News:

Ridersofvision.net  welcomes you !

Main Menu

RE-Painting

Started by inanecathode, May 04, 2007, 07:06:49 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

inanecathode

Well, it's not the paint, and its not how i'm painting, i'm totally sure its the substrate. Its just not smooth enough. Its totally wavy, bumpy, full of holes etc. No matter how many coats i put on it it wont turn out right. The fairing pieces are "done" for now until i can figure out how to fix the substrate.
Warning, the proceeding pictures are not for the faint of heart!


//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

kiwibum

Are these the sections you had bead/sand blasted and it removed a lot of the gel coat? As you say the surface looks like it has lots of little imperfections. Trying to paint a race bike fairing years ago I learned that paint doesn't work as a filler like I was hoping and to get the nice mirror type finish the surface needs to be mirror flat first. I feel your frustration, I gave up specially since I crashed that often my bike had more duck tape on it than was room for paint ::).

I've just managed to pick up a bike here in NZ (another 400) with the same full fairing and I want to repaint it in the summer using this roller technique so I follow your posts with interest. Keep up the work on them, you will get it in the end, I think what you might need to do is look at going back to the basics on the surfaces with a thin layer of filler and sanding that back with a block to get the smooth starting surface needed. Orange peel from the paint isn't an issue from what I know it can be sanded back to smooth and when polished comes up great, just takes a while to sand it all back.

I think I followed a link from the original "roll on painting of the charger" posts to a guy that did a bike tank and had some orange peel problems but it came up great in the end. I often wonder how it would work to just roll on the paint in full thinkness then put more elbow grease in sanding it back smooth and polishing it. Maybe doing it in thiner coats allows for a more even coating.

Night Vision

Quote from: inanecathode on July 02, 2007, 12:01:23 AM
Well, it's not the paint, and its not how i'm painting, i'm totally sure its the substrate. Its just not smooth enough. Its totally wavy, bumpy, full of holes etc. No matter how many coats i put on it it wont turn out right. The fairing pieces are "done" for now until i can figure out how to fix the substrate.

Confucius say: a galloping horse will never notice....
NightVision say: looks good from here!

a three or four foot paint job is not a bad thing.
if it ain't worth doing it the hard way....
it ain't worth doing it at all - Man Law
;D


if it ain't broke..... take it apart and find out why


don't give up.... don't ever give up - Jimmy Valvano

h2olawyer

I've heard them called 50 - 50 paint jobs.  Looks great from 50 feet @ 50 MPH!   ;D

Depending on your hurry to get the fairing mounted, you can either leave it as is & do it later, or like mentioned a couple times before, sand it down, use some filler, sand it again, then prime & paint.  Kiwibum is right - paint will not act as a filler.  There are filler primers, but they are meant to fill minor scratches & imperfections & do not take the place of filler material.

H2O
If you have an accident on a motorcycle, it's always your fault. Tough call, but it has to be that way. You're in the right, and dead -on a bike. The principle is not to have any accident. If you're involved in an an accident, it's because you did not anticipate. Then, by default, you failed.

inanecathode

I'll have to check out the filler primer then. Theres literally thousands of holes and patches that are just way too rough for regular bondo. Anyone know how fiberglass resin sticks to old fiberglass resin? Thought being if i could just glass in the imperfections with another thick gel coat i can sand that down and paint over that.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

kiwibum

as long as it's nice and rough with something to grip to resin should be ok, it takes a bit more work to sand down again I think due to being slightly harder than fillers.  Pay to check with someone else on this and knows a bit more but I'm sure their should be a fine based filler (meaning the particles are fine compared to bondo) that you can smear a 0.5-1mm covering over the whole thing then sand that back to cover up all the small problems. It always amazes me how long it takes to get a nice finish and reminds me when I see hot rods etc of the effort gone in to make them look so good, not as easy as most think it is.

inanecathode

Well with the rods is brand new, fresh metal to work with. Not 25 year old mid eighties fiberglass gel coat :D
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

kiwibum

ha ha, not the ones I see here, they are crafted out of real old cars rather than parts bought from a catalog 8)

inanecathode

Reason 192 why NZ rocks.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

inanecathode

Before!


After!




(disclaimer: second picture is just water)

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If you can't tell your friend to kiss your ass then they aren't a true friend.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

ironb12s

Like to chime in with one from the GS Resources:

http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_repaint.htm

Repaint of a Suzuki GS totally by hand and on a shoestring budget...
*************************************
SOC-UK 19744*MIG 821*IBA 9200*AMA 580210
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Book: "She don't look like much."
KayLee: "'Ah-uh, she'll fool ya."

kiawrench

iron,
i checked out your link,, and i am here to say, that without any doubt, that is the most detailed page i have read on painting a bike on the cheap!!!

after reading that a couple of times now, i think i may just give reckon's black paint job a try ,using less expensive paint products. ( on a spare piece first ) and see if i can make it happen!


    also makes me wonder if i can tweak the process a bit and get a fade effect airbrush pinstripe finish like one of the bikes on bilder site too!!

    if i remember right, you do the base coat,clear coat, then completely sand it out,then add in the striping work, resand and then begin the rub out .  hmmm. experiment time has arrived !

keep your bike running,your beer cold ,and your passport handy.all are like money in the bank .

ironb12s

A key note in said link, you need to make sure that the surface is completely smooth BEFORE applying any paint.  Any problems in the substrate WILL show through the paint, so it pays to spend extra time working in the subject before rattling any cans.  Whatever color that you choose, get what's underneath straight first, don't expect the paint to correct any flaws, but, rather, accentuate.

I have an HVLP gun, have used it to paint household items, but I can tell you that it does no better than the rattle cans if the conditions aren't right.  I'm having the frame of my GS750 PCoated, the triple tree plated along with the front fender and some other sundries.  The paint of the tank I may do myself, turn it into silver from black like the 1981 GS1100E that a buddy of mine owned...
*************************************
SOC-UK 19744*MIG 821*IBA 9200*AMA 580210
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Book: "She don't look like much."
KayLee: "'Ah-uh, she'll fool ya."