Restoring the shine to my 1980 GS860G

[SleepyC]

Well, it's time to tear the 1980 GS850G down and make it all nice-nice.
I did a mock up with the Emgo Fairing and now it's disassemble and paint time.
I have to paint now before winter as I do not have a heated garage. I can polish metal and do mechanicals in the garage with my small heater but painting needs done NOW!!

I'm also rebuilding the forks and painting the bottoms and will clean up the motor and such over the winter.
Mechanically it's great so this will be an all cosmetic re-do.
At only 9600 miles on the old clock she deserves the redo and didn;t look too shabby to start with.

I may do a 4 into 1 at somepoint, but its running nicely and I don;t want to have to play the jet game...
Oh well here it is:

Mock up:







It will eventually look like this (but with brighter metallic silver)


And all of this so it can sit next to it's way more attractive sister.

[SleepyC]

Lots of fun this weekend! Got all parts 2k primed and wet sanded and even shot the first layer of base color!

[ddaniels]

Looking good. Keep us updated.

[Steve]

You going to paint the engine black?

It would look sharp against the silver bodywork.

[SleepyC]

Ended up doing a 100o grit color sand, more paint, a 1200 grit color sand and more paint and a 1500 grit color sand and more paint.
Laid the graphics yesterday (not shown) and if weather is good, I'll clear coat x 5 coats this weekend with some 2K clear.

[SleepyC]

You going to paint the engine black?

It would look sharp against the silver bodywork.

This may happen. This motor has the clear rubbed off in several locations, so I either spend all winter with some sanding and buffing pads on a dremel, or I clean it and use some black engine paint.
That very well may happen.
Great suggestion.

[SleepyC]

Four 2k clear coats down. Gonna let cure a few days. Wet sand with 1500 grit and then 2 more coats of 2k clear. Then wet sand with 1800 and polish. It's not perfect but it looks way better!

[Steve]

Not seeing any pictures. I'm viewing this at work, might be a firewall thing.

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[Baatfam]

Not seeing any pictures. I'm viewing this at work, might be a firewall thing.

.

Nope. Can't see 'em at my home.

[2BRacing]

Not seeing any pictures. I'm viewing this at work, might be a firewall thing.

.

I cannot see the pictures in posts #5 and #7 either. Could see those in posts #1 and #2.

[SleepyC]

Interesting... stand by

[SleepyC]

This work?
Again, it;s not perfect and I'm not done yet.. wet sand and 2 more coats of clear then sand and polish.
I have a little bit of "striping' in the sparkle on the top of the tank, but I'm the only one who seems to notice...
Best i could do as I don;t have a compressor or any paint guns any more so it's all duplicolor and 2K clear from Spraymax.
And about 20000000 hours of wet sanding. HAHAH

[Rich82GS750TZ]

That works. I see pics. Very nice! Definitely not your typical rattle-can DIY paint job. You obviously know what you're doing.

[SleepyC]

That works. I see pics. Very nice! Definitely not your typical rattle-can DIY paint job. You obviously know what you're doing.

Thanks, I'm flattered. I used to paint with a gun and compressor. But I no longer have those tools so I resorted to using rattle bombs. BUT if you use a solid primer and a decent paint. (Dupli-color automotive paint) works very nicely. And then wet color sand between sessions you can get good results. But the big thing that can make most paint jobs look awesome and really protect your hard work is the 2K clear. The 2K means the can has a second dealio at the bottom that you smash and it releases a hardener into the paint. So it is REAL 2 part auto paint. This seals your tank and gasoline etc won't mar or stain your paint job. Another trick is to mix up a little JB weld and "paint it" around the gas nozzel creating a sealed barrier in between your metal of the gas fill neck and your paint work. I have seen 20 coat masterpiece paint jobs get ruined by gas sneaking UNDER the paint by the hole.

But like any job the prep is everything.. Wet Color sanding between coats and then a final buffing really makes a difference.


I hope to get my final sanding and clear coats done this weekend... can not wait!!

[SleepyC]

And she's back together...
Still need to polish motor and clean up the rest of the bike, but pretty stoked on how the paint turned out.