1982 GPz 750 First Bike

sweet little project you have here..
what are your thoughts on paint?

leon

Tomorrow I will be putting some filler on the tank and doing a final wet sand before I paint it. I'm SERIOUSLY considering going with a Sunrise Red Enamel. I have quite a few cans laying around the garage. A few of my buddies want me to just clear over the sanded parts, which I'm NOT a fan of however different it may be.

I had considered flat black with some gloss for accent on the tank also.

But I'm leaning towards red.

List of things to fix, do, or tinker with.

1. Rebuild Petcock and Verify Fuel Lines are Correct
2. Sand, Prep, and Paint the Bike
3. Install Smog Block-Off Plates & Remove EGR System
4. Trace Wire Harness and Verify Connections (Tach)
5. Install New Brake and Clutch Levers
6. Install New Air Filter

Welcome to the site! Very nice find. You have very good base to build on from the looks of it. The only thing I would suggest is making sure the tank is squeaky clean on the inside and out before painting. I would use some kind of acid on the inside of the tank (vinegar, phosphoric, oxalic, etc..) to clean it out properly. The Oxalic acid seems to be the acid of choice around here. You may find you that you will develop some more pin holes. Which is a good thing. Better to deal with them now than after the hard work and cost of painting it. After all, even a rattle can paint job can cost up to a $100.00 if done properly (2k primer, filler primer, base color, 2k urethane clear, sanding material, etc). Check out OMR's painting documentation in the file base of this site. It's an excellent guide. His results speak for themselves. I would strip the tank to bare metal before painting. I used Aircraft remover which I purchased from Walmart for around $5.00. This is all added labor and time, but well worth the effort. Good luck,

Joe

I'll second what KZJOE900 said^^^.I don't know about the KZ but GS petcock rebuild kits are notorious for failing.,usually better to spend a few more bucks to get a new one.I'd be thinking new brake lines to.The original line are long overdue for replacement.I get SS lines,have a guy I use but don't want to run afoul of the rules here.

You are off to a good start. I would think about coating the inside of the tank before you paint it. The local radiator guy here in Cumming has done a few for me but you could easily do it yourself. Stay away from Kreem. I have used used Redkote with good results.
As for paint the original firecracker red was hard to beat. If I do another GPz I'll paint it the stock colors.
You can get the decals at Reproduction gaskets but they are not cheap and must be clearcoated.

Good luck,
Jim

ThatGPzGuy wrote: You can get the decals at Reproduction gaskets but they are not cheap and must be clearcoated.
Jim

Just checked at Diablo Cycles(the new name for Reproduction Decals) and the only have GPz550 decals left,none 750's at all let alone the 82

I have two GPz750 side cover emblems in good shape I can send you for shipping.

baldy110 wrote: I have two GPz750 side cover emblems in good shape I can send you for shipping.

NO way! That would be fantastic! I haven't been able to find any that were reasonably priced. PM inc.

GKBO wrote:

ThatGPzGuy wrote: You can get the decals at Reproduction gaskets but they are not cheap and must be clearcoated.
Jim

Just checked at Diablo Cycles(the new name for Reproduction Decals) and the only have GPz550 decals left,none 750's at all let alone the 82

Well if Baldy has the side emblems I'd be happy with just getting some black Kawasaki decals for the tank. Or leaving it just badged with the side covers! (I think that would look pretty stellar.)

Anyway... so today was a VERY busy day. I wish I had seen your post ThatGPzGuy, who's your radiator guy? I'd be very interested in getting an idea of how much it would cost me, most kits I see with with acid bath + coat run about $75-80. Even though I just started painting the bike today I'd be interested in getting the tank coated and just repainting if need be.

I'm about to update with about a dozen pictures. So stay tuned.

Okay so this weekend consisted of a LOT of work on the bike and time spent with my Pop's. Good quality father-son time is something I don't get much anymore so this was a fantastic weekend.

I proceeded to remove the (tie down?) hooks on the rear of the frame and took my grinder to it until it was smooth. I then started to polish the front rim, used some Quad - 0 steel wool with some rubbing compound to get an idea of what it would take to make them shine. **Also notice in this pic that I cleaned up the engine a bit... I wanted a little shine in all that black mess.**




Couple Pics of the tank after I managed to finally get through the paint.






After spraying the tank with some good quality primer.






After priming the tank Pop's went ahead and started to fill in the mess that was the badge area.



Started on the rest!







Next... the decision on color was made.

The picture quality drops quickly as it was pretty dark when I took the final shots. I will do the obligatory before and after shot in front of the garage so we can compare after I'm finished!

I've always loved burnt orange. I've found that either people LOVE it or they have a deep seated loathing for the color and absolutely detest it. Well if you hate it, at least admire the time and work I put into this! I'm pretty proud so far.












Now I just threw on a few pieces after they dried to get an idea of how it will look. Below are a few shots of my Dad and one of my best friends, Ashley, helping me apply paint stripper to the front faring and windshield. NOTE: I had not needed to bust out stripper yet, however the front piece was a COMPLETELY different story. There were literally 7 THICK coats of different color paint before I finally got down to the firecracker red and as of right now it's sitting on a towel covered in a melted goo. I'm going to deal with it later, it's quite the messy nightmare.

The windshield was horrible. After my Pops stripped off all the paint (it took him an hour) he got down to a cracked layer of something he couldn't identify... I suggested it was Tint, and Ashley suggested a heat gun, which confirmed our suspicion. I will end up having to replace it eventually. For now I think I will just paint it black.