What not to use to clean your tank

Two summers ago I prepped, primed, color coated until it matched my helmet and clear coated it with gas proof paint. It was beautiful. I made a lot of mistakes like, painting in the shed with the A/C on a humid day, opened the door and watched in horror as my color coat turned cloudy. Wet sanded it and painted it again in my daughter's spare room. Dust and SHT in the paint, washed out the shed, let it dry,waited for a dry day, finished the color and clear coat. I let it sit for 24 hours. It's done. Yeah some minute specks here and there but not noticeable, good enough. Proudly I took off my spare tank and put on my new beauty. God it looked good. Winter rolled around and I went to my daughter's for Xmas. They have a nice garage so I decided to clean and polish the bike. There was some grime on the tank so without thinking I used some glass cleaner. The next morning cracks started appearing, then big flakes of paint started coming off. I know you aren't supposed to use glass cleaner on plastics and that's exactly what I did. KICK KICK KICK. Expletives deleted.
So now I have my spare tank on the bike and I will paint it. I'll touch up this one to use while I do it all over again. SHT.
Steve

I am about 95% sure that you cleaning the tank with window glass cleaner did not do this.
It looks much more like simple adhesion, expansion, contraction and shrinkage problem related stuff to me.

It was great until I used that crap. All this happened over night.
Steve

I take that back. It didn't all happen overnight. The cracks started and some chipping, then big flakes. When it got to this point, it stopped. It might be all the above. Who knows. Pissed me off though. I'll try again.
Steve

What did you prime it with? If the paint and primer are not compatable stuff happens.

It was the same brand primer as the paint. It might have been too thick. Ether way it was fine until I used the glass cleaner. It was very cold too. The tank was 3/4 full. Live and learn.
Steve

I've been so disgusted with I let it sit outside for a over a year. Hasn't gotten any worse so I started sanding the bad areas. Some hidden parts became apparent as I went along. Rather than stripping this thing all the way down, I'll just squirt come color on it, put it on the bike and spend some quality time on the other tank. This is the original Z1 tank. The other tank came off a 76 KZ 900 I traded my first F 250 for. It was wrecked, the frame was bent but it had low miles. My 71 Ford was used up and DOA. The Z1 was the same so I cannibalized the KZ and got Bossie up again. Doug the thug as we called him took my cab and bed and put them on a stolen FWD rolling frame. He got busted and lost the truck. :woohoo: I rode Bossie until the wreck in 86.
The KZ 900's were supposed to have smaller tanks? I can't tell the difference.
Steve

Using self-etching primer on the bare metal I hope. Paint can be the same brand but different, Lacquer and enamel do not mix. Single stage and two stage paint do not play well together. So if you use 2K clear (chemical resistant) will not play nice with enamel. Most rattle can paint is enamel. There are a couple of options for 2 stage in a can. You can have a paint shop mix it and put it in a can or you can get a kit from Home Depot that allows you to mix paint in a glass jar and screw on an areal propellant and spray it on. They work just as well as a rattle can. Hope this helps. I am not a painter but did do a lot of research on painting a few months ago.

If I really wanted to do it right, I'd buy a quart of real paint. I've been painting my and others bikes for years. I've painted cars trucks and a CJ Jeep in a booth and in the Jeeps case in a booth I set up in a car port with plastic and a exhaust fan. It was supposed to be bronze but looked like gold. Too flashy but Ron loved it. I know about how some paints can react to each other. You have a good point.
Steve

missionkz wrote: I am about 95% sure that you cleaning the tank with window glass cleaner did not do this.
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Me too. I painted cars for money way back in the stone age and I have NEVER heard ammonia based cleaners could do that. Acetone (brake cleaner) could attack the paint but it would make the surface look cloudy and dull, it would not cause it to crack off.

I wonder if one or more of the products you used (primer, paint, or clearcoat) had a chemical incompatibility?

swest wrote: If I really wanted to do it right, I'd buy a quart of real paint. I've been painting my and others bikes for years. I've painted cars trucks and a CJ Jeep in a booth and in the Jeeps case in a booth I set up in a car port with plastic and a exhaust fan. Steve

You mean the rattle can paint at Pep Boys or similar? I think that is still some kind of acrylic lacquer or similar type product.

You're right. I've done it both ways. As I dug deeper it is obvious the primer and paint seperated somehow. Could be there were too many coats. Being cold and using glass cleaner plus the part that cracked had no gas in it created a condition that led to this reaction. I never had this happen before. I also never had this many coats before ether. Like I said, I had a problem with humidity, wet sanded and coated over it again. Perhaps I should have waited longer before I clear coated it. It did say in the directions to apply the clear coat no longer than 20 minutes after the final coat or wait for a few days for it to fully cure . Good thing I have two tanks. :whistle:
Steve