WW Vertex - lastest update july 18

[Cheers!]

Use the acetone as final wipe down.

You can buy the 800, 1000. 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper from Canadian Tire. It is in the auto section where all the spray paint are. You can also buy acrylic clear coat in a spray can there.

Personally I would just let the autobody shop do the spray. You need a warm enviroment for it to cure properly. You don't want to spray in your basement. The fumes will leak to your whole house. Your wife will be mad. Trust me I've done that for car parts before. Also you need to be dust free. So spraying it on your driveway outside and quicky bring it in will get dust all over the clear. Also shooting it in the cold makes the clear coat have a texture as.

Keep us up to date.

[devinci]

UPDATE!

small update, the pictures you see now are the result of 11,5h of hand sanding, thats without the whole carbolift procedure.

BTW, the crack I had on the TT is really superficial. I will seal it with epoxy.

So here are a couple of pictures, as well as an on scale picture of the frame. It now weights in at 1293g.

I also included a teaser picture of the parts I will use, intentionnaly hiding some of them under the rotor and hiding some logos

Enjoy!


11,5h sanding - global view par devincification, sur Flickr

I have no idea how I will remove the white paint you can see here arround the FD clamp area and the metal plate on the chainstay, might just give it a shot of automotive black paint for scratches.

11,5h sanding - DS BB area par devincification, sur Flickr

this area was tricky and long to sand down

11,5h sanding - seatstay bridge par devincification, sur Flickr

The damn hose bosses are giving me a hard time!

11,5 h sanding - NDS side view par devincification, sur Flickr

The frame has lost 71g! From 1364g to 1293g! I hope I can shave another 30-40g with the downtube and headtube.

11,5 h sanding - frame weight par devincification, sur Flickr

Parts teaser

vertex build parts teaser pic par devincification, sur Flickr

[Frankie - B]

Looking good! keep up the good work!

[morrison]

I have no idea how I will remove the white paint you can see here arround the FD clamp area and the metal plate on the chainstay, might just give it a shot of automotive black paint for scratches.

I usually wrap my sand paper around a pencil, a piece of wood or something similar which can give me some sharp edges to sand the small corners...and loads of patience, of course.

[DLEVETT]

Its looking good.
Keep it up, my Trek Madone is being stripped for a similar nude carbon finish.

Dave

[devinci]

update!

frame weight: 1270g

Almost 100g lost!

Not much work left as you can see. After all the white paint is removed, I will sand down the tiny spot with 400 grit, then sand the whole frame with 600 grit, then finish it with 1000 grit.

After, I will wipe it down with acetone as suggested and will either spray it myself or find someone to do it, the thing is I really want a matte finish, not a glossy one.

I have 15h of sanding done and maybe 6-7h of carbolift procedure.

here are some pics, enjoy

Front view

15h sanding front par devincification, sur Flickr

rear view

15h sanding rear par devincification, sur Flickr

work remaining

15h sanding remaining work par devincification, sur Flickr

[Frankie - B]

Wow great project. I'm following it on twitter, but these posts do justice to the frame!

[devinci]

thanks Frankie!

I plan on sanding the remaining white paint tomorrow!

[devinci]

thats it, rough frame done!

17h of hand sanding, glad its done. All I need to do now is remove the tiny spots I can remove, sand the whole thing with 600 grit wich will be fast, then with 1000 grit.

After that I will wash it down with air pressure and acetone and I will paint the remaining white where I couldnt sand it with some black scratche pencil for cars.

once this is done, clear coat, then RIDE!

Final frame weight: 1266g

rough frame final weight par devincification, sur Flickr

top view

rough frame top view par devincification, sur Flickr

front view

rough frame front view par devincification, sur Flickr

NDS view

rough frame NDS view par devincification, sur Flickr

DS view

rough frame DS view par devincification, sur Flickr

The parts showing phase can now begin!

[Frankie - B]

Great project! I know what you are going through. right now the frame looks crap, but once you put clear on it it will look amazing!

[devinci]

Clear coat suggestion required gentlemen

I've read about 303 UV protectant, what kind of finish does it look like?

I've also read about spraying clear coat. I called a local auto paint shop and they said they dont have time to do such small parts. I am left with doing it myself I guess.

I've read I dont need to sand the frame with anything more then 400 grit if I want to clear it myself so the clear coat sticks better on the frame.

hows the 303?
Any product recommendation would be appreciated.

thanks

[artray]

I used the 303 on my seat and seatpost, looks and work's great.
This stuff is brilliant. Works perfect for carbon and you can paint it on and there is no brush marks http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KBS-Coatings- ... 3cc1431222" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[devinci]

Do you happen to have any pics of the result it gives?

It the same thing as the 303 product?

Thanks

[artray]

Sorry. I don't have any photos. I used it on some carbon parts that I have now sold. It gives you a shiny clear coat finish with no mark's. You can't tell that it was brushed on, it looks perfect. Trick is, as with all these things, less is better. I used a small soft brush and it came out perfect. You can put a coat on then lightly sand it down with some very fine wet and dry then add another coat etc untill you get it as you want it. But i just brushed on one coat and was very happy with the results. It also has UVA protection etc etc.
It's very similar to the coating they put on Giant/Colnago carbon bikes, It has a little bit of suppleness in the compound and it helps small chips or stones bounce off your frame .
The 303 is more like a thin polish that will protect against sunlight, The diamond clear will give you the same, if not better protection as standard clear coats.

[devinci]

Forgot to mention I want a matte clear coat