And finally, Wookie's 82 begins !

MFP-Joe wrote:

Hi Guy,
I took the time today to read through your entire build report. I'm extremely impressed by your craftsmanship and your design ideas. I particularly liked the design of the side covers. Great work on the technology, modifications, and design! This will be a real showstopper. Go on this way, ...and i`ll repeat: Phantastic work!

 

Thanks Joe, high praise indeed. There are a lot of firsts for me in this build (using a metal lathe, working with plastics etc) I think in the main it comes down to having an idea and going for it without being scared of it going wrong (most mistakes are recoverable)

Yes, Guy, I completely agree with you, you just have to tackle the things you have in mind, the rest is mostly learning by doing, whenever i´ve had some ideas, i just ry to find a solution to fix it.

So for the last couple of days I have been pushing on with getting ready for paint (was going to di it last but everything else has taken so long the weather will be changing soon and it will be too cold) one job I have been putting off was the "manual tap" conversion which is now done. Tomorrow will be POR15 time. I know there are differing views on tank liners but with the amount of welding I have done with the petcock and the filler there is a possibility of a "pin hole" in a weld somewhere and I really don't want the paint to start pickling from fuel vapour 

Hey Guy,
Forgive me for commenting if you are well versed on the POR-15 coating process, but just wanted to share a thought on how to get good results, in case you haven't done it before.

It goes without saying that you want to derust to the extent possible.  Swish around the paint, and coat all surfaces, focusing on the backbone hump and top, then dump out the excess.  Thing I've noticed, is that even after dumping out all you can, there will still be a good bit of paint remaining in the tank.  What I do is keep the puddle moving, until it hardens up.  It will take about 30 minutes.  During that time, you can get two extra coats on the metal.  The first coat will start to harden, so when you go back over it, you will deposit another layer.  In the end, you will have a really nice thick coating inside the tank.  Por-15 is good stuff!  

Thanks Ed, I’m a POR virgin so this advice is pure gold

Well "it's happening" !! the POR-15 seems to have gone OK best I can tell (thanks Ed) now the primer is on so over the next couple of days I hope the "paint gods" are smiling on me. Never done multiple colours or used "water-based" paint (only ever used cellulose) so who knows what will happen ?

Well, love it or hate it the colour is on this has been the most stressful part of the build so far. I had a clear vision of what I wanted the bike to be but when it came to colour I can't count how many times I changed my mind. I knew I didn't one a single colour but when it came to graphics most of my ideas just wouldn't have worked. Because of the heights of the nose cone and seat unit in relation to the tank trying to come up with something the flowed wasn't working for me. In the end I went with Howards suggestion of a scheme from a "Z900rs cafe" (just changed the colours and layout slightly.
) and so the journey began 
Day 1: laid on the white base coat and stood back to admire my handywork - it was about now that it started "running" like a bastard all over the place !!! I'm sure this was a combination of my heavy handed novice painter skills but also, this is water based paint and it pissed with rain all week. For water based to dry it needs air flow, in my garage that means propping the door open a little (not ideal when it's raining and you want low humidity)
Day 2: flatted out the runs from day 1 and then I had to go to an open day at my grandsons new college so no time to repaint the white. I did however go to my daughters house and reclaim my de-humidifier.
Day 3: Dehumidifier and heater on, dialled down the gun and re-shot the white - success
Day 4: many hours of masking then laid down the champagne gold line between the white and the anthracite grey. masked the gold line and laid down the grey (including a "drop coat" to even the metallic") Left it for an hour and removed the masking (didn't want to leave the tape on overnight) - motherf*^@ker - looks like I was impatient when masking the gold as some lifted with the tape !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 5: More masking and laid down the Porsche orange - peeled the tape and all good. Because of the delays I need to wait until the weekend to shoot the 2K clear but that gives me time to do some remedial work on the gold stripe. I think in hindsight going for a four colour base with my limited experience, the weather etc was maybe "foolish" but hey "what's the worst that can happen ?" The base has a matt finish so hopefully when the clear goes on it should pop. I don't like waiting so long to lay down the clear but I am back at work now and the evenings are too cold (not leaving an electric heater on in the garage overnight)





 

..and I repeat myself when I say: You have many talents, Guy!
..based on your designed side panels, I had already suspected that you had taken your cue from the side panels of the RS900.
n any case, really good work!! Thumbs up!!!

Haven't been on the forum in some time.  Really nice to see your progress.  Paint is looking sharp!

Wow, superb! It reminds me of the colors on my GPZ900, Ebony - Red Firecracker. 👍✌️

I have broken my "2K cherry" today , clear is on and I am really happy. There are a few "dust nibs" in it which I guess is to be expected painting in a shed but I will sand and buff them out once it is fully dried. Is it perfect ? - no it isn't but I think for a "$250" paint job applied in a shed by a novice it's acceptable to me for a rider (this is no show pony) I'm not convinced that if I had outsourced it to a professional that it would be $1k better ? I'll let you guys be the judge

To me, it looks fantastic in the pictures!...And only you can decide whether you're happy with it or not! I always think: if you're satisfied with something you made yourself, that's satisfying enough, or you have to spend a lot more money and have it done professionally!
(Or another more expensive option is to practice until you're perfect

You can be proud of your work, Guy!!!