Repainting fuel tank.. tips needed

[victorgallas]

Hey,

I am getting almost done restoring my 1985 GS550ES and now I am trying to fix the paint on the fuel tank.
Whoever owned the bike before did a awfull job to repair a dent using some body filler that cracked and so I had to peel it all out and bring it down to bare metal to put new bondo.

Because of money constrains and time, I decided to use the dupli color spray paints available at auto zone. I know its not the right stuff, but its what i can do at the moment. My plan is to send the fuel tank to a professional painter in the future to have it redone.

What I would like to know is some tips about the painting process.
Starting with a clean bare metal surface, I am planning to do a primer, then paint and then the clear coat.
Do I need to do a wet sanding in between coats? Or is wet sanding only recommended after applying the clear coat?

Any tips will be appreciate it. I never done a full paint from the bare metal..

Thanks

Victor

 

[cowboyup3371]

Get the etching primer on there first to prepare it and then start with several coats of the sandable primer until you are sure it is smooth. Don't go super heavy with the bondo either though.

Find my project thread (81 550T in Co Sprgs) as there's a lot of good advice from others in there. However, I will be the first to say my job turned out to be a 10 foot bike (it looks good from 10 feet away, any closer and it sucks).

 

[sachsaca]

I have gone through the same process and have limited funds. Use the self etching, it makes a good bond to the tank as an initial base coat. Prep is the key word here, take your time, be patient. start out with 220 grit. Prime, let dry, sand smooth. I used gray then red, you will see the high and low spot that need filling in to get that smooth finish you so desire. I spent alot of time here getting it smooth, when I was finished I did my last few sanding with 400 to get it real smooth, 220 left grit lines that came through the paint in the finished product. I had to resand and repaint. 400 was just right. Wet sand in between each coat primer. It saves your paper and stops it from clogging.
Use Enamel it's harder than laquer, I had a beautiful laquer paint job but as a member said it's soft. It chipped quickly so I had to redo all of my painting.
Laquer -

Looks good but very soft
Enamel, black paint with rim paint as the top. All is duplicolor
You can see the tape line under the gary pinstrip, it's no longer there.

I plan on using this to get a clear coat on it. It is a two part so it gets good and hard http://www.repaintsupply.com/pd_2_part_2k_aerosol.cfm.
Good luck. be patient, it's all in the prep work. As you paint you can see it lay on the tank, this will regulate the speed of your hand as you spray.
Don't paint on humid days it will cause the paint to FOG badly, trust me on this.

 

[tkent02]

Here's a thread about the last one I painted here in my back yard, using Duplicolor Paint Shop paint, $12 Harbor Fright spray gun, old slow compressor, and a small container of two part automotive urethane clear coat. The highest cost was probably the sandpaper. Quite a bit of preparation went into it. It doesn't take any special skills at this level, just time and effort.
Skip forward to where the painting starts.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=167956&highlight=650G