Custom Painting Question(s)

[Schweisshund]

Last year, when I tried to repaint my Honda Nighthawk - I didn't even use primer and couldn't figure out why the paint was blistering One thing learned from that experience, Rustoleum really holds up, you can blow bubbles with that stuff. However, the gas fumes from the tank were permeating through the layer of Rustoleum I sprayed on it causing the bubbles. That is when I went to the library and learned about sheet metal primer, heat resistant paints like Dupli-Color and the like. Yeah, forgot about the gas fumes doing that to the surface paint - only seems to do that when there is no primer though :-D

[Schweisshund]

TXIronhead - what color did you choose? By the way - I spilled some paint thinner on the HoK - maybe worth mentioning that it didn't fade anything. That might mean something but I am not sure.

[txironhead]

Grabber Green (I can already hear the screaming and gnashing of teeth)

I'm planning on the fender, tail section, side covers, chain guard and tank being green, the rims, lower forks, frame and engine block being black and the engine covers Brushed Aluminum. I've already got the stainless Allen bolts, it's starting to look sweet. I may even add some green highlights here and there.

I'm trying to find some good tribal designs from my tattoo flash to add to the scheme, done in gloss black prior to clearcoating. The bars are a little rusty too, may paint them black as well. I'm replacing the missing headlight assembly with a chrome element-type round Emgo headlight. I'll probably go with black side markers, hugger style or streamlined into the body. I also want to cut my seat down a bit and upholster it with vinyl and neoprene.

[Schweisshund]

I like grabber green :-D Please post pics if you can. I agree with you about this thread getting interesting - I think its great that we are bouncing ideas off of each other.

[Nessism]

I DO NOT know from experience, but was told by the guys at NAPA as well as the guys at North Georgia Collision Supply that ANY automotive urethane clear coat is gas resistant.

However, I was told by the guys at Autozone, Advance Auto, O'reilly's (they all know me on a first name basis and want to see this bike when its finished) and an older gentleman who works at Wal-Mart that the automotive clear sold on the shelves in these locations WILL varnish off if gas touches it.

Hmmmmm .... what to do?

I guess the proving grounds need to be set up. I will take a forum member's suggestion to go to a jobber (assuming that means an automotive repair center) and ask them for a small portion of clear and hardener already mixed as I probably only need 5-8 ozs. of this stuff.

I've used a few different urethane clears and can say that they are not all the same. PPG for example sells at least a half dozen different varities, all with different characteristics.

From my experience the best stuff is the high solids, slower drying stuff. Slow dry is a relative term though since it sets up tack-free pretty fast - less than one hour. As far as purchasing from some jobber pre mixed, depending on what kind of clear you are using this might not be a good idea. I have some Nason clear that only has a 2 hour pot life so something like that will not work.

FYI, HOC Kosmic urethane clear is available on-line for somewhat reasonable prices. One quart clear, hardner, reducer is $72 shipped. Not too bad for a high quality clear. http://www.autobodysupply.net/store/...4-4286B9AEC9E2

[Billy Ricks]

I'd go in for some of the POR-15 clear but I feel strongly that it is not the right product to use if one wants to paint bodywork (tank, side covers, tail, etc.). Also, the POR-15 website warns against opening the containers in a moisture rich area which leads me to think that this stuff is not going to last long if it's not used. Lastly, there is not a huge upside to doing a group buy on this stuff since POR-15 sells it in pint sized containers for only $31.25. Now if a group buy is set up for some Imron or PPG high solids clear/hardner (which is not sold in anything smaller than a quart) a group buy would make more sense to me.

Moisture is a big problem with POR products. It's what cures them so it really wouldn't be practical to break it down into smaller batches.

I'm going to spray the Hardnose product on my frame one of these days. It can be reduced with a little regular lacquer thinner. Poor man's powdercoat.

I have already projected about $300 for materials when I paint so I'm going to go with a single line of product. There are shops here that will sell pints. I'll need white base, two shades of blue, and clear. I don't think I'm even going to use metallics. I'll go ahead and get quarts of the base and the clear. I like a deep looking paint job and usually keep spraying the clear until most of it is used up.

[Nessism]

I have already projected about $300 for materials when I paint so I'm going to go with a single line of product. There are shops here that will sell pints. I'll need white base, two shades of blue, and clear. I don't think I'm even going to use metallics. I'll go ahead and get quarts of the base and the clear. I like a deep looking paint job and usually keep spraying the clear until most of it is used up.

Have you priced base coats lately? Unbelievably expensive. I bought one pint of red for my car, PPG basecoat, and it cost me more than $70! Good thing is that you don't need much; one quart will paint the better part of an entire car. Different colors cost different amounts as well due to various costs of the pigments (or so I'm told). At any rate, you don't need quarts.

Good luck.

[Billy Ricks]

Have you priced base coats lately? Unbelievably expensive. I bought one pint of red for my car, PPG basecoat, and it cost me more than $70! Good thing is that you don't need much; one quart will paint the better part of an entire car. Different colors cost different amounts as well due to various costs of the pigments (or so I'm told). At any rate, you don't need quarts.

Good luck.

It's been awhile, probably 15 years. I guess I should just get a pint of the base. I should may look into the HOK stuff so for the colors I can just pick up a few ounces. They'd probably be safe with PPG or Dupont anyway. I still have a jar of blue pearl that can be perked up with a little reducer if I decide I want a little over the white base.

[Schweisshund]

the way the clear works now is it will get darker and less "shiny" each coat you put on it - you can't get away with 10 coats of clear anymore.

[txironhead]

According to my local paint shop (and this guy's been in the business longer than I've been alive) the most expensive pigments are red and green. Something to do with having to use expensive compounds to make them fade resistant. Unfortunately, those were my two color choices for my bike.

It's almost to the point that after you buy the fiberglass, primer, activator/hardener, paint, clear, etc. it's cheaper to just take the parts to a pro shop and have it painted. I do know it's a lot cheaper to do the prep work yourself and just pay for the paint job, they work by the hour and prep work is time consuming. I spent a few days just prepping my sidecovers, but they were broken and had several layers of bad paint on them. Plus, I am a bit anal when it comes to prepwork, since it's the single most important part of a good paint job.

If you're going for just a gloss coat, no metallics, I seriously recommend checking out the Dupli-Color Paint Shop series. It's a new, low-VOC line of enamel that was designed for the home painter. It is a three part (primer, basecoat, clearcoat) system, sold by the pint and available at any O'Reilly's and it's supposed to be really durable, gas-resistant stuff. If they made it in the color I want I'd use it. It does come in white and blue, but no metallics so far.

[Schweisshund]

TXironhead, it may have to do with red and blue being primary colors. The three primary colors are red, blue and yellow. No other color can be mixed to get these colors. The 5 colors any airbrush artist should get in squeezable containers are red, yellow, blue, black and white. Then make a color wheel using a large triangle. You can make any color using primary colors. The secret is knowing how to mix them and a color wheel helps.

[Schweisshund]

I did an experiment i shouldn't have done with one of my side covers. I sprayed adhesive for the silver leaf then removed the template. I then applied the silver leaf hoping it would be easy to tear it off once the adhesive dried. It looked terrible . I went ahead and wetsanded that sidecover and will just do the silverleaf as I have been doing it. I am doing the final coat on all surfaces that will be painted tmw, so I will just repaint that sidecover.

According to every website I have seen where metal leafing is applied, they do not use a template over the adhesive and the pros make it look so easy to tear the leaf off of the adhesive. I do not know where I am going wrong. I did see pictures of one person using a cotton ball to smooth down the silver leaf.

Am I not waiting long enough for the adhesive to dry or something? Does anyone know the answer to this?

[Schweisshund]

Holy Smokin' Chopper Batman!!!!

Anyone got $140,000 ? :-D Maybe a group buy and we can each ride it a few hours a year \\/

[Schweisshund]

Silver Leaf on a $140,000 Bike

[txironhead]

You get that good, I'll definitely take you up on that painting offer!

The disc should be going out tomorrow.