'79 Special Weed Abatement Project In Progress

[3Phase]

1979 XS1100SF Weed Abatement Project. Bobber and I picked up the bike today in Lompoc and it literally had to be cut out of the bush in the back yard where it's been sitting for ten years. On the bright side: it looks a lot better than the wrecked XJ I rescued from the towing company earlier today.

Fortunately, it's on file as 'non-op' with the California DMV so it won't cost a small fortune to register the bike after I get it cleaned up and running.



A short slideshow of the rest of the pictures: The Show

[DGXSER]

Well Scott, its a starting point. Maybe you should paint it green and call it Ivy!

[TomRodgers]

Lucky ba$tards!!! In the 3 years i have been looking, i have only found one 'find' with 'Sunshine. Lucky for me it was short work to get her running...just a bit more to make it road ready.... i guess i just hafta keep my eyes open a bit longer....

[natemoen]

You must have quite the collection!

[3Phase]

Well Scott, its a starting point. Maybe you should paint it green and call it Ivy!

I'm actually more of a bush fan than a vine collector if ya catch my drift but I'll keep the green paint in mind -- less moss and mold to remove that way!

Lucky ba$tards!!!

I have to thank Planedick and soccer4m for the heads up about the two latest bikes. I would have missed them as one wasn't really advertised and there was basically only one day to grab either one of them or lose them.

You must have quite the collection!

Yeah ... guilty! Hopefully I can turn three non-running bikes into one running bike and try to reclaim some space in the driveway and my .sig file!

[3Phase]

Rustoleum and poison on a stick

As you can see in the first picture I posted the night we dug Bush out of the shrubbery (Ni! Ni!) there is a small dent in the left side of the gas tank. I tried to ignore it and just paint over it but it just didn't look right.

This is my first time painting and using Bondo so I sure am glad all of that deadly LEAD catalyst was removed from paint and only requires something much more cuddly and friendly like cyanide to cure it.... A bummer indeed! I hope I don't wind up with a thousand narcs chasing me for possession of painting supplies.

After reading all 10,000 posts about rolling on paint in the Moparparts thread and most of the rolledon web site I decided to roll and brush where possible instead of spray. This should be good.



On to the project!


Here's the gas tank after a few iterations of rough sanding to bare metal and remove the rust, then priming, sealing and block sanding. The black paint is three coats of Rustoleum rolled over the first three spray coats of self-etching primer to seal the paint and to serve as a guide coat. In this picture, Bondo for the small dent has been applied and rough-cut with a rasp after curing overnight.





The tank after sanding with P240 sandpaper and washing with soap and water.





The Bondo after sanding and washing with soap and water.





Some of the supplies for my Rustoleum roller paint job:

4" high density foam rollers

Flood's Penetrol

Totally toxic NAPA Auto/Martin Senour Crossfire CH254 isocyanate hardener for alkyd and acrylic paint.

Piles o' sandpaper from 80 to 3000 grit.

Rustoleum green self-etching primer, gray automotive primer and gloss white paint

After wet sanding and blocking I stuff a rag under the sandpaper on my Black and Decker sander to allow the paper conform to the curves of the tank. It also helps to mellow out the hard, flat, face of the power sander a little bit so it can smooth instead of burn through the paint





Tomorrow, after the tank and Bondo has dried out overnight in a nice warm room, I'll touch up a few blemishes and then lay down a few coats of gray primer before I dive into trying to roll the white gloss and playing with poison.

[3Phase]

Water and Bondo

Okay, it's probably nothing most everyone here didn't already know but I do so love learning experiences. I did not know what happens when you wash Bondo with water but I stumbled across that very important piece of information earlier this morning.

D'oh! Take it out and start over!

I dug into the patch with a hammer and screwdriver, then used a razor blade to scrape off the rest of it. Most of it popped out in a couple of thin (less than 1/8" thick) wafers so the thickness is correct, it just didn't stick to the metal and would have come loose or cracked under the paint.

At least there is a bright side so it's back to rough sanding, then do some reading up on surface prep and try again without the water this time.

[crazy steve]

...I dug into the patch with a hammer and screwdriver, then used a razor blade to scrape off the rest of it. Most of it popped out in a couple of thin (less than 1/8" thick) wafers so the thickness is correct, it just didn't stick to the metal and would have come loose or cracked under the paint...

Rough the metal where you're applying the bondo with at least 50 grit paper, preferably 36 grit. You want some good 'texture' there... Make sure it's clean/dry.

What trouble were you having with water? I've wet-sanded down to bondo many times, I dried it off and shot more primer over it with no issues...

[motoman]

Hey Scott, Don't fell bad.....As you know I do everything at least twice........if you were closer I'd take care of the tank in exchange for dialin' in these finiky Mikunis........good thought anyways...least here with the dry climate, don't have near the issues when it comes to body work and paint.....can paint and ride the same day.....

[3Phase]

Thanks, Steve! The coarsest I have is 80 grit paper so I'll grab some more paper on the way back from the dentist and give it a whirl.

Apparently Bondo remains porous after the solvents evaporate and it'll suck water right out of the air. From what I've read this morning you should seal the surface if the humidity gets too high and just come back to it later so it doesn't trap moisture and bubble the paint or corrode the metal under the patch.

Brant, humidity is not a problem where I live, either, but pouring water on it is a Bozo no-no. It's easy enough to fix it right now because I haven't sealed it or put down any more paint.

[crazy steve]

Thanks, Steve! The coarsest I have is 80 grit paper so I'll grab some more paper on the way back from the dentist and give it a whirl....

Scott, bondo needs some 'tooth' on the surface to stick well. If you find you need to apply more (low spots, to build it it), rough the plastic with 36 grit before putting more on. Don't go to finer paper until you're doing your 'final' shaping. I'll quit sanding the plastic at 180 grit and then start putting on primer to fill the scratches.

[3Phase]

Thanks, Steve, I picked up a 36 grit disk, scrubbed the you-know-what out of the tank and it's sticking really well this time!

I've just put the last layer on the patch and I don't see any bubbles or voids but I may have to pop it all back out after I finish. The dent is a little larger than I thought it was when I picked up the tube of spot putty to fill it and there's ridge at the top of the dent that I had to build over. It looked like a humpback whale sounding in the Bondo and I don't think spot putty is the right tool for the job I'm trying to do.

If it doesn't work I may try filling it with body lead but I'm thinking fire and old gas-saturated metal is probably not the brightest idea I've had lately: "Hold my beer and watch this!"

[crazy steve]

...The dent is a little larger than I thought it was when I picked up the tube of spot putty to fill it and there's ridge at the top of the dent that I had to build over. It looked like a humpback whale sounding in the Bondo and I don't think spot putty is the right tool for the job I'm trying to do...

Nope, spot putty is only for pinholes or minor scratches; it makes lousy filler as it shrinks/cracks easily in large amounts.

If you have a high spot, hammer it down (carefully), remove any plastic that 'lifts' around the edge, and add more filler. I know 'they' say not to exceed 1/4" thickness, but you can go much thicker as long as it's in an area that doesn't flex. On a bike gas tank, no problem.

[3Phase]

By Jove, I think I've got it!

The patch may crack or fall off later when it gets blasted in the desert sun but I've had just about enough for now.


The Bondo is sanded just enough to expose the small dent ridge and no more.





The first coat of self-etching primer over the bare metal and the Bondo shows no edges or ridges, just light color shading. It looks pretty good so far!





Next I'll spray a few coats of gray primer and color sand, then -- roll on Rustoleum!

[bikerphil]

My trick is to scratch the dent with a BFS so the bondo can grip, and the surface cleaned with contact cleaner. >