Another tank painting thread!

[1978GS750E]

Just started the paint job on my 1978 GS750E. Tank was in pretty good shape for being 40 years old but wanted to make it nice. Has some surface rust where the original sticker was left on below the gas cap, behind the right side emblem and a few places that were scratched. Here is a pic of it after about an hour with 100 grit on my random orbital sander. I have read the other active post related to this and am just looking for any suggestions on what brands of paint and clear to buy, do I need to skim coat it, and anything else that anyone that has done this has to add. Still have a lot of hand sanding to do but time is at a premium right now. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[1978GS750E]

Another pic.

Another pic.

Another pic of the right side.

 

[1978GS750E]

Another pic.

Another pic.

And one more picture.

 

[Nessism]

I'd get the paint off the flange along the bottom of the tank to make sure there is no corrosion. And clean out the groove around the tank badges as well (a wire wheel may help). Some phosphoric acid, Kleenstrip Etch and Prep from Home Depot, will eat off any surface rust, such as in the pitting for that old sticker on top.

After you get that done I'd fill any obvious dents with body filler and level. Then hit the tank with epoxy primer. If you can see more dents get busy and fix them. You can do a guide coat and sand that off to find dents if that helps you but don't sand through the epoxy. Some guys like to move to a fill primer for the entire tank after the epoxy primer because it will fill low spots and allow you to flatten the surface. Personally, I don't like to do that except in localized spots as needed. Reason being I like the film thickness to be thin, not thick. The thicker the paint the more chip prone the paint job will be.

Last tank I painted I used Transtar epoxy primer and House of Kolor base and clear. They only sell the low VOC stuff in my area and the clear was okay, not as good as the older stuff in my opinion. Good enough though.

 

[1978GS750E]

Thanks for the info Nessism. I haven't started hand sanding the edges and gas cap area yet. Anyone have any experience with the Eastwood line of primers and paints? Seems like they have a wide selection and I've heard good things about their 2K products. I really do not want to use my spray gun if I can avoid it as I'm not that comfortable with it. Really do not want to start mixing paints and hardeners. That's why Eastwood aerosols look inviting, if they work. I only want to do this once if possible!

 

[Guest]

Eastwood is only a few miles from me, so I have bought stuff there, over the years. I have used their products, including the rust bonding aerosols, with good results.

 

[1978GS750E]

Slowly making progress.....

Slowly making progress.....

Finally had some time and got the first coat of self-etching primer on it. Going to be a few days until I get back at it so it should be good and dry! Think I will wet-sand with 400 and then lay on a guide coat of primer to see if any more low spots show themselves.

 

[RustyTank]

Subscribed
I get the impression this thread is gonna teach me a thing er two.

 

[1978GS750E]

Finally some color!

Finally some color!

Finally got the second coat of primer on and wet sanded it with 400 grit this morning. Then put the first coat of color on it. Humidity was very high so it has a lot of orange peel, but it is the first of three coats. Going to wait 48 hours to cure and wet sand with 600 and spray another coat. Hope to get my decals this week! Here is what the first color coat looks like.

 

[RustyTank]

Did you end up putting on a guide coat? I'd never heard of that, had to look it up.

 

[1978GS750E]

Yeah, I put on a guide coat and wet sanded it. Forgot to take any pictures of it. It really seemed to smooth out any small scratches in the few spots of putty that I used. Overall the tank was in good shape, just needed some scratches fixed and a re-fresh! Waiting on paint to cure before wet sanding and adding more color. Ordered some 2K clear yesterday and I hope to be finished in a couple of weeks.

 

[1978GS750E]

Anyone know of a supplier for the tail section decals for a 78 GS 750E? I bought a complete set off of ebay but the tail section decals are not the right ones. Sent them a message but no response yet???

 

[Nessism]

Have you tried these guys?
https://www.diablocycle.com/

 

[1978GS750E]

Thanks! Those are exactly what I need. Now, on to returning the other ones!

 

[1978GS750E]

Making slow progress!

Making slow progress!

Finally got to the polishing stage! Here is a pic with about an hours worth of polishing done to my tank. Got to get some more supplies before I can complete the color-coat polish, then on to the initial clearcoat before decals. Looks to be another 7-10 days before the correct decals get here, so I have some time. I'm happy so far with the rattle-can paint job!

 

[1978GS750E]

Color coat polishing complete!

Color coat polishing complete!

Finished with the color coat polishing. Waiting on the correct decals to arrive, and for the paint to cure for the 7 days that the decal maker recommends, before putting them on. So far, I have to say this is a lot of work, but will be worth it if it continues looking this good after the decals and clear!

 

[nvr2old]

Your parts look real nice, but I'm wondering why you polished the paint before applying decals and then clear coats. The paint should actually have a 600 finish on it before putting the decals on and then the clear followed by the final polishing process. The clear won't stick to an un-sanded (polished) surface. Maybe I mis-understood what you're saying.

 

[Nessism]

I agree with Larry; you don't want a polished surface for the next stages.

I like to use gray scotchbrite after the first clear layers to flatten the paint and prep for decals and final clear. The polish stage is for after the final clear is applied.

 

[1978GS750E]

Maybe I got some bad info???? The decal manufacturer said to polish the black, put on a very light coat of 2K clear, apply the decals, then finish clear with 3 progressively heavier coats???

Would I be better to wet-sand the tank with 600 before applying the decals directly on top of the black and then clearing the tank?

As you can tell, this is my first attempt doing a tank! Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Nessism]

What I do is: strip parts down to bare metal, body work, prime, base, clear, gray scotchbrite, apply decals, more clear, polish as needed.

There are photos of this process in my KZ build thread starting with post 247...