Painting carbs

Has anyone ever tried this? I cleaned my carbs using the lemon juice/vinegar/water method. I wanted them to look good, but to lazy to polish them. Masking them was a PITA, but I think the result is woth it. I used the new dupli-color metalcast paint, it's fuel, oil, and heat resistant to 500F. I polished the float bowls and tops. the carbs look much better than the picture, looks like they are candy coated. What do you guys think?

Post edited by: snorules, at: 2007/05/22 14:55

Here is the picture

lets see what they look like after a few miles;)

wireman is right and I also would like to see what they look like after they have been on the bike and heated up for a while...they look interesting now:)

We charge an addition $50 during the rebuild process to strip painted carbs... I will NOT repaint them as it isn't durable. The painted black Mikuni carbs; like the Spectre and GPz and a couple other models were painted after the assembly was all put together... some guy took them out and hit them with rattle can paint... note the inside between 2 & 3 carbs are never painted. Problem is, that they get paint drooling down all the outside threaded holes making removal of screws and such a nightmare. The good news is that the paint falls off readily. Keihin painted carbs, on the other hand, like those off a GPz900 (mid-80s vintage) are POWDER COATED... this stuff has to be removed generally because it is all dinged up but is MUUUUUCH harder to remove... carb dip doesn't soften it. It is easier just to touch those carbs up which we do AFTER tuning/testing since the paint will just get nicked up otherwise.

Used the same stuff but black, last year:(...gonna clean/polish up a spair pair of bodies and go back to bare. Lots of chips and peel.:pinch:

I can't wait to get the bike back on the road, I'm waiting for some new coils (2-3 coil was bad). I figure if the paint doesn't hold up, I'm only out $10 for the paint and some elbow grease to strip them back down. Just wanted to try it, if it works and holds up it will look cool. The paint said it withstands temps to 500F, and is oil and gas resistant, so maybe.

del

I disagree about the paint not being durable. I painted my 28's with high temp gloss black a few years ago. They held up very well, no peeling or chiping. I sandblasted them and cleaned them very well before painting them so maybe that made a difference. The sandblasting makes the surface rough and gives the paint something to stick to. I took swapped them for a set of 34's which I will be painting as well. If someone says that the carbs will peel then they just don't know how to prep and paint very well. Obviously if the carbs leak then the paint will be ruined eventually.

I cleaned them well using the lemon juice/vinegar/water/boiling method, and they looked like they were sandblasted when I took them out. I think the acid in the mixture etched them, so the paint should have a good surface to adhere to. I did't bake them yet, but I did let them sit out in direct sun (it was 96 yesterday)so hopefully the pait is cured somewhat. I have to wait for a day when to wife is not home to put them in the oven.