who's painted their XS?

[TopCatGr58]

Paint on a Shoestring!

Well,
I had the afternoon off, and found out about an auto parts/paint shop and went there to check it out. They carry a variety of brands, another very high dollar "House of Kolor", as well as PPG!

The "lady" behind the counter was very helpful in teaching me about the basics of painting. Since I now have a compressor, I'll be getting a little "touchup" spray gun to use. She showed me the HOK samples and what makes a "Candy" type paint and style, how they utilize a metallic flake base like silver, and then they put several coats of the desired color on top!

I had seen a Mustang several years ago with this wonderful bright metallic green that I wanted, and was able to find it in their catalog of samples for PPG. Along with learning that along with the basecoat, I'll need the REDUCER/thinner, the clear coat and hardener. They also have this item called PRIZMATIQUE,
it's like a supermetalflake, mixed in with the first coat of clear, it's adds another dimension of "flare", sorta like how a CD looks in the sunlight, and could possibly jazz up the metalflake texture of the basecoat!

Will be about $30.00 a quart for basecoat, $20.00 reducer, $16.30 quart clear, $25.00 for hardener, and $17.00 for 1 oz of Prizmatique IF I want it! Then add $29.99 for the spray gun, and I should be able to get a decent finish for about a "C" note!

Can't wait till the temps warm up enough to be able to paint, course I have to do a considerable amount of PREP first!

Just wanted to say thankyou for this fine discussion topic!
T.C.

[LoserShoes]

Did they mention that the reducer you use depends on the ambient temperature? Different reducer if its hot or cold? Ideal temp for painting is about 70F. If its hotter you need a reducer that flashes slower, cooler and you need thats faster.

Steve

[TopCatGr58]

Reduction Temps.

Hey Steve,

No, they didn't mention that, but I'll be waiting for the warmer weather before attempting to paint anyways, but I'll be aware of what the ambient temps are prior to painting. The base coat can be stored for a fair amount of time prior to use. However, once the Hardener is mixed into the clear, it has a fairly short shelf life. Thankfully the hardener comes in half pint sizes, so I can mix up 1/2 of the total amount I'll have at a time!
T.C.

[mro]

color me green

Know a guy fixing up a XS650

He made a small room in his shop w/visquine and used a shop vacs exhaust to "pressurize" it to keep out dirt. Worked surprisingly well.

btw
get a decent mask, don't want to breath that stuff

btw2
I've gotten very good results painting when cold.
(remember I'm in CA, 60 is cold)

[LoserShoes]

And not mention you have low humidty too. Paint when the humidity is too high and watch your paint blush.

Steve

[Bauer]

T.C.
Sounds like you will have a nice bike when finished. I wasnt sure if I wanted to go the prizma route so I just stuck with a basic metallic for both the base and flames.

Prep work makes the paint,

Acetone or use wax & grease remover first, before attempting to sand. Wet sand with a 400 grit or finer. If you do any bondo'ing I would recommend doing that in between the acetone and the sanding, but you can apply it and then go back and touch up sand the filler.

[DiverRay]

T.C. one thought from the west coast. They should have an additive to allow the paint to flex once it's on. You WILL need that for any plastic parts you want to paint.
Ray

[chevy45412001]

man oh man

hey TC all the people want to pi$$ on your wheaties or what? Go get the stuff and let er rip, flex aggent humidity flashing reducersshelflifetarpsmixingcupsspraygunsmasksbrea thingdirtinyourbeer4000gritbondosandpaperglazecoat guidecoatwetbuffsandingaircompressorshoseswetfloor man you can go on for eturnity. prep well and it WILL look awsome. just don't for get the pic's and vid along the way.

[Bauer]

Originally posted by DiverRay
T.C. one thought from the west coast. They should have an additive to allow the paint to flex once it's on. You WILL need that for any plastic parts you want to paint.
Ray

I agree with that, although I never used any flex add. on my sidecovers, they painted real well. I twisted each one slightly after it had fully curred to see how well the paint had sealed to the cover (so that if it did not stick, I could fix it when I had it all apart, rather than 5 or so years down the road) And it did not crack or flake.

[TopCatGr58]

A few more questions!

Hey there guys,

I just wrote Papa Gino complimenting him on his most Xcellent paint job on Battle Cruiser. I asked him this question, but I'm also going to post it to the collective brain/experience trust!

As I have sadly stated, I know very little about professional style painting. The base coat from PPG I'll be using is acrylic. The clear coat with hardener is enamel. I've learned that acrylics dry and cure fairly quickly. Enamels take many days to properly cure due to the chemical change that occurs as the paint hardens and cures.

The instruction sheet I got for the clearcoat states that additional coats are to be put on within 1 hour, otherwise I am to wait 7 days! Does this mean paint one coat, wait almost an hour, then put another coat, then wait ANOTHER almost hour, then repeat? Also, is this the time you do the fine wet sanding and drying between coats? If it goes over an hour, sounds like I would need to wait 7 days, however I've been told that once I mix the hardener with the clear, that it will only keep about a week or so before it hardens itself?!

So...what's the secret to doing the multiple coats, wet sanding, and then recoating WITHIN the 1 hour time limit??
Thanks in advance!
T.C.

[Shuriken]

Has anyone painted their bike with Acrylic Enamel paint and hardener?

Rattle can paint doesn't hold up to gas at all. But it isn't mixed with hardener.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm going to try acrylic enamel with hardener from paintforcars.com. But right now, I'm not convinced that even with hardener that it will hold up to gasoline.

If worse comes to worse, I'll go with hokpaint.com again. That is fantastic paint, though $$$$$$$$$.

Ben

[DiverRay]

Ben,
The hardener will make the paint impervious to gas. I've got it on the fairing and box on the daily ride, and I'm waiting for a different tank so I can have all matching bits. Even the cheapest paint/hardener will laugh off the gasoline.

[mason79]

http://www.baa-direct.com/Day3Course.html


http://www.baa-direct.com/Day2Course.html


http://www.baa-direct.com/Day1Course.html

[Shuriken]

Mason79 - thanks for those links. Fantastic.

They are using house of Kolor paint, which I used on my last bike. That paint is so nice.

Ben