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starting at bare metal I like the etching primer first. Then if my filling job shows it's flaws, which it always does, i'll do spot putty and filler primer and get the little bits you miss. then topcoat and 2K clear. that method has lasted on the bikes I did that way for 6 years and counting.
1. Rust converter, wait a bit per instructions then acetone to clean
2. Bondo and dent repair
3. Etching primer
4. Spot putty and filler primer
5. Paint
6. Clear
I was told also that once I've bondo'd the dents etc I should lay some primer down over it to check my work - the primer would show up any fuck ups in the bondo/sanding. For these test patches, etching primer or filler primer? As always, lots of questions that probably answer themselves, but just want to know as much as I can before getting into this.
etching for the find the fuckups first time and if you sand through to bare metal again while fixing fuckups I'd stay with etching. After fuckups are all at the best they will be a coat or 2 of filler and wetsanding in between of course. then colour coats with wetsand and final clear. If metallic paint I sometimes don't wetsand the last coat as it can screw up the properties of the paint sometimes, bury in clear and a final polish and it usually passes the muster.
just the tank? nothing else? 1 etch, 1 filler, 1 colour 1 2K and I'd look for some other bits you may want to clear as 1 can will do the tank plus other stuff. The primers and colour you can save but the 2 K is an 8 hour window. I did my GL1000 tank covers, side covers and both fenders with one can of 2K and each got a good coat.
I've thought a lot about the fenders but think they'll be polished steel (I'll 2K clear them too), so yeah just the tank and a few bits and bobs. Good to know one can'll be enough - I'll get 3 or 4 coats out of it?
if Spraymax for sure, other brands may have less in them. I get at least 4 wet coats but not thick enough to run, and time them right as if you rush you can get sag and that is nasty. I ruined a paint job being impatient and not waiting the in between coat times. a whole side of clear slowly sagged off the tank then kicked and looked like crap. Had to start all over again.
and too heavy of a coat you get runs that also look like shit but sometimes can be wet sanded out. Sags and you're fucked. And to define what I mean, a run is a drip or pool in the current layer you are spraying and a sag is all the layers starting to run off. 2K gets heavy as the layers build and you need them to be dry enough the next layer doesn't re-wet the previous layer. the tank I had to redo I was on the 4th or 5th coat and it looked awsome, then pooooooo it slowly kind of ran all down and hardened right after into a lovely saggy mess of clear, no wet sanding that out.
Couple of HoK rattle cans and 2K primer on their way. I spoke to the guy who sells the stuff and he recommended the 2K primer for the HoK paint. In the meantime I'm cleaning up the tank, and will have a go at filling its dents and misdemeanours. I've only used mud once before and that was on an old VW bus I "restored" years ago. Can't say the results were brilliant, but damn I loved that bus.
I'm an easy mark when it comes to new stuff like this. Once I've done it a few times I'll hopefully have a better bead on where I need to spend my money and where I don't.
2K is the better choice, but line up all the bits you need primed and do tank then all the other things in order so you get all your $ out of the can. 8 hours and its done in most cases
2K is the better choice, but line up all the bits you need primed and do tank then all the other things in order so you get all your $ out of the can. 8 hours and its done in most cases
sand, fill, clean. Repeat until it looks good, then glide coat with cheap primer and find all the shit you missed, sand, fill, clean repeat until it is done. Everyone has different levels of done. I have 2, good enough for me, good enough for the person I am painting for. My level is much lower than if for someone else or resale LOL. After you get it all nice, then the coats of 2K primer, colour, and clear, If you don't screw up spraying you shouldn't even need to sand in between coats, unless you make runs, or have to stop. If you have to stop between re-coats read the can and follow what it says. they all have windows like. "re-coat wait 30 mins but not more than 2 hours, if over 2 hours wait 48 hours" or like a lacquor re-coat after 30 mins. Or enamel "recoat after 30 min but not longer than 2 hours if over 2 hours wait 14 days for full cure" etc. mess with those and you'll have an issue.
Big bag of nuts, bolts and parts back from the platers today. After all the work to degrease, clean and polish before the zinc plating it's great to see them come back all shiny and new - time to start the rebuild. Alrighty then.
Finished building the wheels - there are special lock nuts for the long brake disc bolts which had chewed the threads on them. Tap and die set paid for itself many, many times over today.
Rear wheel, shocks and chain installed. I'm horrible with a chain riveter. Really horrible. But a load of youtube vids later and I finally figured out how to use the thing.
and if it looks like the bike is sitting at some crazy angle, that's because it really is -
- in fact it's twerking.
Now I have to figure out how to pivot the whole enchilada and get the front wheel on.
I'm sure there was a better way of doing this, it's just the engine is so damn heavy. I had the frame - with the engine installed - sitting directly on the table lift, so couldn't get any kind of jack underneath the frame and came up with this questionable plan. Right now the thing is "stable", triangulated footings between the front frame rails and the oil pan bolt (plus the back wheel is supported). When I lower the rear wheel I'm going to lose the frame rail footings though as the oil pan bolt is lower - the bike will be resting on the rear wheel and that bolt. That's the sweaty palm part.
I'm going to put a 4x4" under each frame rail so that when I lift the front end up (and lower the rear wheel onto the table) the 4x4's will act as fulcrums on either side of the bike and - hopefully - make the lift more stable. I'll then lift the front end high enough to get a jack under the front frame rails.
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