Repairing my 1980 GS450

[Cdnpt1]

Part of me wants to paint it black with red racing stripes. I did manage to locate some thin tape for the stripes. I went with 1/2" (12.5mm) but they had all the way down to 1/16" which made me snicker a little bit...

What, you don't want to pimp it Von Dutch style ?

Sure you can have that bulb, it's funny you mention that because that is what i did with it, I converted it to non sealed and put in one of those halogen bulbs they sell a million of when you search 450 parts on ebay. Got 4 miles and low beam burned out. Maybe you will have better luck with it.

I saw the thread on color schemes, I have nothing useful to offer unfortunately, though , heres my 2 cents, I think the black with red stripes looks sharp. I am just going to stick with the stock silver and blue when I get around to repainting mine. Hey, are you using rattlecans or do you have a compresser and gun?

 

[apopleptic]

What, you don't want to pimp it Von Dutch style ?

Sure you can have that bulb, it's funny you mention that because that is what i did with it, I converted it to non sealed and put in one of those halogen bulbs they sell a million of when you search 450 parts on ebay. Got 4 miles and low beam burned out. Maybe you will have better luck with it.

I saw the thread on color schemes, I have nothing useful to offer unfortunately, though , heres my 2 cents, I think the black with red stripes looks sharp. I am just going to stick with the stock silver and blue when I get around to repainting mine. Hey, are you using rattlecans or do you have a compressor and gun?

I do have a compressor, but I've been using a variety of Rustoleum enamels since I don't have the spray gun. I consider this practice really, next year I'd like to really tear this thing all the way down

 

[Guest]

Mate she's comin' along nicely! I'm hoping to get primer on mine on Monday, fingers crossed...

The only thing I'll say about using the enamel is see if you can locate that 2K in a can clear coat. You don't want fuel messing with your paint job!

I was going to use an acrylic clear over the top of my 2K base coat, but I then discovered that any fuel touching it will turn the acrylic clear opaque, so I ditched that idea and forked out for the 2K clear...

 

[apopleptic]

Some more painting and sanding

 

[Etcheberri]

cool!
looks like a lot of coating is going on here,
how much coats you did on those parts!?

 

[apopleptic]

cool!
looks like a lot of coating is going on here,
how much coats you did on those parts!?

A fair question. I suppose I'm new to this so I'll tell you and you can tell me how wrong I am to have done it this way. :-\\\
Most things are getting primer except for clear over polished metal and getting from 2 up to 4 coats depending on how much I had to sand back down. Nothing has gotten one coat, I'm sure part of that is my skill level. and anything that needed more than 4 coats is sanded back down to primer and done again.
I put two coats of black on the valve cover. three on the fork lowers. five really on the fender, but I had sanded alot of the first three layers back down to primer because I scuffed up the top of it. two on the tail. most of the red stuff only took two coats, except for the headlight which took 3 due to covering a repair in the plastic. A few things were originally done in flat black and then sanded down and repainted gloss. and alot of the pictures are taken with the flash on on a camera phone at night with wet paint.
I was planning on letting the paint cure for a few more days and then doing clear on what needs it. I'm really kicking myself at this point for not having started anything on the gas tank yet, so that may be my Monday.

 

[apopleptic]

Today starts my 'will gas dissolve my paint' test phase 2.
I test sprayed the side of a computer case since it is the only scrap metal I had handy to test on.
I did a bit of sanding, a rough simulated racing stripe in white and in black. a coat of red, and finally some clear coat.
Using Rustoleum engine and caliper enamels in some rattle cans. Then I let it cure for 3 days.

I ended up with some ripples in the clear coat because I put on too thick of a coat too soon, but I figure since this is a test that should be fine.

Now I splashed a few splashes of gasoline on the surface and let it dry to simulate the few little drips you may have when you fill the tank. Now I poured gasoline on the surface until it pooled and I'm letting it sit for 10 minutes on there before I try to wipe it off.

We'll see how much of the paint wipes right off. in a few more minutes.
Well after 10 minutes the gas had dried. And peeled.
Interesting to note that the second test I did held up a little better.

The place where the clear was too thick and ripply did not hold up at all really.

I guess I'll do one more test where I actually allow the full week for the paint to cure that is suggested on the can.

 

[Guest]

Today starts my 'will gas dissolve my paint' test phase 2.
I test sprayed the side of a computer case since it is the only scrap metal I had handy to test on.
I did a bit of sanding, a rough simulated racing stripe in white and in black. a coat of red, and finally some clear coat.
Using Rustoleum engine and caliper enamels in some rattle cans. Then I let it cure for 3 days.

I ended up with some ripples in the clear coat because I put on too thick of a coat too soon, but I figure since this is a test that should be fine.

Now I splashed a few splashes of gasoline on the surface and let it dry to simulate the few little drips you may have when you fill the tank. Now I poured gasoline on the surface until it pooled and I'm letting it sit for 10 minutes on there before I try to wipe it off.

We'll see how much of the paint wipes right off. in a few more minutes.
Well after 10 minutes the gas had dried. And peeled.
Interesting to note that the second test I did held up a little better.

The place where the clear was too thick and ripply did not hold up at all really.

I guess I'll do one more test where I actually allow the full week for the paint to cure that is suggested on the can.

The guys on here occassionally post up about a 2K clear in a can. It has a button on the bottom you push in to activate it.

Pretty sure we don't get it here, but if I was doing a rattle can job I'd look into it as both enamel and acrylic clear will both react badly to fuel...

Just my 2c anyway...

And the rest of it is looking good so far too

 

[apopleptic]

Yeah, I'll have to take a look for something different.
The can does say that it's gas and oil resistant, but I suppose that is relative.
So in the mean time, I'm going to strip and repaint that panel and let it sit for the full cure time and test again. I imagine it should still be fine for the fender and the tail in the mean time.

 

[mlc216]

High temp engine clear holds up a lot better to gas then any other regular rattle can clear in my experience....except that push button mix kind.... but it's expensive and like one time use or something.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I'll have to take a look for something different.
The can does say that it's gas and oil resistant, but I suppose that is relative.
So in the mean time, I'm going to strip and repaint that panel and let it sit for the full cure time and test again. I imagine it should still be fine for the fender and the tail in the mean time.

Yeah when I spoke to the tech guys after buying the acrylic clear under the mistaken impression (on my part) that it was ok, they said 100% don't do it, fuel will ruin it and make it go opaque.

Fuel resistant is a lot different to fuel proof

High temp engine clear holds up a lot better to gas then any other regular rattle can clear in my experience....except that push button mix kind.... but it's expensive and like one time use or something.

Actually that makes sense... where else are you going to see more fuel and grease etc. than on the engine? Good call MLC

That 2K in a can is definitely a once off, but I'm pretty sure the time limit is enough to get several coats on with normal flash off times etc., just wish I could remember the name to find a link...

 

[apopleptic]

this is the clear I used. I notice the mention of up to 7 days to fully cure.

 

[Guest]

Maybe it *will* hold up better after the 7 days... worth a shot if you've got the patience...

 

[apopleptic]

Well, I managed to pop a hole into the gear shifter oil seal as I was trying to tap it in place... I guess I bought myself another couple of days not being able to ride.
Too bad because the last of the parts I need to get the bike back up and running.
Some assembly required.

Like the camera tripod turned drying rig for my forks?

 

[Guest]

Bugger! I'm sure you'll get it sorted soon enough though

And yeah I love the tripod fork stand... hah

 

[apopleptic]

Ah, the progress begins to slow further.

Old clutch springs by new

Touching up the slop job on the headlight bucket. To be fair, that piece was completely broken off.

New breather cover came pre painted black. How handy

 

[apopleptic]

Put the forks back together with the new seals today using my highly specialized 'fork seal jig'

Even managed to put the oil in and leveled with the progressive springs installed.

Plus got them on the bike and ready for the fender whenever it's ready. Crazy how different the forks look.

Traded some more screws out for SS.

Primed and painted the chain guard today, but I didn't take a picture because it rained out right as I was painting it and I'll probably need to redo it. Sanded the last of the engine covers today and was planning on priming and painting it.

 

[Guest]

Nicely done! You'll have the wheels back on and be riding in no time

 

[apopleptic]

Nicely done! You'll have the wheels back on and be riding in no time

I hope so, but this rain is killing me. I swear I just looked and they said it's going to rain until it snows... Seriously not conductive to my painting. Especially the clear coating which is what everything needed.
I'll be assembling this thing with the knowledge that it'll have to come apart again over the winter.
So here's some of today.

Here's the start/finish of the headlight bucket repair. Literally scotch taped in place in the beginning.

 

[Guest]

I hope so, but this rain is killing me. I swear I just looked and they said it's going to rain until it snows... Seriously not conductive to my painting. Especially the clear coating which is what everything needed.
I'll be assembling this thing with the knowledge that it'll have to come apart again over the winter.
So here's some of today.

Here's the start/finish of the headlight bucket repair. Literally scotch taped in place in the beginning.

Mate that is looking good! I'm fighting weather myself today too. They say rain forming but at the moment it's just a bit cloudy.

If I can get it done quick enough I'll be ok I think (hope).

Glad you're going black on the crank case covers too, I think you would've regretted the white...