Painting your Vision

Started by MikeScoot, January 10, 2020, 06:37:02 AM

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What's your preferred way to get a new paint job?

1K spray can DIY
2K spray can DIY
Proper spray painting set-up DIY
Get a panel shop to do it
Other

MikeScoot

 Am just about finished repainting my 16R and doing it well (I hope) has been a pretty time consuming affair. The real time has been spent in all the surface preparation, scratching my head about how to fix stuff-ups and driving back to the paint shop for more supplies (innumerable times) - but mainly surface preparation.
I opted for what I thought would be the easiest and cheapest way; 1K spray cans. But I'll think twice before doing another bike with 1K again.
Once all the parts are back on the bike, which will take a while because I still have a lot of other things to fix, I'll post some pics.

Interested to know how others approach revitalising their paintwork.

(The forum widget tells me that you can only see results of the voting if you vote yourself.)


Both Luthers had their dreams,
But I've just got one Vision.
Theirs got them into strifes,
Mine just takes me fishin'.

fret not

You have just learned the main 'secret' to a good paint job.  SURFACE PREPARATION.  I have painted a few motorcycles but most of my finishing experience is from working on guitars and mandolins.  It is a valuable lesson to understand.  The next important idea is to apply a 'wet' coat with overlapping passes but not much more so no sags or runs occur.  The thinner coats dry (cure) faster than heavy ones.  The type of finish material will determine what thinner to use, and the process you need to follow.  The paint store folks are usually very helpful in this regard.

Thicker finishes will chip more easily than thin finishes, so just applying more finish might make it look better to your eye at first but over time thicker finishes chip and wear more easily, except for the poly paints like Imron which are more difficult to apply.  Practice, practice, practice.  Good luck. :police:
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

MikeScoot

#2
I think most of my trouble was caused by not removing the Wax and Grease Remover quickly enough right at the beginning. Also, I later used it over paintwork I wanted to re-do - and I've since learned your not supposed to do that because it can be absorbed by the paint and get sandwiched under the new paint. So then I had to bake the tank in the sun for a few days, give it a new layer of spray putty (to try to isolate underlying paint from solvent in the new paint) and go again.
  To make things even trickier, I'm using a metalic silver paint. It dries VERY quickly. Overspray sticks to other parts that are yet to get a spray and builds up. Those oversprayed bits cannot be sprayed over. They need to be rubbed back. So, I'm getting the base coat down in sections - ten of them! Of course they won't blend well, but once I get to clear top-coating, I'll fire a very mild dusting of the silver into the first couple of coats. I've tested this and it works very well to even the effect - even at different angles - because the pyrite flakes swim to fairly random angles in the clear.

Going well so far, but there is a chance the solvent problem will strike again. If so I'll have to strip it all off and start afresh. Unfortunately, acrylic paint is horrible to remove. It gums-up abrasives and so the only way to really do it is with paint stripper - huge quantities of it!
Anyway, everything else looks sensational - to me :-)

Won't be using 1k acrylic again though. I'll be doing the surface prep. and then taking it to a panel shop for 2k.
Both Luthers had their dreams,
But I've just got one Vision.
Theirs got them into strifes,
Mine just takes me fishin'.

injuhneer

I like DIY paint work but I had some excellent instructors.

The paint and other stuff I use varies a bit but for the spray I use, depending on the paint, an old Binks Model 15 (it has been in my family since my Dad bought it in ~1974) or a HVLP gun.

The prep is key no matter how good the gun or the hand using it may be.


- Mike O
1982 Yamaha XZ550RJ

fret not

Mike Scoot, "keep a wet edge" when applying finish.  This is especially important with fast drying material.  The wet edge allows the next pass to blend with the previous pass, and makes a much more even surface.  With metallic material it is very important to keep an even application going or it is likely to show patches of different appearing surface.  If you change distance of the gun from the surface it will show differently, if the pressure in the gun changes the appearance will change, etc.  All I can say is practice and more practice, and talk with the suppliers for technical information regarding their finish and technique.  I'm sure you will end with a great looking bike.
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

MikeScoot

#5
Hi Mikes,
Yes, I have found that keeping things wet is one of the tricks. It's very hard to do with the particular base I'm using because it dries incredibly quickly, so I'm putting down a bit of a messy base (in sections as I mentioned), letting that cure, rubbing it with fine paper to get it level, wetting it with clear coat (which dries about 10 times slower than the base metalic) and then dusting the wet clear with the base metalic. A few applications of the clear with metalic dusted into it and it looks pretty good. The drawback is that this requires significanly more material being sprayed on, and that brings complications of its own. But it does look good and as long as I give it plenty of time for solvents to come out between coats it should be OK - I hope :-)

  Despite all the work, I am really enjoying it. I'll enjoy it even more when everything is back on the bike and she sports her new apparel and looks fetching again!

(Lots of Mikes here :-)  )
Both Luthers had their dreams,
But I've just got one Vision.
Theirs got them into strifes,
Mine just takes me fishin'.

kevin g

I finished restoring a BMW R100RS a little over a year ago.  I went all out and made a paint booth with PVC pipe and plastic sheeting complete with furnace filter intake and box fans for exhaust.  I bought med grade PPG auto paint and used a touch up spray gun.  A full size gun is too hard to control on small stuff like a bike.  The result is spectacular and everyone  thinks I had professional help.  I will likely do the same on my Vision.  The expense is not really a big factor, but the result is.

I used to dabble a bit in the '80s painting bikes so it was not a new endeavor for me.

The Prophet of Doom

Quote from: kevin g on January 12, 2020, 10:54:17 AM

and box fans for exhaust.
Sounds dangerous.  Isn't there a chance the fans will make the paint explode?

injuhneer

No. AC motors. No sparks from brushes.
- Mike O
1982 Yamaha XZ550RJ

MikeScoot

Quote from: kevin g on January 12, 2020, 10:54:17 AM
...  I went all out and made a paint booth with ...

Crikeys Kev! You must love that Beemer! But then maybe you had a view toward doing more with the booth than just that one item.

I'm doing things a bit rough here since I moved back to Australia not so long ago and don't have a good place to set anything up yet. Still, you work with what you have.
Both Luthers had their dreams,
But I've just got one Vision.
Theirs got them into strifes,
Mine just takes me fishin'.