New Paint Job!

Sorry, double tapped

Post edited by: Sixgun, at: 2006/03/31 10:19

That's an incredible paint job! You did that with spray paint cans? I'll have to do a search and learn how you did it.

That looks great!!!! I was thinking of useing the same paint but in a different color. Wasn't too sure how it would look, but by the looks of your bike I think I am going to do it.

Wow!...very nice...very nice for a rattle-can job...WOW!

The advice I can give on this is pretty much like everyone else thats posted.
Take your time.

When I tried to rush, I would have to go back a step to fix mistakes. I highly recommend a heavier duty cleat coat on top of what they give you in the kit. They say without a two part clear coat, gas can discolor the paint.

Sixgun wrote:

They say without a two part clear coat, gas can discolor the paint.

I used the Mirage system last year on my bike, but had to strip it off and start over after some gas spilled on it and destroyed the finish. What is this two-part clear coat that you are refering to. I have been struggling trying to do a rattle-can job and find a clear coat that is truly gas-resistant. Everything I have tried gets ruined by gas spills. What am I missing?

Skyman wrote:

Sixgun wrote:

They say without a two part clear coat, gas can discolor the paint.

I have been struggling trying to do a rattle-can job and find a clear coat that is truly gas-resistant. Everything I have tried gets ruined by gas spills. What am I missing?

I used a dupont clear on my bike last year and it is VERY hard and resists any dicoloration from any fuel spills.And yes I have ooopppss by overfilling my tank and having the fuel run down the tank on to the engine. The only thing it did was take the wax off.Rewax and you can not even tell.

no pre-mixed clear is gas resistant. if you want to truly seal your work buy a cheap home depot spray gun-$45, a quart of urethane clear-$25/45, a half pint of hardner(catalyst)$15-20, and half pint of reducer (thinner)$15-20.

your paint will still be prone to uv and the total price goes up a bit but the finish will last for years instead of months to a year. and you get a gun and probably have some supplies left over.

otherwise your stuck recoating the clear after every spill or drip to keep a shine.

if you do decide to stick with just rattlecan then i suggest ALWAYS using a clear coat.
if not the first drop of gas could totally ruin w/e paint you have.
if you use clear then you can wetsand and respray the area to get back to shine.

btw: sixgun damn nice job. cant even tell its rattlecan.

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/05/16 17:32

Sounds like some good advice here. It must be a lot to do with the clear coat process, or lack of, that makes most repaintjobs deteriorate so darn quick. The paintjob looks good, but I still would have left the original paint.

RonKZ650 wrote:

Sounds like some good advice here. It must be a lot to do with the clear coat process, or lack of, that makes most repaintjobs deteriorate so darn quick. The paintjob looks good, but I still would have left the original paint.

Clears have a *huge* amount to do with the longevity of a paint job...

Which is why something over %90-odd of automotive finishes are classified as "basecoat/clearcoat".

Any metallic paint, which is the most common useage in bike jobs, has a surprizingly small color component - maybe %10-20 in most cases - if that. The rest is metallic flake of some granularity and binder, and binders and metallic don't necessarily like each other. Adding UV catalysts to paint is problematic, because it can affect color matching.

News flash: from the depths of my addled brain, here's an example from my paint-mixing daze: a *gallon* of DuPont Centari silver metallic can have *less than 5 grams of color* added by volume...

So, most UV and hardness factors are suppled in clearcoats...

Post edited by: Pterosaur, at: 2006/05/16 18:27

clearing a paint job does 3 things.
1. protects against corrosion and uv
2. adds depth to paint. more coats = more depth to a limit
3. protects and smooths multi layered layouts and airbrush graphics.

and to prove pterosaurs point is as easy as watching paint dry (literally)
take any can of metallic paint and shoot a good thick spot on a flat surface and wait for it to tack.
you can watch the flake settle. then touch the surface and it will be mostly clear with a tint of color.(basically a kandy) please dont ask how i know this..................:S

metallic spray paints do two steps in one can.
the metallic on our bikes was done with a base color then a tinted flaked kandy followed by a clear.(most lasting 20+years)

just out of curiosity ron (no offence intended) do you dislike the idea of repainting period or just repainting other then stock schemes??

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/05/16 19:19

mykznme wrote:

...just out of curiosity ron (no offence intended) do you dislike the idea of repainting period or just repainting other then stock schemes??<br><br>Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/05/16 19:19

Not to butt in or anything, but there's no fault to lay in *either* direction - preserving an original classic stocker with paint worthy of the effort, doing a re-creation of a classic stocker, or going totally *gonzo* on a leading-edge creation...

(mykznme has my back on that one.)

The only real crime, IMHO, is destroying a pristine classic stock job for the sake of a Rustoleum Rattlecan. rat's nest. They ain't making 30 year old paint jobs anymore....

*That* deserves a firing squad at dawn...