No savings to do two tanks. Most of the labor of a top-notch paint job is the prep and wet sanding between coats, NOT cleaning the gun. Cleaning the gun is maybe a two minute job.
I have done a couple tanks with powdercoat. Never really liked the results. You always have to do some filling, and hi-temp Lab Metal just doesn't feather out the way Bondo does. Tough to get perfect results. I haven't given up on doing powder on tanks, but so far I have not been able to get satisfactory results.
Cost of doing a tank depends entirely on how much preparation it needs and how fancy you want the job. Typically, three coats primer, block sanding, two coats color, wet sanding, three coats clear.
Runs about $350.
Just shooting paint with little or no pre-prime filling, little or no intercoat sanding-about $150.
Pictures: (click on any thumbnail for a larger picture)
http://alphadogchoppers.com/BikesForSale/Nighthawk/
This bike was a simple shoot. I wet sanded the primer, but there was no sanding or buffing of the color, and no clear. It looks damned good, if I say so myself.
This was a little fancier paint job that took me two weeks.
http://alphadogchoppers.com/BuildBlogs/paint/SnakePaintJob/
