Goin' German and Italian for a change

[nvr2old]

The good news..I got a second round of clear coats on all the parts including the BMW tank and fenders and the decal'd Guzzi parts. No pics of the BMW because they look exactly like the last ones except the stripes are better covered. The side cover decals will never be completely buried because it would cost a fortune in clear..but they're much better.







The bad news..one of the BMW side covers fell off it's hanging wire..ARGH..&%$#*^%@#$.. Of course, just like an open faced peanut butter sandwich, it hit the grates below on it's face. It's covered with dirt specs and chipped to the primer in a couple of places.





Sooooo. Let it sit and dry overnight, go back in tomorrow, sand the chips and dirt out, touch up the base coat, and re-clear. You probably heard me screaming no matter where you are. Just goes to show no matter how well you prepare, no matter how good you think you are..life just wants to take a dump on your day once in awhile. Should be a pretty easy repair..just makes me mad that it happened. Thanks for letting me vent..I'm feeling better now.

[Nessism]

Ouch! That's one of the reasons I said to leave it alone Larry! Ha ha, sorry!

I had a similar experience when painting my 1000S tank. I was on the very last clear layers, after many masking, shooting, masking, etc steps, and had the tank propped up on a box like structure that supported the tank from the inside. Went to rotate the tank for the last time when it started to wobble and I watched helplessly as it rotated to the side and then like in slow motion it fell on it's side and proceeded to flop completely upside down! Oh the horror!

[GSXR7ED]

This is the first I've learned of your skills--I know, I know...but better late than never. I'm impressed as are the members who view and comment. Thanks for the narratives and photos!


Ed

[nvr2old]

[QUOTE=Nessism;2481608]Ouch! That's one of the reasons I said to leave it alone Larry! Ha ha, sorry!

You were probably right, Ed. I thought of you when this happened, thinking "Ed's gonna give me a told-you-so.." Lol. Off to the shop...

[Guest]

Except for the last bit... absolutely fantastic as always Larry! They are coming out spectacularly.

That sidecover though, ouch, that really sucks. I also had a similar experience but nowhere near as bad... when painting my wheels and axle spacers I had one front spacer I think I ended up dropping a total of about three times. At least it was just a spacer...

[nvr2old]

After an almost sleepless night thinking about the correct way to remedy this mess..it actually turned out to be easier then anticipated. I chased the chips with some 400 grit. and sprayed a bit of primer to cover the sand through. The dirt which I was afraid would require enough sanding to get into the decal came right out. Whew.





Covered the decal before spraying the primer.



Used my detail gun to spritz a bit of color around the affected areas. You'll notice I didn't hang it this time... I stacked a couple of milk crates and then covered the sides and top with paper towels to stop any dirt from getting on it.





A few coats of clear..





Good as new. And, yes..I'm finally done spraying. Leave it alone, Larry. Walk away slowly.

Cut and buff should be easy with the way the clear laid out. Close, so close.

[Guest]

Ah phew! Excellent recovery effort Larry, pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

[nvr2old]

Thanks, Pete. My old mentor always used to say..anyone can paint. It's the guy that knows how to fix an F-up that you should go to. I think that holds true to any profession. I'm glad they're almost done.

[posplayr]

Glad it turned out well. Part of "proper preparation" has got to be "preparing" for how you are going to mount the parts for spraying.

I think I had a gas tank start sliding off of a stand I had made. If I recall in a split second I figured it was better to have some fingerprints than let it hit the floor.

Covers are a little tricky but I probably used tape or possibly velcro to hold then down. Items all need to be elevated, so you can spray up at the edges.

[nvr2old]

[QUOTE=posplayr;2481643]

Covers are a little tricky but I probably used tape or possibly velcro to hold then down. Items all need to be elevated, so you can spray up at the edges.

You're absolutely right. The backs of these covers have a slotted mounting tang. I wrapped the wire around them and they held pretty well, but this one slipped off. I actually taped this cover to the can it's sitting on to insure the air from the gun didn't blow it off. Comforting to know I'm not the only one that's gone through this..tanks hitting the floor would be a nightmare.

[nvr2old]

Got the BMW parts cut and buffed today. The clear flowed out so nice that I was able to start with 1000 grit, move on to 1500 and then 2000.







No such thing as having too many buffer pads to choose from.



I started with the buffer for the majority of the tank to get it started and then moved on to the drill with the smaller pads for the rest. Three stages starting with coarse wool pad and compound, followed by a yellow pad with the same compound, and then a finish compound with a black pad. I'm pretty happy with the results. Crystal clear reflections.













Tobin is coming tomorrow to pick them up. I'll try to get a few pics in natural light before they go. It was a rainy day today, sunny tomorrow, though.

On to the Moto Guzzi for pick up next weekend.

[Guest]

Wow Larry just... wow! They turned out real nice! Hope you can manage some natural light pic's, but I reckon Tobin will be one happy chappy!!

[nvr2old]

Just a few quick outside pics before they head home. Tobin should be here in just awhile.







IMGP0284 by Larry Pearson, on Flickr





It's hard to beat a freshly rubbed black paint job. It never gets old.

[posplayr]

Very nice, I would have been very scary to buff most of those parts withl the hard edges. High probability of burning through.

[Guest]

Fantastic again Larry! Freshly buffed black is indeed the bees knees

The 1000S looks great too