Old Touch Up Paint Fix – Bicycle

Last Updated on November 15, 2021 by FAB Jim The Cyclist

If you have a bike with a touch up job that’s not so good, I hope this guide can help you.  I purchased a bike that was touched up by a previous owner and well it’s not so good.  But so far, I’ve had some pretty good success making it much better.  These tips are only for a gloss paint job.  If it is a flat color, you don’t want to do this.  Gloss paint only!

My main goal here is to make it look better.  It would be very difficult to make a spot disappear, but not so hard to make it so you have to look for it.  Much better than the spot that stands out. 

So here is a spot on the bike that was previously painted.  As you can see it’s a bit of a bump of paint and in this pictured it’s rather dirty.  A lump of paint like this will tend to attract dirt.

Here it is after using a rag and isopropyl alcohol just to clean it up, looks quite a bit better.  But it would just quickly get dirty again.

I’m going to use this Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound to make this look a lot better:

Meguiar’s G17220 Ultimate Compound, Color & Clarity Restorer, Scratch & Swirl Remover – AMAZON

Now I use a microfiber rag and a little of the compound and polish away at the spot.  Go slow and gentle, you don’t want to polish all the way through it.  Here is some more improvement:

So now it was looking pretty good.  I did a little more polishing after this and then I used some wax on it and here it is finished:

Quite a good improvement, I think.  And now that it is polished and waxed it should no longer attract dirt and stand out so much. 

Here is a before and after picture of the chainstay:

I think it went from a, oh that does not look good to a looking alright for an old bike.  Had I spent more time I could have done a little better, but it’s not a very visible area.  I did have to add a little bit of paint and I just used a gloss white Testors enamel paint.  I’ve heard many people use nail polish also.  Lots of colors available between the two for matching. 

If you have the touch up job that is more of a crater than a lump, you will want to add some paint so it’s more of a lump.  Take your time with each coat and give lots of drying time, especially if you use Testors. 

If your bike has multiple areas that need improvement, start somewhere less easy to see.  This will let you practice and get ready for the harder ones.  I started down on the chainstay but have some I need to fix on the top tube. 

I have another frame I bought used that needs some touching up that I will be posting about.  For this one I will try the Meguiar’s Ultimate Polish instead of the compound.  I think it will be a bit more forgiving, the compound works quite fast. 

Again, don’t do this with a flat paint.  The Ultimate Compound will likely turn the area into a gloss paint.  The above are suggestions but play with your paint at your own risk.  If you have a really expensive bike with a chip you want to disappear you might wanna find somebody to fix it.  If you are like me and just looking for some improvements, the suggestions about should help, but are not guaranteed.  I’m no expert, just a guy who does bike things.