The great general painting thread

[DoomBuggy]

So one of our members asked me for some suggestions on painting. I've decided to create a thread on the subject.

Now here is the thing, my knowledge is pretty dated, I did paint Brown Sugar using modern paints, but most of my knowledge was learned at the hands of Little Mike back in the early 80s. I am hoping that others will chime in and add their own knowledge, I am not too proud and I know that my way is not necessarily the best or even the right way.

OK so the main focus will be repainting the oil tank and possibly the gas tank for Brown Sugar. The oil tank has a massive failure in the paint and I have come up with a much better design for the gas tank.

I am pretty sure that the failure was due to contamination when I was prepping the tank, I must have grabbed a rag with oil or solvent on it when I tacked the tank prior to painting. It now looks like this:


Today's mission is to pull the tank and over the weekend I will re-sand it, do a little "body work" on it and see where we get. It is getting REALLY cold this weekend so I am not sure my heater will keep the shop warm enough to start shooting anything.

More to come.

[Cimino289]

Cant wait to see the process

[Hoghead]

Cant wait to see the process

Yes-the original posts were great fun . Lets hope the Windy City doesn't get any Polar vortexes this winter!!!

[Hatchet54]

This thread comes at a perfect time for me. I just pulled the tins on my Drifter and have them sitting on the kitchen stove as I research my painting options.
I have painted every bike I've owned over the years, and in one way or another every one has been a failure. The only one that I never had an issue with was the one I Plasti-Dipped. Love that stuff. But it ain't right for every application.
Give me some new techniques!

[DoomBuggy]

I get some time today and the weather is fair. My main task is to find the leak on my transmission, but I promise an update on painting!

[armand]

I get some time today and the weather is fair. My main task is to find the leak on my transmission, but I promise an update on painting!

And clean your hands after working on the tranny!(before paint stuff)

[DoomBuggy]

[DoomBuggy]

OK good news, trans seems tight, I think the oil I have been seeing is from the chain oiler. First I used some MAF Sensor cleaner to really get all the grime off the trans. Then I set up my big Milwaukee drill, put the trans in fourth, and spun it at 2500 rpm for a 1/2 hour and not a drop was to be found. In particular the area I thought might be cracked was dry as a bone.



Then after cleaning my hands with some orange pumice soap I switched over to the oil tank. First blush it looks like the damage is only on the exhaust side of the tank. Makes me wonder if this is why so few bikes have painted oil tanks!



However once I took a sharp knife and started scraping across the clear I could see that the problem is all the way down to the silver sealer base coat. Really looks like contamination to me!



I think I am just going to repaint the sides and leave the top and bottom alone. My next step will be to sand down through the layers and see what I find. Eventually I will sand it all the way down to the metal so I can clean up a little of the bondo work on there and get it ready for a totally different look.

Time for lunch and unfortunately the missus is not feeling well today so need to make her some chicken soup and ensure she is comfortable for the day. I feel really bad cause I brought this funk home from work and now she caught it.

[Hoghead]

I'm intrigued -are you going to paint indoors?? I remember your booth you did the original work in.

[DoomBuggy]

I will paint indoors, but I will build a ventilator and use charcoal filters in my mask. Something like this.



OK sanded down the tank, I will say this. HOK clearcoat is some tough shit~! I used 80 grit on an orbital sander and it was a a chore to take off the clear coat. Push too hard and it melted and gummed up, don't push hard enough and it just skated on top of it. Then the amount of metal flake made it fun to cut through the color coats. Once I got down to the primer it came off easy, lol.



I saw some small air pockets in the fiberglass where the failure occurred. Bad on me for not taking more time on the prep. Which goes back to what people say in every painting thread, prep, prep, prep.



The molding I did around the chainguard tab had a crack in it so I will grind this all the way out and then redo it. I will put that into the thread as I get there.

[Cimino289]

Interesting. Are you going with a similar paint scheme as the original whats the plan?

[DoomBuggy]

The top and bottom border will go back on there, but instead of the panels I want to introduce more of an art deco design. The headlight has that cool "stacked clam shell" deco looking clip on it and so I want to use that for the inspiration.



Looks like I have to go to New York for most of the week, so plans go on hold for a week. Sure will be glad once I retire!

[Cimino289]

Heck yeah Doom thats gonna be sweet.

[DoomBuggy]

I recently gave my retirement notice to the company I work for and they are keeping me hopping right now, so updates are going to be catch as catch can, until July anyhow .

So I did get a chance to put a couple of coats of Bondo on there. Buy the "good" bondo, it is worth the extra money as it tends to flex better, at least to me. I prefer to put multiple thin layers on my project with a sand between each one. I think they cure better and seem to hold up well for me.

For this piece I used lacquer thinner, Bondo Ultimate, and an assortment of plastic and rubber scrappers. I've seen guys use metal ones particularly for curves, but I learned on plastic and still use it.



After you sand, wipe the whole area down with lacquer thinner. Let it dry. WHen I mix my Bondo I prefer it to cure on the slower side. Small dab of hardner to a slightly larger then golf ball of Bondo.



Here it is roughed out, notice the swirl on the clean metal, this is from using an 80 grit paper on the orbital sander. It allows both the bondo and the primer to really get a good bite. On the Bondo itself I use a 120 grit as an 80 is too harsh on it, the 120 leaves a good bite for the primer.



I'll try to post a bit more after dinner

[DoomBuggy]

Next I hit the rough work with the orbital sander and 120 grit paper, just looking to get everything flat and the edges feathered out. This exposes any divots or thin spots.




Another thin coat of Bondo just in the spots that were weak.




I'll let this sit overnight, I might get some time tomorrow and break out the sanding block with some 120 to finish sanding, then put together a quick spray booth thingy. Thursday and Friday I have to give my final review to my staff. That should be fun and will end up devolving into some serious drinking I am sure, lol.

[Hoghead]

Yay, free at last! Hope you don't get mobbed by teary -eyed beautiful women or something....

[Bbqbiker]

Congrats on retirement! Every day is now Saturday ha ha ha

Now ya got me wanting to paint my oil tank....

[DoomBuggy]

Four more months yet, but ya, I am sitting here with my Number One as she is giving out the reviews I have always had to do. I am just glad my body is still healthy enough to ride, lol!

[DoomBuggy]

Damn I am seriously hung over today, almost forgot how lousy this feels. Figured I would do something simple and just whip up a painting hood. The idea was to use scrap around the shop and a standard size furnace filter to grab the large particulates. As this is also my wood shop I do have a big ceiling mounted air filtration system which I have charcoal filters for. The hood I built will catch the majority of the over spray keeping the shop clean and the other unit will help keep the nasty stuff at bay. I will of course also wear an appropriate respirator and a throw away painting suit. THIS STUFF IS NASTY!

Once I am ready to start painting I will use some clear plastic tarp material on the sides and top.. This will keep everything contained and allow light in.





Poor Brown Sugar is sitting there like the headless horseman! Soon my pretty, hopefully soon. ( Still have tons to do before she will hit the road again.

[Cimino289]

Good to see you back at it doom. Looks like its coming along well. I'll stay tuned.