Painting my 450

[Guest]

Okely dokely... first of all, no primer today and no spray patterns either.

I went to do the pattern testing and mixed up a small amount of primer while I gave the tank yet another go with the paint stripper.

I couldn't seem to get material on the paper no matter what knob I turned and what did come out was incredibly faint...



Grrrr the one thing I've rushed and it came back to bite me big time today, I didn't spend enough time cleaning the gun!

So that was one fun thing I got to do today was dismantle it and clean all that chocked up paint out. At least it wasn't set as such, but I suspect the acrylic thinners also aren't doing quite the job I expected (see I should've looked for better cleaner Johnny!).

Anyway, I managed to get it clean eventually but I didn't go back to test the spray pattern as I figured I might as well finish the tank prep. then do the testing just before I actually spray the primer.

I neglected to get a pic of the tank after the last lot of paint stripper but before I started sanding, but suffice it to say I spent hours sanding it... ridiculous!

And Larry, I hope you're not offended but I'm not doing the underside of the tank. It's not in too bad a shape and it's a similar colour to what will be on there so I'm going to save myself a bunch of time and leave it. Hopefully the only short cut I'll take...

Anyway, after the sanding:



There were a few little bits of undercoat still there in a couple of places, but I figured if they're tough enough to still be there after paint stripper and sanding then they're not going to cause me grief.

I also had another weapon up my sleeve to make sure the primer sticks real well:



I love that stuff! Makes it so much easier to get paint to stick...

So I squirted that on:



Gave it 15 minutes or so then hosed it off:

 

[Guest]

And it dried off:



That surface is now in good shape for primer!

Got my "stands" sorted for the tank and tail piece:



Then figured I would be rushing if I tried to prime this avo' so I wisely decided to let it go until tomorrow, so I popped the tank and tail piece into the "clean" area to keep them as clean as possible for the morning:



Oh, and that was after doing the wax and grease remover on the tank too.

I did do one more constructive thing which was get the flexi prime back on the front guard after I sanded it yesterday, and sorry for the blurry pic:



And, finally, I got the house mate to drop in to the refinish supplies place and pick me up 4 litres of real gun cleaner:



I'm glad I didn't ask the price over the phone... $63! Apparently it's the ducks guts of cleaners though...

So, I'm hoping to get an early night tonight which means hopefully I can get stuck straight into the primer in the morning after dropping my wife off to work, and then while that starts drying ready to sand I'll give the other gun a better clean in the gun cleaner before I try to use it.

I figure if the weather is like today and I get the primer on by about 9, then I should be able to sand about 12 and get the base colour on after that. Once the tank and tail have dried for about an hour in the "booth" I should be able to stick them out in the sun for a couple of hours to speed the process a bit.

Guess I'll just wait and see...

 

[rustybronco]

http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/...e Paint Job/?action=view&current=IMG_3637.jpg

Pete, one small suggestion. remove that white inlet screen and throw it in the rubbish. as long as you use a paper filter you don't need it. one less thing to have plug up at the least opportune moment.

oh, and there's not a darn thing wrong with lacquer thinner and brushes to clean your gun with.

 

[Tim Tom]

Hey pete,

So I just looked through all of the pictures in your photobucket album about the paint. Gotta say I think it's gonna come out awesome. Your prep work was well done and thats more than half of it. Take your time when spraying, and you'll be fine. I have no doubts that the paint will match the stunning pipes.

Also I gotta congratulate you on shaping your rear tail piece. When I first saw it, all lumpy and misshapen I was not convinced. Now I gotta say it looks really good. Well done mate.

SOOO where are the primed pics?

 

[nvr2old]

And Larry, I hope you're not offended but I'm not doing the underside of the tank. It's not in too bad a shape and it's a similar colour to what will be on there so I'm going to save myself a bunch of time and leave it. Hopefully the only short cut I'll take...

Not at all, Pete. If it's in decent shape, leave it. One thing to remember is to hold back the primer and paint on the filler neck. Mask it down to where it joins the tank and leave it bare metal so you can seal the final paint line off with something like Liquid Steel or JB weld. Crucial for keeping it safe from gas fume penetration.

 

[Guest]

http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/...e Paint Job/?action=view&current=IMG_3637.jpg

Pete, one small suggestion. remove that white inlet screen and throw it in the rubbish. as long as you use a paper filter you don't need it. one less thing to have plug up at the least opportune moment.

oh, and there's not a darn thing wrong with lacquer thinner and brushes to clean your gun with.

Is that what it's for? I thought it was part of the fluid control... I tried to remove it for cleaning and it didn't want to budge so I got a thin piece of wire to shove down the sides of it and dislodge the chunky bits to allow the thinners to run through properly. I'll see if I can remove it this morning, I couldn't tell how it was seated in there.

When I got the acrylic thinners for the acrylic clear (that I'm not using) they did say it would clean up after the 2K paint, but after Monday/yesterday's effort in stupidity I just wanted to make sure I've got something good, and plus I'm about 2/3 the way through the thinners already so I'd need something anyway...

 

[Guest]

Hey pete,

So I just looked through all of the pictures in your photobucket album about the paint. Gotta say I think it's gonna come out awesome. Your prep work was well done and thats more than half of it. Take your time when spraying, and you'll be fine. I have no doubts that the paint will match the stunning pipes.

Also I gotta congratulate you on shaping your rear tail piece. When I first saw it, all lumpy and misshapen I was not convinced. Now I gotta say it looks really good. Well done mate.

SOOO where are the primed pics?

Thanks mate, I'm really hoping it comes out well and I'm trying my best to be patient and make sure everything's ready to go 100% before painting.

And thanks for the compliment on the tail piece, but if it wasn't for Larry's advice I wouldn't have looked close enough to see a couple of dodgy spots and it wouldn't be quite where it is now.

As it is it's a little assymetrical but to fix it means starting from scratch and you won't see left and right sides at the same time once it's on the bike, so it should be ok.

Hopefully you will see primed pic's tonight, and if the day goes well base colour as well.

 

[rustybronco]

Pete, most of the time it's just pushed in place. although I've seen where you need to remove the cup adapter in order to remove it. if that's the case, leave it alone.

 

[Guest]

Not at all, Pete. If it's in decent shape, leave it. One thing to remember is to hold back the primer and paint on the filler neck. Mask it down to where it joins the tank and leave it bare metal so you can seal the final paint line off with something like Liquid Steel or JB weld. Crucial for keeping it safe from gas fume penetration.

Cool, it's not too bad, a few scratches where it fits over the frame but nothing concerning and no surface rust or anything like that at all.

I have prepared the seams though otherwise they'd stand out a mile away...

I didn't know about the filler, so thanks for mentioning that! I've got it prep'd around there but it's not masked off so I will do that first thing.

Thanks Larry!

 

[Guest]

Pete, most of the time it's just pushed in place. although I've seen where you need to remove the cup adapter in order to remove it. if that's the case, leave it alone.

Ok cool, I'll have another look and if it's looking too awkward I'll just leave it be.

I'd rather leave it there and need to clean it than break the gun

 

[Guest]

Ok, quick update while the tank and tail are sitting in the sun drying ready to be sanded later on.

Firstly, masked as per Larry's recommendation around the filler neck:



I also put the Suzuki badge screws in and masked the head off so I didn't fill the holes with paint:



Then I gave the gun another quick check and spray through with gun cleaner just to make sure it was clean.

At this point, I couldn't see how to get the plastic filter thing out so I left it... which I regretted but more on that shortly.

Anyway, everything looked good, spray pattern test seemed ok:



Tank and tail on their respective mounts ready to go:



First coat of primer on:



I proceeded to put another 3 coats on but doing the 4th one I really didn't think I was getting material on and it sort of looked how it did around coat 3...



Checked the gun and boy was I cursing! That damn filter popped straight out and was chock a block full again and was causing the paint in the gun to start hardening too soon as well... grrrr

Anyway, with that out I was able to give the gun another good clean and get another 3 coats on, so I'm not sure really whether I have 4 coats or 5 or... I'm sure you get the picture...

I left them for half an hour or so to properly flash off and not be sticky then stuck them out in the sun and here they are in desperate need of a sand:

 

[Guest]

And the tank:



So that's where it all is now. They'll be ready to sand in about 1 1/2 to 2 hours which means I should definitely have time to get the base colour on this avo which will be awesome.

 

[drivera84]

Its looking good pete...

Looks ready for some color!!!!

 

[rustybronco]

Checked the gun and boy was I cursing! That damn filter popped straight out and was chock a block full again and was causing the paint in the gun to start hardening too soon as well... grrrr

That filter is not causing the paint to harden up too soon. either the primers 'pot life' has been exceeded, or you are using too much catalyst, or??

 

[Collo]

Good luck with it all, Pete... this is really inspiring. How did you go with the badge screws? Can they just be undone or does fuel come spilling out? Mine are looking pretty bad, was thinking about new badges.

 

[Guest]

Its looking good pete...

Looks ready for some color!!!!

Thanks mate! Uploading pic's of the base colour now... not sure if it's good or not yet, will wait for feedback...

That filter is not causing the paint to harden up too soon. either the primers 'pot life' has been exceeded, or you are using too much catalyst, or??

Yeah... when I said that I was thinking maybe it was reacting with the crud that was left and was hardening too quickly... unfortunately the problem was the actual hardener itself! I looked again just before and it has the word "rapide" on the can... if I had've read that earlier I would've just done two coats, cleaned, another two coats... you live and learn I guess...

It was a nice warm day so even I know now that I would need normal or slow hardener, not fast!

Good luck with it all, Pete... this is really inspiring. How did you go with the badge screws? Can they just be undone or does fuel come spilling out? Mine are looking pretty bad, was thinking about new badges.

Thanks Collo, we'll see how it shapes up...

The badge screws just undo, all good. There's actually a strip of metal recessed into the tank that they screw into, so unless it's rusted through then it's all safe.

And I'm currently waiting for pic's to upload...

 

[Guest]

Well here goes... I gave it a quick dry sand with 400 grit then got the base colour started.

It seemed to sand a lot easier than I thought it would, I'm hoping that's normal? Sorry forgot to get pic's post sanding...

Anyway, pattern time again:



I actually ended up going with a slightly longer version of the left one but with similar material coverage and it seemed to be ok from what I could tell.

So, first coat went on, pic's while waiting for flash off:



Then after four coats, again waiting for flash off:



I had to hurriedly mix up another batch of paint after 1 1/2 coats because I completely underestimated how much I'd need. At least that was quick to do so I don't think it would've caused any issues and it's a straight 1:1 mix which is really hard to screw up...

And something must have gotten on the lense in that tank pic there because those splotches in the photo were not actually on the tank... not sure why they're not in the other photos either...

Anyway, left them sit there and did a good gun clean, and boy what a difference it makes when you clean them properly! That gun is pretty much sparkling...

So, I went in for a look-see tonight and I'm not too sure whether things are good or not.

Firstly, the front guard is showing some definite sanding marks still even though I went over it again the other day, so I'm thinking I might give the front a bit of a go over with some 800 grit in the morning before the clear to see if I can get some of them out without taking the base coat off again.



Is that a stupid idea or worth a try? I think I'll run out of the 24 hour window for clear if I need to do anything much more drastic than that as I still need to do the white stripes and the black on the rear guard.

And here are the rest of the bits tonight. They all appear somewhat splotchy but I'm hoping that's just a normal part of the drying process:

 

[Guest]

I must say even though I have no idea if I've done a reasonable job of the actual spraying, I really like the colour...

And just a side note that the 1.7mm gun still really needs some cleaning. I let it soak in the gun cleaner for a while today which turned out to be not such a bright move:



It started to remove the blue plastic covering of the gun... oooops!

Anyway, there's still some gunk inside but not as bad as it was, so I'll need to keep cleaning that as I get bits of time here and there, it's not urgent as I only needed it for the primer.



So, so far I've learnt three valuable lessons which I probably should've known already:

• Select a hardener that's suitable for the temperature
• When sanding plastics, make sure the finish is smooth
• Always take the time to clean your gun thoroughly before the paint hardens

As always, feedback is welcomed even if it's bad and says I need to think about starting again...

 

[Flyboy]

Pete, having never used a spray gun in anger in my life, the only thing I am qualified to say is, i love that maroon, it is going to have seriously good depth to it once the clear is down, I can't wait to see it.
I am sure Dale, Larry or one of the other guys who know this dark art backwards and have been giving you such valuable advise so far will jump in and comment.

 

[Guest]

Pete, having never used a spray gun in anger in my life, the only thing I am qualified to say is, i love that maroon, it is going to have seriously good depth to it once the clear is down, I can't wait to see it.
I am sure Dale, Larry or one of the other guys who know this dark art backwards and have been giving you such valuable advise so far will jump in and comment.

Yeah me too Stan, definitely lovin' it I'm just hoping like anything that I've applied it ok so it *can* pop out with the clear... and yeah I'm hanging for Dale, Larry, Johnny, anyone to let me know if it's looking normal or not... this is the bit where I have no idea how it's supposed to look while drying...