Okay, got all my paint supplies ready to go here soon. The sales guy at the paint shop asked me if I was painting all metal. I told him no, just the tank is metal and the rest is ABS plastic. He said not to prime those just sand them smooth and until they are no longer shinny. Use of the primer can cause the paint to crack. He said just prime the tank and if I do prime the plastic just a skin coat. This is the first time I've ever painted anything. Was this good advice?
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I don't think so, but I'm no expert. I have used primer on the ABS parts of all of the bikes I have painted, it didn't crack. -
you can buy plastic primer1978 GS1085.
Just remember, an opinion without 3.14 is just an onion!Comment
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i would use it personally1978 GS1085.
Just remember, an opinion without 3.14 is just an onion!Comment
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I'd prime the ABS parts with an adhesion improving primer made specifically for ABS if it doesn't have paint on it already, or you have sanded through down to the substrate. You should be able to get away with panding the side covers by spraying 2 part epoxy primer on it as well.
Sometimes the solvents in top coats can cause issues with the substrate if applied directly to the ABS.Comment
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Gonna take some pics of the stuff I have for y'all.Comment
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I've just sanded down my ABS plastics to prep for primer. It's not that the plastic will move or twist often (let's hope not!) so i don't see why the paint would crack...?Comment
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Okay here is what I'm using...Comment
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Was just curious what that guy said. I know from my last paint job, it cracked all over. Though at the time, 1981, the painter used an Enamel base coat and about 12 coats of clear. I just think the Enamel was too hard of a paint? I don't know. I'm all new to this. The pic is of the old paint on the tank now. That is going to be stripped down to bare metal.Comment
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Scuff 'em all, let the primer sort 'em out.
(Most plastic primers are meant to flex, just like the topcoat.)
Make sure you get the surface really clean since and note that plastic will absorb the impurities left there more easily than would a metal surface.Comment
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Okay thanks, I'm going to just use it on the tank and get an ABS plastic primer then. Kind of wish I knew someone around here that could do this for me, I'm not feeling all that comfortable about painting my bike. I went to a few paint shops here and they all wanted $800-$1000 to shoot the paint. Really not able to afford that.Last edited by Guest; 11-14-2012, 11:06 AM.Comment
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Practice on something else first, got any old gas tanks or fenders laying around? Mailbox? Bicycles or lawnmowers? Your neighbor's old car?
Even practicing on cardboard boxes will let you learn how to work the gun, how much to spray before it runs, how far away to hold the gun, how to use a decent spray pattern… just get used to working with this stuff.
Just shooting water through the gun at the fence or something will let you learn a lot.
By the way, what are you using for a spray gun?Last edited by tkent02; 11-14-2012, 12:10 PM.Comment
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I bought a gun from HF, figuring this was going to a one shot deal. I didn't want to invest in an expensive gun. I had read in a forum they were okay for something like this and not for extended use. I did get some extra cups and gun filters for it. I've used spray guns in the past though not on something like this. It was mostly painting the grain beds on our grain trucks, shoot and run lol.
I was just going through the tech manuals for the paint I bought and noticed the guy didn't give me the BC activator nason 483-30. Unless he mixed it into the paint already...got everything else. BC, reducer.Comment
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