Painting my 450

[rustybronco]

Hahaha now now Dale, I'm being patient remember?

But seriously, I'm hoping next Saturday will work for that as I'm not sure doing it at night is a good idea due to the lack of good light. I'd really rather do that in natural light I think.

I also need to get some buffing and polishing stuff. Checked out the house mate's stuff he has and it's really old and falling apart so no go.

Pete, I know you are being patient. bless you for that...

how about a bit of encouragement to get you started? http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/4454232-post30.html (those are sure are some skilz He has!)

[pete]

Pete, I know you are being patient. bless you for that...

how about a bit of encouragement to get you started? http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/4454232-post30.html (those are sure are some skilz He has!)

Oooooh wow Can I hear you say mirror?

That is sure somes serious polishing!

I'm not sure how I'm doing it yet... hand or drill or fork out for a little dedicated hand polisher or something... I need to have a look around.

Ultimately I'd like something I can put another pad on for Mother's mag and alloy polish so I can keep my crank case covers and wheels polished up too...

[rustybronco]

That is sure somes serious polishing!

This is prior to polishing... just shows what an FX1000 can do.

at least that's what He said...

[pete]

at least that's what He said...

I missed that sentence! I was distracted by the photo... wow!

I'm gonna go check that 3M stuff Larry was talking about at some point soon. I suspect I'll have to end up at a certain large hardware store that I find very annoying to shop in...

[Trevor76]

Nice work Pete, I'm looking forward to seeing the bike put back together with the "new" bodywork.

[pete]

Nice work Pete, I'm looking forward to seeing the bike put back together with the "new" bodywork.

Thanks Trevor! Needs a good buff and polish still though.

The way it's looking it'll be another two weeks before I get the polishing action going...

Hopefully I'll at least be able to get some time in between now and then to get some stuff to do it...

[oldrookie]

Nice work, Pete! Looks really good. Can't wait to see it polished and assembled.

[pete]

Nice work, Pete! Looks really good. Can't wait to see it polished and assembled.

Thanks mate, me neither!

I couldn't help myself tonight though and took a bit of a teaser photo when putting the tail piece away...

[pete]

Now, on the subject of polishing...

I ducked up to Supercheap this avo to pick up a couple of electrical odds and ends and checked out their polishing aisle while I was there.

First of all, I think I'm going to do the buffing and polishing by hand as I don't trust myself with a power tool for that at the moment...

Brand wise, it looks like Meguiar's is the best they have, and their stuff is usually ok. No 3M stuff at all.

They have these applicator pads for hand use which look useful:

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Meguiar-s-Hand-Applicator-Pads-2-Piece.aspx?pid=1510#Description

But where I get confused is the cutting/buffing bit...

I'm assuming the process is:

- Sand if necessary (I need a quick one I think)
- Cut
- Swirl remover
- Polish

Sanding I'm thinking try 1500 then 2000 and skipping the 1000 as it doesn't seem to be too bad. I mainly want to get rid of the bits of dust and crud that got stuck in the clear while drying and there's not a lot of it.

Next up, cutting, will this be too aggresive?

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Meguiar-s-Mirror-Glaze-Cleaner-473ml.aspx?pid=10150#Description

And should I rather stick with this?

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Meguiar-s-Mirror-Glaze-Cleaner-473ml.aspx?pid=1508#Description

They have swirl remover:

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Meguiar-s-Mirror-Glaze-Swirl-Remover-2-0-Polish-473ml.aspx?pid=10152#Description

And some polish to finish up:

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Meguiar-s-Showcar-Glaze-Polish-473ml.aspx?pid=10151#Description

Am I on the right track here or way off? I seem to remember seeing swirl remover last somewhere, but that's confusing me as it's still a cutting compound... ?

I will head back through this thread shortly because I'm pretty sure one of you guys has already mentioned something of this nature...

[SVSooke]

The Meguiars fine cut is what I used on Old Yeller,as recommended to me here http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=174973 .Yes the question has been asked.

[pete]

The Meguiars fine cut is what I used on Old Yeller,as recommended to me here http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=174973 .Yes the question has been asked.

Aaaah cheers Greg, I went through this thread again and saw fine cut and polish, so sounds like the way to go

Did you do yours by hand or with a power tool of some sort?

[SVSooke]

Knew I forgotBy hand,works just the cats pajamas

[pete]

Knew I forgotBy hand,works just the cats pajamas

Cool, if you can cut/polish all those fairings by hand, I can do a tank and some bits and pieces

[pete]

House mate rocked up with these today:



That means I have everything from 800 up to 2000 grit wet/dry for sanding, but I still need to work out what I'm doing for cutting and polishing yet...

[pete]

So I had an "off-air" chat with Larry, and I also remembered Paul (laverda1200) had some sanding/polishing tips on the first page of this thread, so I'll take both of their advice which gel nicely together and get sanding and polishing properly.

Here's part of Paul's post again:

get a bowl of some sort, put a drop or two of dish soap in it, and fill it with cool water. Start wet sanding with about 600 grit, then go to 800, 1000, 1500, then 2000. The clear will be getting smoother and smoother, and duller and duller, although by 2000 grit it may be starting to shine a bit again. Don't panic, the purpose of the wet sanding is to eliminate the dust particles, dog hair, insects, runs and sags, etc. and to get the surface as smooth as possible, even if it isn't shiny yet.

get a power buffer, a foam polishing pad, and, and some fine cut polishing compound. Go at the surfaces at say 2,000 - 2,500 rpm with the fine cut, and watch a mirror develop in front of you. Then switch to a fresh foam polishing pad, and go at the surfaces with a proper machine glaze product and watch your show paint job come to life. Don't wax for about a month, you have to let the paint breathe while it continues to set up for quite some time after it is sprayed. months even.

Larry's advice is close to word for word the same.

I love it how you guys don't give contradictory advice, or if you do it's something that makes no difference

The trick now is to find a reasonably priced polisher or drill bit adaptor and some pads...