Aerosol cans are possible. The spray gun may not be necessary if the largest thing to paint is your tank. Aerosol cans do a great job if you do it right and there is less fuss and mess.
On the metal parts like the tank, remove all the old paint with jasco and use fine steel wool to help that process in any little crevices. Use rubber gloves and goggles (jasco is potent stuff). On the plastic parts, use very fine sand paper and bring the old paint down to at least a smooth haze. Wash all parts throuroughly with lots of water and mild soap like Dawn. Then rinse thoroughly. Use metal etch solution on the tank and metal parts. DO NOT try to paint if the air temperature is below 65 or if it's raining outside. When you are ready to paint, place the part and the can of paint in a warm environment ( a household radiator is good, or on top of lamp, or even bake in the oven at 100f). No-one in their right mind would tell you to place a paint can in an oven, but if you set at 100 and keep take it out after 5 minutes you are safe. It;s best to paint parts when they are warm to the touch. Loosely wrap low tack masking tape around your hand sticky side out and pass it all around the part to remove dust and lint. Primer the parts with sandable primer and after they are dry, wet sand with 000 until super smooth. Repeat cleaning steps. Shake the aerosol can vigorously for at least 2 minutes. Start your spray off the part and bring it in at a distance where you are leaving a light mist on the part evenly and quickly. Repeat this light coat repeatedly while allowing thorough drying between coats. This process may take days, but don't be tempted to rush it or to apply too thick of a coat. After 3 or 4 coats you may want to wet sand lightly with 000 very fine sand paper. Repeat cleaning process and lint removal. Continue laying coats of paint until you get that glossy wet look. Apply at least 6 coats. Finally bake the parts again and don't touch them for a week. The main things to remember are PATIENCE, absolute cleanliness, light coats , and thorough drying between coats. Never touch anything with your bare fingers which carry oils. I have even painted larger parts with cans and the results are still amazing years later. However i have one advantage: I live in California and I worked during the summer. If you decide to go with the gun, keep the same principles in mind. Dennis On Oct 25, 3:47 pm, Minnesota Blue <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So I am going to paint my 1983 650. The fun part about winter in MN > and motorcycles is that when it is too cold to ride you have plenty of > time for these "projects". If it was always warm I would never have > time to do anything to a motorcycle. I am going to have a tank liner > baked in first and the process can be hard on the paint. The tank > clear coat is pretty shot and the rest of the paint is showing its > age. It is currently blue and I am thinking of going yellow. My > question is should I attempt to do this myself, or bite the bullet and > pay to have it done right? This is never going to be a show bike and > I have a decent spray gun. However, I have never painted plastic > before (side covers and such) and have very limited experience > painting anything. Part of me wants to give it a shot because I think > it will be fun. The other part of me does not want a crappy paint > job. Anyone try this at home? Any suggestions? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to nighthawk_lovers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
