remember there are some very tough paint finishes out there that you might not have considered....spherex VHT & Finigans Smoothrite, both come in a huge range of colours inc. silver metallic and are as tough as boot leather when cured. I have witnessed a steel tube painted with smoothrite and bent over double with barely a crease in the paint that wasnt in the metal too, it really is crazy stuff with glass microbeads and polymers. Follow the instructions EXACTLY tho, its simple to use but cant be recoated after a number of hours or a weird reaction results, you have to stick to the coat application times on the spray tin.
VHT can withstand 3000 deg C without discolouring or cracking, and it can be used on brake calipers as well so extending its use should you buy it, and clear yacht varnish is so tough it resists 170 deg C with no effects, they wont rub off or scratch.
I used to paint bike tanks and frames as a weekend hobby in my old mans garage business and those paints are superb if you want a finish that cant be easily damaged. Good prep helps too as someone said before by rubbing down and cleaning the pieces with thinners or similar and a tack free rag, the use etch primer to bite into the surface and it will hold any paint you throw at it. Light coats, spaced out at 15 min intervals, build it up slowly and you wont get runs. Keep the can 12 inches away no matter how your tempted to go closer, and smooth even strokes
Chase the shine so the coats are "just wet and no more" after the first one is dry. A top tip when using rattle-can paint - fill the sink or a basin with hot (not boiling!) tap water, and drop the spray-tins into it for 10 mins and take out before the water is cold, they will shake/mix and spray like a dream with smooth paint flow and no clogs or spits cos the paint is warm and the pressure is strong
I'll shut up now! (just come in off night shift lol)
