Mystery paint problem! Help needed!

[t3rmin]

Can you try heating them and reshaping rather than fill and sand? BE CAREFUL.

Yeah I tried that while they were still soft. I could manipilate the plastic all I wanted but it wouldn't stay that way. Unless I had some kind of a mold to keep it in place while it hardened I don't think that would work.

I'm in the process right now of bondoing them and so far it's turning out well. Once I get some paint on them hopefully I can forget it ever happened. :|

 

[duaneage]

I'm painting my tank and sidecovers with a dark red Rustoleum.

I would never use rustoleum for primer. There are better sandable primers out ther and rustoleum is not one of them. I used duplicolor grey sandable primer, it had a good finish, Bondo makes a pretty good one two. The rustoleum is OK for painting rusty metal but not fine work like this.

The primer is the most important step IMHO since this is where you get a smooth base for the top coats. Primer can help smooth some imperfections out but not all of them. Remember, paint will not hide problems, it will make them more obvious.

 

[Jethro]

The catalyzed paints are a color base, a thinnner (assuming you are going to spray it) and a hardener, the hardener is what gives it either a matte or glossy finish. Rattle-can paints do harden eventually, but even then they never get as hard or adhere as well as the two part systems. They will resist gas and other volitile stuff, but won't be as durable against chips, dings and scratching.

I bought enough Dupont Imron color base, thinner and hardener to paint an entire bike for about $175. A paint gun is cheap, about $45 at the Depot. If you go through all the prep work, why not spend $250 to at least have a good paint on there?

My buddy streetfightered his ZRX and rattle can painted it in a flat black. If I were going to use rattle cans, this is how I would go too. The flat black actually looks pretty good, and touch up after the fact is a 30 second job.

 

[Mike_H]

Your problem with the side covers may have just been the paint. I noticed while using Chemical Stirper on my side covers that it softened the plastic quite a bit. The Rustoleum Primer may have done the same thing, and since it sat, changed the shape of your covers....

 

[t3rmin]

Your problem with the side covers may have just been the paint. I noticed while using Chemical Stirper on my side covers that it softened the plastic quite a bit. The Rustoleum Primer may have done the same thing, and since it sat, changed the shape of your covers....

Naw, I definitely melted it with the heat lamp! ;-) The smell of burning plastic and sidecovers so hot you could hardly touch them is forever burnt into my mind.