WANTED: Opinions & Suggestions

I've decided to repaint my wife's bike. She's found of a deep emerald green so I picked a Toyota Camry color that she really likes. I stripped the tank and side covers and am at the point where I'm ready to fix some minor dents with glazing putty and then hit it with primer.



But, I'm a little hesitant to leap in. Why? The last thing I painted was a racecar and that didn't have to be perfect. This, on the other hand, is for the wife so I want it to look, well, awesome.

Here's what I envisioned the bike looking like when I'm finished...



Do you have any suggestions that will help me realize my goal?

 

quit playing with Photoshop and get out there in the garage :lol:

 

Want to paint my bike first, just as a practice run?

 

But seriously, folks........
You could post this question in the tech section in pnwriders, or use the forum search tool first. There are some good bike painters in this area, and someone should be able to send some pointers your way. Nice color, BTW. Good luck!

 

Gee,that looks like my my bike,only in green...

 

It may be. I got the picture off here some time ago. If I recall, the bike was parked on the grass under a tree. I orginally used the bike in a Christmas greeting.

 

what kind of stripper did you use ?
i think i'm going to need a new fuel filter

 

A propane torch to melt the paint followed immediately with a brass wire wheel chucked up in a grinder.

What the heck happened to that tank?!?

 

believe it or not i did that on purpose
thats about half way thru about eight layers of paint with ace hardware extra strength stripper
i don't know what the other owners were thinking but they used tough paint

 

heres something to think aboutchrome paint

 

ooooo pretty :-D

 

Sand-off the Paint with 80 Grit Sand Paper.
Re-sand with 180, 220 and 320 until you get to bare metal.

Fill the dents and dimples with Bondo or MarGlas NOT Glasing Putty!

Sand the Filler to shape and contour's with 220, 320 and 400

Sand the whole tank with 400

Glazing Putty pinholes and scratches.

Sand the Glazing Putty filled spots with 400 Wet.

Prime the Tank with Self-etching Automotive Primer

Wet sand the WHOLE Tank with 600 Wet

Re-Prime

Sand the 2nd Coat of Primer with 600 Wet - 800 Wet

Rinse.

Bring the Tank and your sides to a Body Shop and show them that they are READY to have Color Blown-on.

Show-up with the Color, Parts and $150.00 in CASH.

Offer the 150 for a Pro to blow-on the paint.

 

gee thats easier than making toast
150$ kind of shoots the cheap paint job though

 

For a nice color ... blown-on by a guy who does it for a living and won't mess it all up and run the paint ...

A hundred and fifty bucks is a bargain!

 

WOW! 150.00 bucks is a great deal to have it done by a PROF. I just priced out the paint alone for my bike, not including the primmer, sand papper and time, it was 138.00. So if you can get it done for 150, and not have to worry about screwing it up (like I probally would), sounds good to me. I got a quote of 275.00 if I prepped it myself.
Let us know what you decide.
Mac

 

The PREP is the hard part. The repair needs to be absolutely perfect because when the Color gets blown-on ... ANY imperfection is going to stand-out like a big, fat, zit right on the Prom Queen's nose.

All too many times,, people do the Prep and don't "Feel it" and don't "Eyeball" it critically enough for painting. So, whenn the paint goes on ... that little tiny flat spot looks like a place where you could land a plane. Or, an unfilled scratch or tiny pit mark looks like a Postcard from the Grand Canyon.

After you have done what you think is a perfect Prep after repair ... wipe the area down with a clean, wet rag and eyeball the repaired surface in reflected light. You shouldn't see anything but a smooth, new surface to be painted.

If the repaired spot has a flat spot where a contour belongs ... there's NO "Close enough". The work you did will look awful if you blow-on Color over any likd of imperfection; no matter how small.

Since more than 90-Percent of the work repairing and preparing a part for painting is "The Prep" ... being able to skip the hard part and putting your Color in the gun and painting is a SMALL job for a talented hand at spraying -on paint.

That's why you will get a spectacularly good deal from the painter if you present your work to him with all the real hard labor already done.

If you develop a relationship with the Painter and go the extra mile and offer hang the parts in the spray booth and run for coffee or "Do some errand" while he's painting your parts ... it goes a long way toward getting a few extra coats of paint blown-on the parts.

Be sure to tell him you'll volunteer to Wet Sand the Color after the Paint is dry. Wet sanding the Color will give you a smooth, "No orange-peel or fish-eye's" inn the finish.

Then, all that remains is thoroughly rinsing the Wet Sanded painted parts, letting then dry and shooting the wet-sanded color with a few coats of Clear.

Done yet?

Not quite!

Once you get the Clear on the parts and the Clear dries and hardens ... you can wet sand the clear to a "Smooth as glass" finish and then Buff-out the wet sanding dullness for a Head-turning, holy-crap, unbelievable finish that will be the best-looking paint job you can imagine!

 

If you have some florescent lights in your shop, laundry room, rec room etc. they can come in handy for this. Remove the diffuser. Then take your part and manipulate it while watching the reflection of the florescent tubes. The reflection of the tubes should form a nice smooth line except where it drops over an edge (side panels come to mind, reflection will kink as it flows around to the edge flanges). On a Maxim tank they should flow like they were laid down with a French curve.

Anyplace the reflections of the tubes pinch together or bulge apart will be visible in your paint.

Do this at various distances and angles to thoroughly check your work.

 

Right on. All are great suggestions! I've decided to paint it myself. I'm still fixing dents and scratches, but hope to make some headway on it this weekend.

 

60$ worth of paint, not counting the 14$ rattle can of primer
somethings going to turn red
Gamuru how's it going ?

 

I'm still working on it. I've been working a lot lately so I've not been able to pay as much attention to this project as I would like. I'm hoping I'll get my long weekend this week. If so, I'll be sanding and painting. WooHoo!!!

 

Be sure to alternate arms or you will get one arm stronger than the other. :lol:

 

I've been making progress on this project and wanted to throw up a picture of what I've got so far. I shot the first coat of green on a black-primered tank last night and am preparing to wet sand it this morning. I'm hoping to hit it with another coat and let it hang all day while am at work.

Oh, and the Missus LOVES the color!

 

Hope you put a tarp over the couch before you paint! :lol:

Looks great Don.

 

Don,

You done gots yer MoJo woikin'!

Looks like you'll be heading into the Season all painted-out.
Good feeling ... ain't it?
Just makes you want to wet sand the tank 'til its smooth as glass.
So, do it!
Go for absolute perfection and ultimate greatness!

 

Man that's a sweet looking color, great job on it! Try using a little soap with the wet sand, it worked really well for me. Just make sure you don't drop it on a concrete floor after it's all done... like I did!
Keep the pics coming.
Mac

 

Thanks, guys! Right now I'm playing catch-up with the side covers (I hadn't even primed them yet ). I want to shoot all the pieces simultaneously with this fancy two part clear, but it only has a pot life of 24 hours. So, when the time comes to pop the can's cherry, I need to be ready to shoot it all.



2K GLAMOUR HIGH GLOSS CLEARCOAT
Spray Max 2K Glamour High Gloss Aerosol Clear. A 2 component aerosol clearcoat that is easy to apply, flows smooth and dries to a long lasting, high gloss finish.

• 2K clearcoat in an easy to use aerosol
• Activate, shake and spray
• Unique nozzle delivers spray gun results
• Dries to a high gloss finish
• Excellent weather and chemical resistance

 

I am curious to see how the clear coat works out ...please keep us posted.I haven't been able to find this stuff around here yet.

 

I got home from my group ride last Sunday and the wifey said she posted to her blog and wanted me to read it. Here's what the clever little woman wrote:

 

But at least her bike has a happy petcock......

 

Translation: This thing better be done before the next nice day.

 

She's been a pretty good sport about having her bike torn apart. But she did express her desire to hear it run again. I better redouble me efforts. (Besides, I've got stuff on my bike I need to get done like fork seals and carb bowl drain screws.)