Gs850 Tank Paint Job

[johnny mac]

I just finished painting my GS80 and I like how it turned out. About a month ago I picked up a tank (mine was badly dented and ugly) on ebay for $20.00! I media blasted the exterior and painted it with rattle can paint after masking off the metal parts that I wanted to keep. After the paint dried, I sanded the raw steel accents and got them nice and shiny. Next I took the entire tank to a local auto body guy and he etched the steel and put three layers of clear on it for just $50.00! (It must be my good looks and charm.) I am pleased with the end result.

[stevelb1]

Mate, that looks so good, well done.

[ggreenfield]

Hmm that's an interesting look. Etching glass I am familiar with but steel? What exactly happens when you etch steel and what purpose does it serve?

I really like the finished result.

BTW - Is the Char-Broil model a rare hard to find Suzuki model?

[Nessism]

Can't really see the color or finish from the photos...but if you like it that's all that matters.

Clear paint over raw steel is not very durable though, hopefully your guy used good clear.

Good luck.

[johnny mac]

Steel etch

The body repair guy that clear coated my tank said he was first going to chemically etch the steel so that there would be better adhesion of the top coat to the raw metal. I hope it works. I'll try to take some better pictures tonight after work- Thanks for the feedback.

[johnny mac]

Sorry, forgot to mention that my side covers had no emblems and I found some char-Broil emblems in the garage. I liked how they look for the time being, but have some real ones coming from ebay soon.

[salty_monk]

Yes, we do that on product sometimes, it gets an acid bath before the clear is applied for better adhesion.

Hopefully you won't have rust issues... it can still happen.

Dan

[beergood]

What's your idea of badly dented and ugly?

I'm looking for an 850 tank to do some tinkering with.

By the way, I love the Char Broil emblems, very nice.

[johnny mac]

Hey beergod, the old tank has a dent on the right side that is about 6-8 inches long an about 2 inches deep- also the top is really scratched up and rusty. There is some rust inside the tank as well- but if your still interested you can PM me- I would just ask you to cover whatever it costs to ship to you from Sonoma, Ca. 95476. Thanks for your comments-

[johnny mac]

One more close up shot-

Here is one more pic that shows the look of the metal and paint a little better. I liked how when I sanded the spray paint the white primer underneath created some simple white lines like pin-striping.

[tkent02]

That actually looks pretty good, and an original idea too.
Nice.

[posplayr]

It looks very clean

I dont really know how you controlled your sanding that well. Did you tape off the tank or is there a seam on the tank that you sanded to? I guess primer line could be a problem but that really seam to have worked out well.
Posplayr

[johnny mac]

I did mask off the metal areas that I wanted to keep and just wet sanded after I pulled the tape to feather the edges a bit.

[johnny mac]

one more angle

Here is one more angle.

[johnny mac]

And one last shot for the night-

Last one (I promise).