Lots of good replies, but my opinion based on some similar paint and clear coat repairs to other Rivendells:
*Before* considering sand paper, *definitely try scratch removal compound. Specifically, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. *It's $10 at Walmart, AutoZone, or O'Reilly's ... or free if you swing by my place in Napa, I'll just give you a bigger dollop than you need or try to fix the scratch with you in my garage. Utlimate Compound is fantastic for your situation, you can work it by hand until you get the result you're after and it is nearly impossible to damage your paint with them when working them by hand. You could follow up with Ultimate Polish but it's probably unnecessary, the Ultimate Compound is your fix. There are others, Scratch-X comes to mind. I would not suggest a more aggressive compound (like Turtles) because they can leave visible swirls in a gloss finish. If that doesn't fix these scratches, though I'm confident it would, you could use a tiny brush to add some Testor's enamel paint, let it mostly dry for an hour or so, then smooth the surface level to the original paint using some denatured alcohol on a cloth to gently remove the fresh paint until it's smooth. This is usually only needed if the scratch goes below the paint to the metal. On black it would work very well and I'd be surprised if anyone could tell unless they know where to look and are less than 12" away when looking. Again, if you bring the paint I would happily do this for you. Auto detailing is my side hustle ... with the only issue being that I never charge anyone for it because I only work on friend's cars from my garage. I'd be happy to help with your Sam (mine is a blue 56cm double tt) if you happen to be in the SF Bay Area. Alternatively, Grant says nail polish with a different color or just let it stay and call it beusage. Abe On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 12:18:01 PM UTC-8, Dave Small wrote: > > Hi all, > > Two years ago I bought a new black Sam Hillborne frame from Rivendell. > For reasons not relevant to this post, I couldn't do anything with it then > so kept it unopened in the box in my basement until this past weekend, when > I opened the box intending to take it to my mechanic to have it built up. > Upon removing the frame from the box and tearing away the bubble wrap from > the top tube I discovered extensive scratches on the top of the top tube > midway between the seat and head tubes. Cardboard had rubbed through the > bubble wrap surrounding the top tube and then rubbed against the frame as > the frame wobbled left to right during shipping, and this was the result. > > The scratches are superficial but readily apparent at a glance, and are in > nearly the worst spot possible. I'd like to fix or mask these somehow, or > else I'll see them every time I look down and be unhappy with the bike. > The best solution would be to have the top tube (and only the top tube) > repainted, but I don't know a local frame painter (in Indianapolis) who I > could take it to for that, or if a painter could paint *only* the top > tube and have everything match. I have three other ideas, but don't know > if I'd be happy with them once they're implemented: > > 1. Have a cream panel painted on the top tube to match the cream head tube > and the cream seat tube panel. > 2. Wrap the scratched part of the TT with black or honey leather, which > would provide the additional benefit of giving me a contact spot to use to > lean the bike against a pole if I ever need to. > 3. Twine the scratched section, with shellac if there's no chance of the > shellac hurting the paint and without shellac if there is. > > I'll always have a honey saddle on the bike, if that helps you picture > these options. > > Do any of you know a painter near Indianapolis who could paint the top > tube to match? What do y'all think of the ideas above? Do you have any > better options? I'd appreciate the input. Thanks. > > Dave > Indianapolis, IN > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9b69f01c-d814-43ad-bfe3-cafac650bb9a%40googlegroups.com.
