gas tank clear coat over rustoleum...

[Ribo]

Ok well I bit the bullet and hit it with the 2K just now. Think it went well but to be honest I was shitting myself a little bit during the whole process. Had a full suit, long cuff think nitrate gloves that I taped the cuffs on, non-direct ventilation goggles and a 3K 6000 series mask. I even wrapped my boots in that plastic food wrap stuff... I turned my shed into a paint booth. I think it may have been overkill but I wasn't going to fuck about with that stuff considering all the warnings.

I did a tack coat as recommended, waited the documented flash off times between another 3 coats. I wanted to get it down nice and think cos I know I'm going to want to wet sand it around the decals...

2 questions for anyone that's done it before -

how long before I should go back to my shed and tidy up without a mask?
how long should I leave it before wet sanding and/or putting it back on the bike and using it?

R./

 

[Scratcher09]

How soon the fumes will dissipate depends on how much ventilation you have. After 25 minutes, most 2k clears will not be affected by dust so you can open up the area and ventilate. After 24 hrs you can cut and polish. The finish will feel dry but it will be soft and therefore susceptible to damage from handling so the longer you let it cure the safer your finish will be. Seems like no matter how careful you try to be, sometimes accidents happen. A large portion of the curing process happens within the first few days. These are just my guestimations--85 to 90% of the curing probably happens within the first few dys. Wait a month minimum before waxing.

 

[focusinprogress]

Ok well I bit the bullet and hit it with the 2K just now. Think it went well but to be honest I was shitting myself a little bit during the whole process. Had a full suit, long cuff think nitrate gloves that I taped the cuffs on, non-direct ventilation goggles and a 3K 6000 series mask. I even wrapped my boots in that plastic food wrap stuff... I turned my shed into a paint booth. I think it may have been overkill but I wasn't going to fuck about with that stuff considering all the warnings.

I did a tack coat as recommended, waited the documented flash off times between another 3 coats. I wanted to get it down nice and think cos I know I'm going to want to wet sand it around the decals...

2 questions for anyone that's done it before -

how long before I should go back to my shed and tidy up without a mask?
how long should I leave it before wet sanding and/or putting it back on the bike and using it?

R./

once the clear has hardened to the touch (couple hours) you can open up the door and let the space vent out for a while. then you can go retrieve your tank. I go maskless as soon as the "mist" is out of the air but I have a pretty serious exhaust fan where I paint. you can put it on the bike after 2-3 days, but I wouldn't wetsand it and polish for at least a full week, two if you can't park it in the direct sunlight to help bake it hard.


I'll ad that you don't want to use anything below 1500 grit to wetsand the clear....and even then 1500 is a touch course....only use that if you have heavy orange peal or a run to sand through. then go 2000 grit and polish with some cutting compound.

 

[Ribo]

Thanks folks,

I did have a small run and I think I managed to get it sanded out. After some research I read that it's best to actually take a razor blade (new) to the high part of the run and then sand after you get it almost down - this seemed to work fine after being very careful. I can still see it a little so I think it may get more attention but I went on to a rubbing compound with a maguire's DA and it's looking pretty good.

I'm going to leave it for a few days and will probably go over it again with a finer compound. It's not perfect in anyway and the tank was never going to be but for where it was and where it is now it's night and day. I'll try and get some pictures up soon but my Macbook died on me so it's off with apple somewhere in N.Dakota having some kind of surgery.

Lessons I leaned from this so far are:

1) Preparation is key as everyone says, it's true. I should have given it more coats of primer and build it up a bit better.
2) Rustoleum is ok but it would have been much better to use VHT or a higher end can.
3) Don't get too worked up about 2K - yes it's nasty shit but I was very well protected and should have trusted that more. I rushed the first coat of clear which lead to my run. Guess I broke the goldern rule of painting - "take your time - a little at a time".
4) This shit takes a shed load longer to do (right) than expected.

Thanks for all the help guys - I appreaciate any and all people taking their own time to respond on this.

Pic to follow soon I promise.

 

[focusinprogress]

for what it's worth, I painted this tank with dupli-color universal black and laid 2k clear over it. this has zero wetsanding and no polishing done.

 

[Ribo]

Not looking too bad.. still need to polish and will probably give it another fine-grain compound before in a weeks time.

 

[Ribo]

I'm shocked at how the 2K reacts to sunlight - really - I know it says to IV cure but it's amazing how much tighter and glossier it is just after two days in the sun.