Tank and Side Cover Repaint

Oh....forgot to ask....none of my (our) business.....but why wife got the project?? She lose the coin toss? Inquiring minds want to know....

Sorry, it was not spot filler I was thinking of, it is Bondo Glazing and spot putty? Is it any good, or should I send it packing. Where can I find the good stuff you mentioned?

I dont have any air tools at the moment. Doing this the old fashioned way. All by hand.

Yes I was talking about the guidecoats. Sorry again wasnt to clear there.

As for the primer right at this moment I am using rattle cans :whistle: :whistle:

If I missed anything let me know.


Indykaw77 I will let hubby answer that one

Missy

That's a good write up, complete with pictures.

There are 2 things I want to make clear though.

#1 he suggested that it is ok, should you use more than the 1/4" reccomendation of bodyfiller.

no... I can tell you what milo is. milo is a flat rate technician. sure, he's good, I can tell by the pictures, but at the same time, he's cheating on doing metalwork, because he can make more money, on a flat rate pay scale. Unless you are a flat rate technician with total disregard to your customer's car, then don't exceed the reccomended dosage. I'm sure if cars were babies and bodyfiller was tylenol, milo would have killed several babies with liver failure.

#2 I don't know which school is teaching this "Wetsand the filler" technique, but their integrity should be questioned. Again, if cars were babies and bodyfiller was a boat with holes in the bottom, milo would have drown many babies.

don't be a milo in those two situations. he uses visual more than he uses hands to "see" if a piece is straight. I have encountered bodymen like this, and again, it's all about where you learned your trade, and who taught him. Common sense gets thrown out the window when people find a faster way to get a perfectly straight panel everytime. If I were hiring a bodyman, and milo applied, I think I'd pass, but with respect to the fact he has enough knowledge to probably start his own bodyshop, where his techniques wouldn't hurt my reputation for quality after the job is done. Just because something has a 3 year warranty does not give it the right to fail in 37 months. I'm sure most, if not all of you, agree with me on that.


I'll tell you what, I will save the write up though. milo did a great job, and until I get the time to photograph every step of the process of restoring and painting a motorcycle gas tank, I'll agree with Indykaw, that milo has got a good technique to learn from.

nice work on finding that link.

John, I believe my fingers more than my eyes. Is that what you're saying, too? Because I like to paint in black (great coverage, but shows every little goof if you don't use clearcoat) I've come to disregard even what I see during wetsanding, until i see it dry, and feel it, too. Does that check with you?

I too was taught to think of "bondo" as a sponge.....it WILL suck up moisture. Guess I shoulda read more closely.
Anyways......I ALWAYS primer any repair before wetsanding for paint prep. Like John said...its all in who taught ya. But back when I cut my teeth, it was acrylic laquer or acrylic enamel w/hardener.
I would be curious as to others' techniques re: 2nd coat of filler.......do entire repair area or just the lo spots. Me, I guide coat spray each coat of filler with diff color and apply 2nd coats over entire area....just curious as to others.....
p.s.......i STILL wanna know how/why wife got this project?????????:S

Missy,
is the bondo glazing a 2 part system? is it mixed like the body filler? if so, then yes, that's good, it is a polyester resin based glazing.

The stuff that milo talks about, he calls "bondo honey" or filler honey... That's actually just a big can of polyester resin(not the same as fiberglass resin), to add to the bondo to make it thinner. it's good stuff, but I figured it would be a bit overkill for a tank and a couple side covers. If you add up the costs of everything...

1 gallon Evercoat Rage 27
1 quart USC Icing 20
1 quart Evercoat resin 16
1 quart PPG 280
(1 quart PPG 280? not familiar at all, neither is google
we'll say 1 quart PPG NCP271 corrosion resistant primer)
1 quart NCP 271 30
1 half pint NCX 275 15
1 quart W&G remover 10


grand total... $118

That's what you'd pay for everything leading up to the final paint, but not including it. That also doesn't include sandpaper. Figure blowing another $30 on sandpaper, bringing you to a total of $150, of before paint cost. add $110 for the final paint (good but not the best) and you end up with $260 in materials alone. Some people get cranky when they see my prices for paint, but normally I charge about $200-250 to repaint a tank, sidecovers and seat cowl. I charge more if there is extensive bodywork involved, or rust... Figure that out.

Ron,
darn straight about that one!
Even with clearcoat it is still easy to see waves and filled areas with a black paint job. www.cobweb.net/~mvp/5point0.jpg
take another look at that picture. That is a pure black GT Mustang. The hood is a fiberglass hood that was warped when it arrived. I managed to level it, and gap it, without showing any obvious filler marks. In order to get the gap right, I had to essentially widen the cowl out an extra inch on each side, then blend into the hood, and still maintain the lines. There is approx 1.5 gallons of different fillers and fiberglasses in that hood. It's still holding up today. There is some straw dropped on the cowl and the fender in the picture, but otherwise, all the steel on that car is as straight as it was before it was wrecked. If I really wanted to be sick, I could have taken it all a step further and done multiple dry sandings of 2K build primer and glazing. That wasn't nessesary since its my brother's car, and he wrecks alot. I know all about having better sight with my hands, than my eyes, though.

Indykaw,
It depends on what I am doing, as to whether I apply filler to the entire area or not. if I am skimming an entire door, then I usually do put a full coat over everything, but if I just have one nagging low spot, I spot it, and move on. The trick with doing that is to let the stuff harden up all the way, so as not to shave it off unevenly. It's a matter of opinion, or what you feel comfortable with. I can get away with it, so I do it. If I did it and it looked like crappy when I was done, I wouldn't do it, or reccomend it.

indykaw77 wrote:

Oh....forgot to ask....none of my (our) business.....but why wife got the project?? She lose the coin toss? Inquiring minds want to know....

:laugh: No, I just have no desire to do body work. She seems to enjoy it.. I stick to what I know best.. Turning wrenches.

Thanks again everyone for your input!

One thing I do want to point out.. I want it to be flat black.. For now, the primer will work, but eventually I'd like to use a flat paint with clear.

Ben

John,

No this is not a 2 part bondo glazing.
Looks like I will be making a stop at the local PPG store in the morning.

I will post a few more progess pics after I get my camera back tomorrow.


Missy

Heres another set of pictures. She actually worked on it all throught this morning, so I missed a step of pics. The next set will be the final primer(waiting for it to dry). And I forgot to take pics of the side covers






Post edited by: twin_rotor, at: 2005/10/29 14:27

Now that I look at these pics a bit more, they do it no justice. These again were taken between sandings(hense all the deep scratches).

Looking at it now, you can't even tell the emblem mounting plates are there. She did a great job filling the handle bar dent too.. I thought it was going to be the hardest thing to hide due to its size/depth.

Ben

Post edited by: twin_rotor, at: 2005/10/29 14:33

Welp, heres why I don't do body work...




It was sitting percariously drying and I went to take some pics.. As I moved my light, I bumped into it. Took a 3 foot drop and put a dent into the right side(top pic) You can see where the wire it was hanging on during paiting dug into the left side. Luckily it didn't desturb the bondo patch on the left side. I feel really bad.. My wife put alot of time into it and was doing sooo well...

Not all was lost.. Heres a pic of the first painted side cover(she decided to shoot some flat black rattle can on it).


Ben(the clutz)

Post edited by: twin_rotor, at: 2005/10/29 18:32