Repainting Plastic

[mikubuilder]

do a search on it in this forum...I've read somebody talking about using tin foil I haven't gotten that far yet....

[motoman]

Anyone have a good aluminum polish?

BlueMagic metal polish creme.

[mharrington]

The pin striping and decals are a real bear to remove. Years of age and sunlight really bake it on. You must use heat- heat gun on LOW or a hair dryer to soften it and a plastic wall paper squeegee or credit card to scrape the striping off from plastic. On a metal tank I suggest using heat and a razor blade to remove the striping.

[GLoweVA]

Aluminum foil and coke. The coke is slightly acidic and the foil is too soft to scratch. What happens is the coke reacts with the foil and makes aluminum oxide which is a polishing compound. It seems to only attack the rusty spots and leave the good stuff alone. I've tried it on my petcock covers and they cleaned up pretty nice.
Here's the thread: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ht=polish+foil

[fredintoon]

Back when I was even dumber

before I joined this list, that is, I used paint stripper on my bike's side covers.
Boy! You gotta work quick to scrape it all off before it eats way deep into the plastic.
I'd never heard of plastic-specific primer neither but the normal stuff stuck OK and the paint still looks good today.
Doubtless the stripper-generated surface texture helped the primer to adhere properly.

[mharrington]

Side covers are made from ABS plastic. The "B" in ABS stands for butadiene- its a rubber and is what paint and platings adhere to. You do not need special primers for ABS. You do need to make sure to wipe it down with a wax and grease remover- just like you would metal and fiberglass. Its the polypropylenes and polyethylenes that are not generally paintable. Plastic buckets and gas cans are made from those materials. There is a procedure for painting those but I wont go into it here.

[Lbrown311]

Very informative lecture on plastics Harrington....Yes....Quite. Good to know for sure. Since I am on a roll with the questions. Can I use the same paint for the plastic and metal parts, and what is the best, or most durable? I will be doing Gloss black on the side covers, rear cowl, seat stripes and tank. I saw that PJ1 is a pretty good paint.

Don't use coke and aluminum foil on chrome....No No!

[mharrington]

I work in plastcs- injection molding. The same primer and paints for metal are what to use for ABS. (Its all in the prep!) Sounds like you are gonna use spray cans? Spray can paint is not very durable and does not have the shine of automotive paint. However- the PJ1 paints are much better than the others. Some may suggest appliance epoxy paint (for painting stoves and refigerators) those have a wonderful shine but dont have UV protection and dont deal with hot and cool conditions (indoor paint only.) I did my stuff with spray can primer but had a guy spray down base coat clear coat. I used the PJ1 gloss black frame paint on my 650. Not very glossy but seems pretty hard.

[Lbrown311]

Well I found the best way to prep them IMO. I bought the auto body 180 grit sand paper (the purple stuff). 1st I used a knife scrapper to get the pin stripping off. Then I used the 180 and sanded it dry which I found to be the best way to do it as you can tell if you got thru the clear coat a bit easier than if its wet. I then wet sanded with 600 till the scratches from the 180 were out. Worked awesome on the right hand cover that I hadn't prepped yet. I have a couple pics of the prep from the left side and a pic of the 1st coat of paint on the right side.

[Laptop_geek]

Its the polypropylenes and polyethylenes that are not generally paintable. Plastic buckets and gas cans are made from those materials. There is a procedure for painting those but I wont go into it here.

Just today finished painting the trim on my car, it is a PP plastic and was a PITA to get the prep right, used a 2k urethane and it turned out looking great.

[mharrington]

Looks good Lbrown!!

[crazy steve]

Well I found the best way to prep them IMO. I bought the auto body 180 grit sand paper (the purple stuff). 1st I used a knife scrapper to get the pin stripping off. Then I used the 180 and sanded it dry which I found to be the best way to do it as you can tell if you got thru the clear coat a bit easier than if its wet. I then wet sanded with 600 till the scratches from the 180 were out.

I hate to rain on your parade, but 600 grit is too fine. I learned this the hard way...

The problem is you don't leave enough 'tooth' on the surface for the paint to grip. You shouldn't use anything finer than 320 (220 is better) prior to applying color or you end up with a paint job that will chip very easily. For best results, after sanding the old paint and any bodywork, put on one light even coat of primer. Check for defects and scratches and if you've got all of them gone, then apply color directly over that without sanding.

[copracr]

This may be a terrible idea, but I accidentally got brake fluid on my side cover and about a third of the paint fell right off. I sanded everything with 220 and shot with spray can primer, flat black, and clear. It looks decent but you can tell a pro didnt do it.

[Lbrown311]

Yeah brake fluid will ruin your day. Found out on the right hand controls and MC.

Thanks for the tip Steve. I know for future reference now to use a rougher paper. It did seem very fine using the 600 but that is what I was hearing around the site. Either way it looks a hell of a lot better than the stock maroon that was chipped to hell and faded past recognition. I wanted to go with a gloss black on it anyways and then do the emblems chrome instead of gold. The gold emblems really don't go with anything on these bikes except on the Midnights. I also did the seat stripes gloss black but I will be doin a chrome pin stripe either down the middle or one on top and bottom, then wrapping that around the rear cowl.

Don't worry I will post pics when I'm done.

[Lbrown311]

I have a few pics, not sure what I'm gonna do with the emblems yet. I kinda like the rear cowl like it is. Not sure about the side covers. I have to redo the silver cuz I got ancy and touched some of them and now they look like dog sh*t.




These are just a few of the handle bar parts I am painting as well. Still have to dissasemble the controls so I can repaint them. Also have to strip the tank so I can get started on that. Come to think of it....I should probably get a key made so i can see how she runs

Anyone know where I can get the stickers for the controls ie: Start, Horn, Run, Off and so-on...