Goin' German and Italian for a change

[chuck hahn]

Larry..by the above post am I to make the leap and "assume" your back in the painting game regularly?? If so I would be happy to refer people to you again.

[nvr2old]

Thanks, Chuck. Yes and no. I still do an afternoon radio show 5 days a week. (95.3 KPND if anyone would like to listen to it streamed) I'm just doing very select work for friends and maybe an occasional project for people who can be very patient because I only work at the shop on Saturdays. I have 3 more projects lined up to do once these 2 are wrapped up, and that'll keep me busy for a couple of months. I just missed doing it more than anything else. Fun to get my hands dirty again.

[pete]

Good stuff Larry, getting back to doing things you enjoy makes a huge difference to life. Even just one day a week can be a huge boost to morale

[nvr2old]

Yeah, Pete. I do enjoy doing this, it's very therapeutic..even though my body is feeling it a bit more these days. I go home pretty sore, but satisfied. Got quite a bit done in the 7 hrs. I was at the shop today.

This BMW tank had an ugly dent right above the emblem recess, going into it even. A stud gun pulled it right out. Look how nice that looks. Just a tiny bit low, and that's just what you want for a skim coat of plastic filler to make it perfect.

2b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Need to rough it up for body work. I'm always amazed that after many more steps, it will eventually be sanded with 2,000 grit and polished.

3b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Tape the recesses.

4b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Spread the plastic filler

5b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Pull the tape before it hardens..nothing worse then trying to sand filler out of those places.

6b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

A trick I only learned about 10 yrs. ago was to start sanding the filler just as it's kicking off. You can easily sculpt the filler this way..and yes..it totally clogs the sand paper..but just have a wire brush handy to keep it cleaned off. SO much easier then waiting till it's hardened.

7b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Even though the top felt alright, just a skim coat to make sure.

8b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

9b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

10b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Glad I did the top, it did have a few low spots that filled with just skim coat. It's going black so it has to be perfect.

10bb by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

[nvr2old]

On to the fenders. I always want the bottoms to have a smooth surface to just spray some base coat over. Sand, Larry, sand..

11b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

I spent several hrs. on the fenders to make sure they were perfect. These plastic fenders can also be sculpted. They'll look like steel when they're done. The lipped edges especially need to be taken down to bare plastic..if not, that'll be the first place the paint flakes off from.

12b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

All the time spent sanding, though brutal, pays off. Look how crisp those lines are now. Love it.

13b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Hard to tell in this pic, but the decal looks a bit crooked to me..or is it straight when it's mounted on the bike and the cover tilted a bit..hmmm.. I'll make the decals parallel to the body lines and hope that's correct.

14b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

I also block sanded the Guzzi side covers and primed them again. The tank doesn't need anything more then another round of primer and a block before color begins.

15b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Speaking of tank primer..the BMW tank came out great. I'm totally happy with the results.

16b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

17b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

18b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Side covers are looking better, too.

19b by Larry Pearson, on Flickr

Everything nestled away waiting for next week's rounds of block sanding and primer.

[pete]

Fantastic as always Larry! Having just been there myself and knowing how much effort's involved, that's a huge amount of progress for 7 hours work! I wish I could get it done that quick

With that 750 decal, yeah it looks a bit crooked with the bottom line of the cover, but it looks aligned with the top lines of the cover... might pay to do some Googling and see if you can tell how the covers sit just in case?

Looking a bit closer at the 600 decal you posted earlier, it looks like the decal might actually be correct the way it was aligned.

I'd just hate to see you get done with it and find it's supposed to be different...

[nvr2old]

I hear ya, Pete. Even the owner wasn't sure, and he knows these bikes pretty well. An investigation is underway. Would hate for it to be wrong.

[pete]

Given the age it's always possible there was some variance in the factory I guess... wasn't uncommon back then from my understanding of things. I was a little too young to take note back then of course

I'm 100% confident you'll get it sorted though!

[nvr2old]

Two weeks of the same ol' same ol'. Is there anything more boring then pics of another stage of priming and blocking..(3rd time),,probably not. But the parts are final block sanded and now ready for color.

Guide coat always. Even after the third time, low spots show up that need attention.





I probably have as much time into these tins as the rest of the parts combined. They were rough, inside and out, but look pretty nice now.



These were a breeze.





To avoid build up it's always good to sand the primer until you just break through..then you know it's been taken down as far as it'll go and the lows spots filled.





The insides of the Guzzi boxes almost as nice as the outside. Will look good when they're painted and you open them up

.

Pretty stoked at how well the BMW tank turned out, especially going black.



Guzzi tank was NOS, but had a few low spots that needed to be addressed, but all is well.



The booth at the shop I'm at was being used so I'll have to wait till next Saturday (hopefully) to start colors. Can't wait. I'm not used to having to push the pause button for a week in-between stages.

[pete]

Fantastic work as always Larry! Yep, gets tedious with the primer, guide coat, and sanding, but definitely well worth it.

Everything is looking nice and smoooooth... hope you can get some colour on next time, can't wait to see them!

[nvr2old]

This is where all the hours of block sanding and prep start to show. I hate sanding as much as the next guy, but it's so critical to insure a nice finished product.

Flying parts.. Took almost 2 hrs. to hang these, clean them, and spray them with a sealer before the base coats can start.



Never sprayed two projects together before. I started with the black for the BMW. I didn't want to chance even a tiny bit of the metallic from the Alien Green for the Guzzi coming through the gun and spoiling the black. I always put a "handle" on parts to keep them from spinning while spraying.



Hard to tell in the pics, but the fenders turned out great. Really crisp lines and there's not a wave to be found. Again..block sand..block sand..block sand.



The tank turned out nice, too. Doesn't even have clear on it yet. Check how clean the reflection is already. It's gonna be killer all polished.



Maybe one of the coolest shades of green..ever. Looks nice even in matte.



The time I spent on these was ridiculous.



This tank knocks me out..it looks so organic..like something Jules Verne would've come up with.



A few coats of blending clear to protect the color before decals.



The inside of the boxes have a nice finished look to them, too.

[nvr2old]

The BMW tank is so nice and straight..Tobin's gonna be stoked.



Having a booth with a baking application..love it..30 minutes at 150 degrees..ding..all ready.



I'll go to some 600 to sand these parts before decals and pin stripes. Finally feeling like some progress after weeks of looking at primer.. Both Tobin and Simon have been incredibly patient, so I know they'll be glad to get their parts back.

[steveb922]

Lovely work.

[steve murdoch]

Making the inside of the boxes and no doubt the underside of the tank that good looking is just plain showing off. haha.
Nice work, Larry.

[alke46]

Beautiful results. Looks as though you have done this before.

I will be sending you a PM shortly. Watch for it.