The Painting Project ENDS!!

[JWSanders]

Man, that kicks butt in a major way. I can't wait to see the finished product!

As always TC, you never cease to amaze!

[tarzan]

Thats a cool paint scheme.It will look great.I painted my daughters car a couple years back.It is majenta(pink) with a black top.I had 24 hours to clear coat it after the base colors or I was told I'd have to sand it and do it over.
That was my first experince with 2 stage paint.I put the clear on too thick and it dripped.It was a pain sanding it out,it took me a week.She loves it I guess though so it was worth it.
Nice work

[XSrunner]

Hi T C
THAT LOOKS ABSOLUTELY GODZILLARATING VERY KOOL JOB CAN'T WAIT FOR THE END RESULT..

[John]

Bitchin'!

[TopCatGr58]

Well folks,

Today was a lovely day for clear coating!! I had removed the stocking mask yesterday from the tank, wet sanded it. I then mixed up the Clear Coat and Hardener, just 5-6 ounces, but it was almost twice as much as needed....for ALL of the parts, tank, both fenders, both sidecovers, and a few other parts that you'll see TOMORROW! Sorry, but it needs a good 8+ hours of curing time before the parts can be put into service, and so I'm letting it cure overnight before putting things back together.

I was careful in putting on thin coats, and found that 2 were more than enough! I did find a small ripple on one of the sidecovers that showed up a long time after I had sprayed them, it was laying flat, so not sure how it happened, but due to the time constraint, needing to have it ready to ride by next FRIDAY to XS East, I'll live with it for now!

The clear coat is so nice and smooth and SHINY!!! And I had commented before about how I wasn't impressed with the metalflake effect in the color coat.... but I hadn't seen it in the SUNLIGHT, and with the clearcoat overlying it....O.M.G. I was almost brought to tears!! IT is turning out better than I had imagined! I want to publicly thank PaintMan/John for all of his helpful PM's, along with the rest of the Xsives that provided much needed instruction for this NEWBIE painter!!!

So...while I was letting the paint dry, I decided to try out my new BUFFER! I should have bought one YEARS AGO!!!!!! But it's becoming an addiction like another Xsive posted a while back in another thread! I polished the clutch adjustment cover plate, then I attacked the timing cover plate. I don't want to stop, but I had to put it away for the night and spend some quality time with SWMBO!! If I keep this up, I may have to change my signature......Godzilla won't be a RAT BIKE much longer, oh, that's right, it does say SUPER RAT!!!

Stay Tuned.

[red bandit]

When you removed the stocking did it leave a rough or raised edge of paint that had to be sanded? Assume!!

[Paintman]

Green with Envy

Glad to be of some help TC if ya want some moe practice i have a 42 ft bus to paint lol only will have `13 diff candy colors. Cant wait to see the finished product the whole trick to a quality paint job is the prep work and you did well Grasshopper.



John

[olebiker]

Hot damn we get to see it next weekend ( God willin and the crick don't rise).

[TopCatGr58]

The Finale!

Hey there Folks,

Well, it's been a long but mostly beautiful day here in Eastern Virginia, got started early at 9:00 am....well, early for me on a SUNDAY! Got the fenders put on, and then went to the tank. I had to swap the fuel sending unit/plate from my Special, fits perfectly....except that it's on the OTHER side, had to cut the loom tape a bit to free up some slack in the harness wire to be able to plug it in! I had cleaned up the petcocks already, purchased new sealing O-rings and neoprene flat washers and new stainless screws to secure them, plugged right in, no muss, no fuss!
Also cleaned up the gas cap taking it apart to remove the old fuel/crud, lube the innards, and reassemble, polish. I now have 3 different keys for my bike, the Oem for the side cover, a new one for the new ignition switch, and another one now for the gascap!

This was an XJ tank swap to 81XS11 as well as a painting project. I had cut out a section of the tail/base of the XJ tank to allow room for the seat tongue, I had cut off about half of the height of the threaded bolt hole on the frame so it wouldn't hit the tank. The XJ tank is longer, so I just slipped it up into the front rubber mounts...perfect fit...no hitting the forks/bars or top of engine. I then just let it lay on the rubber frame supports near the seat. The tongue of the seat and the seat itself will keep the tank in place otherwise, I wasn't worried about trying to find a way to BOLT it down to the frame, but I could have, but it's not really needed IMHO! The seat holds it quit well! The tank is also a little wider, so I had to bent/break the front lower portions of the seat frame(it's fiberglass) to allow it to stretch around the width of the tank! Because the tank is longer, I also had to make some minor BENDS in the tangs that hold the sidecovers on, but that was also fairly easy, so I could still use the 81's covers! PHEW! Guess I should have checked the fit a little closer BEFORE doing all of this painting!

Okay, without further ado.....here are the final photos:





Now a few closeups:


Badges, we don't need no stinking OEM badges!!!!
No Identity crisis here!!!!!


This was the surprise that some of you newer folks wouldn't have known about. I wanted to have some custom badges, and so I got my 1/8" mill bit and some 1/4" thick aluminum stock and went at it.....by hand, calculating so many turn of X handle to so many turns of Y handle of the crosslide to be able to make the long diagonal cuts and such!!! They aren't PERFECT looking like from a CNC, but they'll do for me!!

Well, I hope you all have enjoyed following this adventurous learning journey into the fine art of bike painting!!

BTW, Red Bandit, yes, the stockings and the few layers of color do leave a slightly raised edge, nothing like a TAPE LINE, but I wetsanded it with 600 just to slightly smooth out the transition as well as rough up the base enough to allow the clear to stick since I was doing it longer than 24 hours after I finished the color coat.

Thanks again for everyones help, encouragement, and compliments!!

[egsols]

Very, very nice TC. The stocking effect is even better now that I actually see it all together!!!!

(Don`t know if I really like the speedo mounted mail box though)

[exquized1]

All I can say is holy (@#$@) I mean that looks amazing!

[xschop]

zilla

Hey T.C. that looks pretty cool. I like how it ties in with the sew pattern on your seat......gonna shoot your wheels Zilla Green?

[dpotter58]

I really like it all except the foot rests.. That green looks a little off. They draw the eye from the rest of the fine paint work you did. You will be in PA next weekend right?

[prometheus578]

T.C....
...
...
That is sharp!
That's really sharp.


(Good eye there, Egsols.)

[Paintman]

GODZIRRRA

Can see all of Tokyo running Looks Good TC now i gotta ask do ya have socks to match the stocking pattern?


John