tank ruined -rattle can anybody

hi all -last night discovered a disaster of great magnitude my son left a can of used brake fluid on the shelf over my 650-you can guess what happened next -it some how tipped and ate up my gas tank paint-im already pondering new colors-but its going to have to be a rattle can job[money is scary tight]im thinking lime green or as close as i can get to kawasaki green as i can get ,as i said im on a budget so can i use the paint available at say wall mart and such-i got plenty of time[laid off work]but i never painted my bike myself before -would apreciate any input-most of the tank paint came right off but i have to paint the tail and the side covers too-what is the best way to remove the paint from the plastics-do i need to re prime-can i paint over the paint underneeth -sorry for so many questions but i would like it to come out ok thanks mike......

No need to remove the paint on the tail and sides if it's stock paint. Just wet sand with 600 till smooth. The tank should be primed with etching primer over the bare metal then sand able primer.After the primer is dry wet sand with 600 and paint away.

Mark

Are you on the Emerald Isle or in the USA?
Just wondering what kind of products are available....

I would think that you'd want to use a plastic adhesion promoter or a plastic primer or something... something that's intended to flex.

Here's a good rattle-can how-to... Harley Paintin' For the Under-funded and Under-skilled .
It's easy to read & I used it to redo a body set w DupliColor Truck/Van/Suv acrylic lacquer. The stock paint was tough, so I didn't bother going down to bare metal. Enamels may give different results... not sure. Lacquer responds well to wet-sanding.
Note: rattle-can paints are not fuel proof at all.
For fuel resistance 2k clearcoats are available in rattlecans, but pricy.

Other articles from the ChuckHawks.com website....

im origanly from ireland but been here in vegas for 20 years mike,,,,

I haven't had much opportunity recently to discuss paint which I'm sure guys that have been here miss greatly. If you have stock paint and the tank is ruined, but the rest of the paint is good, the best thing to do is be patient and a good used tank will pop up on ebay and you're plug and go. No use sanding and ruining the rest of your good paintwork. If your motorcycle is already repaint, by all means sand and repaint the whole thing. Walmart spray can will be good as any.

yeah .unfortunatly i have been building this bike for about 9 months and had a custom paint job [midnight blue metalic]done by a guy i traded a tune up for his bike for the paint on craigslist -so no it doesnt have origanal paint -but i was wondering what type of rattle can paint to use -does it have to be automotive-or will any paint with a good few coats of clear coat over it work -any paticular clear coat ?i would love to spend the money for the best stuff but thats not an option and i really need something to keep me busy .anyway thanks for all the help everybody -sanding and prep srtarts tomorrow....mike

No brainer...

Strip it, Prep it, Dupli-Color it & 2 part clear and she'll hold up to GAS... She'll look good or better then new...

OMR

Should help for what your looking at....

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_docman&...d&gid=432&Itemid=108

Same principal applies...
kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_docman&...d&gid=455&Itemid=108

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought a rattle can job could come out like OMR's did. That's proof enough for me that it can be done properly

Listen to what Dave tells you and follow it. You'll have a bike as pretty as his....

From that one Harley article "OK, the rule is 95% of your time is spent in prep and 5% in painting"

Believe it

Larry C

My husband just redid my tank. It came out A-MA-ZING!! IMO!

We stripped off all old paint, treated the rust, sanded, bondo work over dents that we couldn't see with the paint on and wehere the Kawasaki emblems were, sanded some more. Few coats of primer, more sanding, then paint (satin red for me purchased at Lowes) then wet sanding between coats and "baking" paint on with a space heater between coats, then after about 4-5 good coats of satin red, topped with a flat clear coat, more wet sanding and "baking here as well! Then a sweet checkered striping up the middle!
I get lots of looks and comments on the paint job everywhere I take her! You can do a sweet job witha rattle can if you just take your time and do it right! Good luck!

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...w&catid=11&id=360392

Rae