Need help stripping/priming tank

I had my tank off the other day sitting on a work bench while I was working on my carbs. I accidently knocked the tank off and scratched it up. The Kawasaki badges on the side were glued on, so I took them off and put paint removal on both sides were the badves were and on top where the scratches were. I have those parts stripped down to the primer. My question is should I strip the whole tank of just prime the spots I already stripped. I plan on getting the bike painted this winter, so I am not worried about how it looks. Is is possible to prime the areas I stripped today and smooth the prime to the paint that is still on the tank ?

if it was mine i would strip it to bare metal and prime it. then paint it the colors you want it to be. if they arent bad scraps and it can wait till winter when u were planing on it anyway then i would also wait.

The scrapes were bad. I ended up stripping most the paint off of the tank today. I will start sanding it tomorrow and hopefully put some primer on it. I couldn't tell if the scratches were to the metal or not and didn't want the same to rust. How many coats of primer do you recommend ?

I used 3 coats of primer with a wet sanding between each coat. Worked well for my tank.

Dad worked in a paint shop for a while, and he reminded me time and again that primer is relatively porous and that the metal underneath will rust of left unprotected. If you are going to strip and prime, you probably ought to think about (at least) a rattle-can finish. When you are ready to actually paint, strip off the rattle can paint and start over. Since you don't care what it looks like, just get some cheap paint and cover the primer. When it comes time to actually do the paint job right, acetone the "new" paint off, throw on one more coat of primer, and go to town.

I got the tank primed today about 6 pm EST. I have 2 good coats on it. How long before I can sand the tank ? I have 220, 400, 600 wet/dry, and 1000 wet/dry. What should I start sanding with ?

What did you prime it with? Usually there are recoat instructions on the paint container, giving you flash times, drying times and recommended sanding grits for further finishing. If it's rattle can primer, I'd suggest block it with 400 grit then seal it and top coat it.

What was the question? It looks like you're all done.

I decided to spray paint the tank. I got it done today and I have one small run down one side of the tank. What grit sand paper should I use to remove just the run ?

1500 wet with a block

What grit sand paper should I be using to get the orange peel off ?

Cynjut wrote: Dad worked in a paint shop for a while, and he reminded me time and again that primer is relatively porous and that the metal underneath will rust of left unprotected. If you are going to strip and prime, you probably ought to think about (at least) a rattle-can finish. When you are ready to actually paint, strip off the rattle can paint and start over. Since you don't care what it looks like, just get some cheap paint and cover the primer. When it comes time to actually do the paint job right, acetone the "new" paint off, throw on one more coat of primer, and go to town.

Good advice right here. I always prime what I strip also. Like you said primer is porous and will rust so topcoating with rattle cans is good to protect it.