so i thought it deserved it!

I took it back to bare metal and covered it in primer, it looked lovely and smooth but as soon as it had dried the primer just flaked off as soon as it was touched,
What is the cause of this? and how can i stop it flaking?

btw the bike is an old steelie racer and the paint was poundland stuff, i dont think it was the paint as i was recommended this by friends who have used it before, and this didnt happen to them!

Thanks!

Hi . give the frame a rub over with some scotch brite ( thats the green scratchy stuff you do the washing up )with and then clean off.
When clean & dry spray with some etch primer let it go off and another light scotch,clean off then primer then paint.
If matalic will need a coat of lacquer.hope this helps.

clean the bare metal with meths,or thinners and let dry , before the roughing up .if this doesn't work the surface must have a barrier that prevents the paint sticking.what type of paint are you using?

Very odd. I've painted two of mine, one made of 'chromolloy' (some wierd steel/alloy?) and one plain steel afaik. Both 1980s reynolds frames.. Niether had a problem.
You sure its 'normal' steel and not something wierd and wonderful?

Maybe stating the obvious but don't touch it after it has been prepared for paint.
I've heard that any kind of silicone is a big no no when it comes to making paint stick, several car polishes contain it.

If you've taken the bike down to bare metal, you need to make sure the primer adheres properly and to do this key the frame with a 180 or 240 grit sand paper, then use panel wipe (preferably not meths, panel wipe is cheap and easily available and is designed for the job of cleaning/degreasing panels), then use a good quality etch primer.

Upol acid 8 is a good one, or if you have a spray gun and compressor, get an acid etch primer from your local paint supplier. You can just spray top coat over a couple of coats of acid etch primer or use further cellulose filler primer if you want to sand the primer to get a super shiny finish.

In preperation for painting i took it back to bare metal where there were stickers, as it wouldve taken forever to take them off in miniscule pieces, i did this with a wire brush on a drill the rubbed it down with some 240 wet and dry. Where the paint was good, all i did was rub it down a bit in preperation for the primer.
As i said, the primer adhered where the paint remained, but it just flaked off where the primer was on the bare metal
Could it be that it was to cold to spray? i didnt think it was too cold, as i was doing it in a t-shirt.

Any chance the frame had been galvanised?
I think you need special primer if it has.

Galvanised! no its just a standard steel framed 80's raleigh road bike.
Im thinking maybe try some different primer?