Painting Bike parts

[nvr2old]

Unfortunately, I have had a defect for every piece I've painted, and no exception for the tank.
Had a paint run on the other side, which will require me to do a blend of both base and clear.
Already did a blend on one of the side covers an ended up with two tone silver.
This is what separates a painter from a hobbyist.

20250711_073348 by jchaswhite, on Flickr

Would hate to screw this up because I would like to sell one of my tanks.

If it were me, I wouldn't worry about blending in your base coat and clear coats. I would first sand your tank completely with 600 then spray your sand-throughs with a couple of light coats of primer. Otherwise base coat may eat through the outside edges of your sanded areas. Spray the entire tank with your silver base coat but make the coats pretty dry so it won't eat the repair, followed by several coats of clear.

[jdub6092]

If it were me, I wouldn't worry about blending in your base coat and clear coats. I would first sand your tank completely with 600 then spray your sand-throughs with a couple of light coats of primer. Otherwise base coat may eat through the outside edges of your sanded areas. Spray the entire tank with your silver base coat but make the coats pretty dry so it won't eat the repair, followed by several coats of clear.

The first 2-1/2 coats of clear have been wet sanded with 600 and further dulled and smoothed with gray scotch.
I've already applied the decals on one side so dropping another coat of base is not an economical option.

I really need to find a way to repair this. The only positive is this area is surrounded by curves that can make a transition less noticeable.
Spraymax spot blender didn't really help the side cover repair.

[nvr2old]

The first 2-1/2 coats of clear have been wet sanded with 600 and further dulled and smoothed with gray scotch.
I've already applied the decals on one side so dropping another coat of base is not an economical option.

I really need to find a way to repair this. The only positive is this area is surrounded by curves that can make a transition less noticeable.
Spraymax spot blender didn't really help the side cover repair.

I misunderstood your situation. You have no choice but to blend the silver. I would still spray a couple of light coats of primer on the sand through to protect the edges from lifting. Then spray the silver followed by a couple of coats of clear before letting it dry overnight. Sand lightly before putting the decals on. It sounds difficult but you're doing fine.

[jdub6092]

I misunderstood your situation. You have no choice but to blend the silver. I would still spray a couple of light coats of primer on the sand through to protect the edges from lifting. Then spray the silver followed by a couple of coats of clear before letting it dry overnight. Sand lightly before putting the decals on. It sounds difficult but you're doing fine.

Yep, that sounds like good advice.
Would you spray the base over the added primer after it flashes or let it dry and feather sand for a smooth transition before base and clear?
I was thinking I should spray the base out to the front edges and close to the curves using open loop tape masking to avoid sharp edges. Then blend the clear at the curves. Ill try the spot blender again understanding that it really only helps when the color match is close.

Silver metallic is a challenge to match, even when the paint comes from the same pint.

[Nessism]

Where the primer ends, and you transition onto the existing clear, could be ripe for paint lifting when the new coats go down. Fingers crossed for you...

[jdub6092]

Any progress? This is what happens a few seconds after you discover orange peel....... At least its easily fixable.

first attempt failed and was a shame since the paint match was absolutely perfect and undetectable. However I had a hideous low spot that while small, was very noticeable. Now the area to blend area is quite a bit larger and have one more try before a total redo. Maybe will try today.

Orange peel and runs on paint or clear? Clear is the easiest to fix. If you can easily fix base coat runs and orange peel, please clue me in. Especially if you are shooting metallics.

[jdub6092]

May have pulled this off.
Started with spot painting with open paper loops surrounding the repair area to avoid sharp lines.
Removed the paper and tape and used spot blender on the transitions.
Waited about 30 minutes, then a light coat of Spraymax clear. Let it flash then a heavy coat of clear over an expanded area. Then applied more spot blender over the transition areas.

20250720_074307(1).jpg
Need to work fast as I have a near full can of expensive clear with limited pot life.
Says it can last 48 hours if kept cool. Will put in fridge til the current coat cures.

[oldGSfan]

Looks good from here; I hope it sticks.

I have painted my two sets of '83 blue parts and learned some lessons. All of the first coat of clear, much of which needed cut-back with 600 grit, carefully, is now prepped (after it sat while I was away for a couple of weeks). Well, except for a tank dent that I inexplicably missed, which has a high/low area over a ridge. Jeez! There were bigger problem areas to fix, and they came out great, but I took my eye off the big picture on that one area.

I was looking at it and thought, hmm, that high spot seems like it could be popped in. I did a few gentle, then not-so-gentle love taps with the heel of my hand, and it popped into shape like magic. Then I leveled it with a little skim coat and didn't break through the base coat when sanding it back. I think I can reapply a shot of base, then clear over it right away, and it will be good. At least it's the backup tank, but I'm pretty confident. The base coat paint I have lays down so well. I just need to do the clear at the right time of day, and not do it in the hot sun, LOL. I gotta do the decals, I hope I don't screw that up.

This is tough stuff for people who don't paint a lot. I probably have spent 4x the time a reasonably competent painter would, but that's how things go.

Oh - I was at a local paint store and they had a gallon of 4:1 clear with activator on clearance for $60. That will last me a while. Got lucky, it's good stuff so I'm keeping my can of 2K for spot fixes on other stuff I guess. They say 2 days but I had a can sitting for several weeks and it shot just fine. Mabye just lucky.

[jdub6092]

Looks good from here; I hope it sticks.

This is tough stuff for people who don't paint a lot. I probably have spent 4x the time a reasonably competent painter would, but that's how things go.

I hear ya. Had to completely redo the plastics then got a better gun and cheaper paint that actually was a better match. If I do another paint job, it will be a lot faster. Cant rush prep though.

BTW, the steps in the OP were not even close to the actual steps I ended up following.

Oh - I was at a local paint store and they had a gallon of 4:1 clear with activator on clearance for $60. That will last me a while. Got lucky, it's good stuff so I'm keeping my can of 2K for spot fixes on other stuff I guess. They say 2 days but I had a can sitting for several weeks and it shot just fine. Mabye just lucky.

That doesnt sound right. Are you sure the activator was released? I had a couple of sputters after about 4 days with a previous can. It didnt have a lot left though.

[oldGSfan]

That doesnt sound right. Are you sure the activator was released? I had a couple of sputters after about 4 days with a previous can. It didnt have a lot left though.

Yeah mine was more than half full. It def was activated. I may have soaked the nozzle in some strong stuff like xylene. I remember thinking no way it'll still flow, but it did.

[Burque73]

..........
BTW, the steps in the OP were not even close to the actual steps I ended up following.
.....................

I've been lurking on this thread, hoping to gleen enough from all of the great discussions to tackle a paint job sometime soon. What steps did you omit or add to your original plan?

Yours is looking great, btw.

[jdub6092]

I've been lurking on this thread, hoping to gleen enough from all of the great discussions to tackle a paint job sometime soon. What steps did you omit or add to your original plan?

Yours is looking great, btw.

I changed the OP to reflect the procedure I actually followed after being further educated.

For tank and fender, I started with 80 grit sanding of areas to be filled, then 180 grit for the rest, 2k epoxy primer, wait a couple of days, then sand with 320, then 2k primer/filler (4:1:1). Block sand smooth with 400, then 600 grit and the rest is the same as plastics.

[Burque73]

I changed the OP to reflect the procedure I actually followed after being further educated.

For tank and fender, I started with 80 grit sanding of areas to be filled, then 180 grit for the rest, 2k epoxy primer, wait a couple of days, then sand with 320, then 2k primer/filler (4:1:1). Block sand smooth with 400, then 600 grit and the rest is the same as plastics.

Nice. Thank you!
I built a spray booth, or room rather as it's almost 200 square feet. There's no heat or AC there so I'll have to find time when the temperature is within reasonable range to work in. Right now it's almost 90 in there. I Used a 550 CFM negative air machine for exhaust and made two inlet openings fitted with furnace filters, and an old storm door for the entry. It's vented through the roof where an old shop heater was. So far I've only sprayed doors and trim in there, but it'll be fine, I'm sure.

20250520_112318 by Roger, on Flickr

I;m interested in how you got your decals placed in the right spot. I'm painting a tank for a GK, which is two tone brown. I haven't decided whether to go with one of the colors on the whole tank, or try to match the original two tone. Honestly, it'll probably wind up being one solid color. Either way it can't look any worse than it does right now, so it's a good one to learn on. I was quoted $650 by a local paint shop to do it. Think I'll take a crack at it and learn a lot instead.

[jdub6092]

I took measurements on the side covers, but not enough and didn't do a great job with them. The tail section was not hard to figure out. I found an NOS tank, so I took dozens of measurements from the bottom of the tank and Suzuki emblems to the edges of the decal. Then measured the distance from the decal backing to the decal edges and used masking tape to butt up against the edges of the backing with pencil markings on both to line it up.
A lot of prep to plan it out.

If you dont have a reference piece to measure, try to find a photo of the bike and do your best. I did that with my fender and just did my best to center it. Came out pretty good.

There are a lot of videos on YouTube that will help.

[jdub6092]

Nice paint booth. I made one out of plastic sheets with a box fan and furnace filters on both sides.
Eventually got tired of putting up and tearing down and did some painting outdoors.