Shining up old paint?

[Guest]

The paint on one of my bikes isnt too bad but it has def. lost some shine. Is it possible to give it a light wet sand then shoot it with clear? Should i just try to buff it out? Has anyone taken their old decal striping off, and if so, how did you do it? Does anyone know what type of paint was used originally?

[keman]

Decals come off well with heat, then clean the residue with a little denatured alcohol. Mothers scratch x does a good job for hand buffing. A very fine compound on a buffer will do a lot too. Just be careful if you use a machine to buff, its easy to cut too much.

If you need to re clear, 2k urethane is a top quality two part paint in rattle can form. I used it on my bike. Good chemical and fuel resistance, and a very high gloss. Just be sure to shoot it in a warm low humidity space and allow it to cure for a week before you touch it.

[Spiff]

Give it a good clean first, with a good degreaser or one of those tar and asphalt removers, then wash.
Next you could try is to clay it to remove even more dirt and debris from the paint. This is optional.
Then you do a three step polish.
First a paint cleaner like Meguiars ultimate compound or scratch x.
This removes more debris, scratches swirls and the like.
Next step is polish, to bring out the shine!
When you're done polishing and you're pleased with the shine you need to protect and seal the paint and shine.
For this task you can use either a good wax, a synthetic sealer or a combination of both. This is because wax gives you ok protection and best looking shine. The synthetic sealer gives you best protection but can often leave a more dull appearance than wax.

After all this hard work you're bike should look real good!

[Cdnpt1]

excellent! thanks to you both. next stupid question: I have never buffed, polished, etc anything before so I figure to do it by hand. Is there any particular method to this? I am assuming moving in circles but what kind of applicator should I use? I have seen wool, synthetic, cotton, old t-shirt....

[chuck hahn]

Oreillys has the round wax applicators that are made from micro fibre type material.

[Spiff]

If you've never done this before then best is to do it by hand

Follow the instructions on the back of the products and you'll be fine
For application you'll use a foam pad, buy a pack of these. You can machine wash them afterwards.
For the removal of products use a microfiber cloth for the purpose, there are differences between automotive microfiber and the ones in you're home

Looking trough Meguiars site it seems they have a paint restoration kit that should suit your needs.

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g3300-brilliant-solutions-paint-restoration-kit/

[chuck hahn]

Get some Hondabrite from the Honda dealer. Its a wash that will cut all the grime and old wax off the paint. Good to start with as clean a surface as possible. Get the bike wet, spray it on and give her a good sponge bath and rinse well.

[DaveR]

All good advice but the next question would be - how do I touch up the nicks, scrapes and worn through spots so that they blend into my newly shined frame? This is exactly where I am on this winters gs1000 tart-up project.

[chuck hahn]

I would say thats a question better directed to Nvr2old...and some pics sent to him will help him make an accurate determination.

[Cdnpt1]

thanks for the link, loooked up the restoration kit and it looks pretty good, will have to pick one up. The how-to videos on the site are helpfull as well. I was going to remove the old decals, I think I may do that, do the cleaning and some masking/sanding then spray new stripes before I finish with the buffing/polishing/waxing.

[Spiff]

I'd try to restore the paint first. You said in your first post that the paint doesn't look that bad but has lost some shine. The reason it looses shine is because of oxidization plus dirt gets in the paint. By following the steps I posted you are cleaning the paint, removing oxidization and restoring the shine.
You'd be amazed what a good polish will do

[Cdnpt1]

The paint isnt super bad, but the decal striping is pretty much shot, I may just remove them and then rejuve the paint. Either way if I get that maguire's kit I will put up a pictorial so every one can see how/if it works.