gas tank sanding.... GRRRRR not shinny MATTE steal!!!

so i used some paint stripper on the tank and got her down to bear metal... awesome! now i'm going to sand the shit out of the metal to get it to all have the same matte finish.... should i use a palm sander? or can i just sand the metal down by hand going with finner and finner grit?

i'm probably going to have to use some rust remover in the gas tank too.....

any suggestions?

It isn't that rusty just some spots from the water used to wash off the stripper.

i'm going to finish the steal with a non gloss clear coat of some kind...

any suggestions?

thanks this place rocks...

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

Start out with 300 grit and work your way up too 1500 grit and wet sand it. That should give you the finish your looking for. I used 320 grit, 600 grit and ended up with 1000 grit on mine (OK, I cheated a bit) but it turned out like a babies butt (and smelled better too!)

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

cool by wet sand do i use water or oil?

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

Are you not going to paint it, sarge?

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

make sure u use a block when your sanding, and do a criss cross like motion, the block will help you keep an even sanding surface.

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

I'm not going to paint it.

The idea is to have a cool MATTE finished steal clear coated with a non gloss coat....

It is going to then be covered in some really cool custome leather work...

should i use a palm sander?

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

I have had excellent results using water to wet sand the tank by hand (the palm sander isn't as good as a hand going around the contors). It was AMAZING how much better things went with the water. If you are worried about leaving the water on the bare metal you could always dry it off and put a little oil on until you do your clear coat (just make sure to use a solvent to get the oil off) or you could just clear coat it right away.

I really can't stress enough how much better the wet sanding is over dry sanding. Also the more water the better.

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

Krylon makes a Matte Finish Clear Coat along with a UV Resist Matte Clear Coat. I used em on my bike and I cant complain at all. Easy to fix a scratch or gas mark after 8 Clear coats of that stuff! Just sand the spot, then clear coat the entire tank again to retain the same color.
6 bucks a piece at Micheals arts and Crafts. Probably cheaper at wal-mart
-Chris

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

Probably not the look you want, but I'd seriously think about sandblasting it. I sandblasted my bike frame and then matte clearcoat and it looks SICK! Really clean, classic, yet got some attitude look. If you don't have a blaster, shouldn't cost more than $15 or $20 for a car painting place. If you wanna hand sand, I'd say 1500 minimum. I go up to 2000 for the straight razors i restore before polishing. And you're def gonna wanna go by hand or make a contoured sanding block, a regular one will make it look irregular if you're not careful. Good luck and I wanna see some pics when done!

 

Re: gas tank sanding....

I wanna sandblast my frame. Maybe my rims to...

 

So.... i started sanding with 320 grit.... it's turning the thing shinny and all poloished witch is exactly what i don't want.....

might have to sand blast....

 

gotta blast it to get the matte finish you want I think.

Good luck with the matte clear, no primer, and gas spashes....but it's no too hard to touch up I wouldn't think.

 

If you want a true mirror finish, that is when you go high grit (2000+). The only way I've found to get a none-shiny bare finish is blasting, probably sand. I've tried wire brushes on angle grinders and such, but all of it has been shiny. 15 min with a sand blaster and it'll be good to go!

 

she's in being blasted as i type this....

I'm not worried about gas splash...

I'll be careful and not over fill her....

I'm more worried about gas on the leather work...

I'm leaving the dents in the tank and it is sapossed to look mean and beat... not polished and cared for....

 

I think you made a great decision! Get some picks up here!!! Also, some pricing might be nice out of curiosity if you don't mind....

 

well i called around to all the auto body places around here and no one sandblasted... so i called an art glass shop and the dood said it minium charge of 170. I then told him what it was for and he rides bikes too so he said he could do it for 50....

the leather work is being done by a friend for the cost of the leather 75..

pictures when the sandblasting is done and when the leather is on....

 

That seems a little pricey to me.... I got my entire mountain bike frame sandblasted for $25 in Philadelphia and that would take considerably more time to do. Any places that do industrial coating near you? Places that powder coat commonly sand blast the old paint off first. Good luck!

 

R u absolutely set on a matte clear? If not every autobody shop has some clear left from the cars they paint in a day. Call em up that way you get a good quality clear that will stand up to gas without a problem. Tell them it is blasted and that you don't want any prep work just the clear. We have matte clear at our shop but thats wouldn't be xtra from a car so it would cost more. Remember tho(at least with our paints) No washing for a week or so and DO NOT WAX!!! for at least 3 months. There's no better way to ruin a fresh paint job than to wax it.

 

here it is sand blasted....

worth every penny of the 50 bucks.... looks SICK!!!

not clear coated yet....

after seeing how sick it looks like this i think i might get it pro clear coated non gloss still...

 

Thats the way a bike should look in my mind. That looks kick ass man! Great choice...

 

wait till you see the leather on it!

SICKNESS

 

Ok so it's at a pro motorcycle paint shop being matte finished...

i don't want to talk about how much it cost me.

so far i've spent more on the tank than the price of the bike....


i'm stupid...

 

AAhhh paint is a worth while investment tho.

 

it ain't being painted..... clear matte finish...

 

The new bars came in the mail..... put them on but hell if it isn't going to be a cable nightmare.....

So the clutch cable is WAY to long now is it easy to shorten? or do i have to buy a new one?


Also pulled three turns of thread out of the clutch to bar clamp.... gotta get a longer bolt now

 

So.....

NOT impressed with the job the "PRO" paint shop did... I could have rattle canned it and had it look the same...

First off everytime they said it would be ready it wasn't wasted my time driving all the way out there to find the tank was not even started... then the second time around..... tacky to the touch... and not ready to leave to shop.

Also they touched the metal after they sand blasted it again and there is finger prints under the coat.... NOT COOL

I paid $300 bucks for this... totally disapointed in there work..... The only reason i gave them the job is cause they said they were going to do it right!

DB Custome Cycle

I wouldn't go to them unless you are paying 2000 bones for your paint job that seems like the only stuff they put pride into....


On an even worse note..... I failed my Motorcycle skills test twice today... Bad case of the test nerves...

At least the leather work i KNOW is going to be cool!

 

At least you know for next time and the pics look great, so I wouldn't be too bummed. And that finish should hold up better in the long run than a rattle can. Either way, you def got the bada** look you were looking for, it'll pull the bike together great. Enjoy!

 

the first of the leather being molded to the tank.... it's going to be dyed black....

 

???????

Like cow leather? Please post more pics of this process. How do you apply it? What did you use as filler underneath? It looks like there are some real possibilities there!

 

Yeah cow leather..... It isn't going to be filled underneath it's just molded leather... I'm most likely goin to attach it with snaps. There is going to be alot of laceing as well. I'm not doing the leather work I have a artist that's my roomate doing it.... It may just be laced to the tank fully.... I never seen anything like this on a bike before should be cool when it's done.... In about a week.

I'll take lots of photos of the process.....

 

hehe.. Scholz clear is still paint!!!! just clear. Bummer about how they treated your tank. From the pics it still looks good. It Should hold up very well to fuel spills. I would still be careful. Keep us updated on the progress.

 

next piece of leather on...

 

the leather is died and all the pieces are finished soon the lacing and the snaps, and the riviets will be going on.


Also the job i got done on the tank is pissing me off... The finishes is lifting allready and also there is corrossion uner it allready.

Should i take it back?

I paid 350 for this finishes and it hasn't even been in the sun or had gas spilt on it yet.....

 

Yes you should take it back! That is not acceptable... Good luck!