Rattle-can 101

Wingedwheel

If it wasn’t broke before, let me try it…
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First thing I have to say is i apologize for the pics. No matter what I do they never post straight!
I'm into the finishing stages on my bobber and I couldn't have timed the weather any better. since I'm determined to do this build completely on my own and in my garage( and it helps I'm cheap!) I decided to do my paint from a rattle can. My bike is a '72 XS2 and although I'm bobbing it, I wanted to use the original paint scheme as much as possible. XS0riginal.jpg I watched plenty of vids and talked to people about the prep and came to the conclusion the there are two major factors involved here, Time and proper prep. The frame went easy and I picked Rust-0leum paint as my go to shelf paint.paint.jpg With two cans of primer, two cans of gloss black one can of Colonial red and a can of gloss white I had my paint cost at around $20. I made sure all my bare parts were sanded with 220G and primed and I used500G to knock the gloss off any painted parts.primeframe1.jpg The black went easy and something I learned on the basic parts was SAND between coats! that gives you an almost perfect finish. then came the red. I practiced on the smaller parts, light bucket and brackets and then went after the fender.lightbracket1.jpg I even sanded between clear coats.fenderbare.jpgfenderfinish2.jpg. then I tried my hand at striping.fenderfinishstripe.jpg. Now the biggie! The tank...... I picked up a painted Sportster tank at a swap meet and had a hard time going after the nice gloss black paint job.blacktankframe.jpg It just looked too good! lol. I used 500G to de=gloss it and 800G to buff it afterwards. I cleaned everything before painting it with de-natured alchohol and just basically wiped the dust off.tanksand1.jpgThen I shot it and waited to see the results.tankfinish1.jpgtankfinish1.jpg Tomorrow i'll post pics of the painted stripe.
 

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Hi Wingedwheel,
sure you can do a great job with rattlecans if you take enough care.
The only drawback is that one part paint ain't perfectly gasoline-proof.
This means you gotta approach gas pumps with a paranoid level of care while holding a mop-up cloth.
You can get 2-part clearcoat in a rattlecan to ease the risk but it ain't cheap and once you pop the can you only got 24 hours to use it all.
 
Thanks for the tip fredintoon. I'm always paranoid at the pumps, lol Hopefully I won't be clumsy but I'll definitely keep that in mind.....
 
OK so I picked up a can of spraymax 2K which is supposed to be impervious to fuel. I sprayed all my parts and only on the tank did I get a small orange peel. Tomorrow I'll try my hand at wet-sanding and polishing.tankclear.jpg
 
OK so I picked up a can of spraymax 2K which is supposed to be impervious to fuel. I sprayed all my parts and only on the tank did I get a small orange peel. Tomorrow I'll try my hand at wet-sanding and polishing.

Hi Wingedwheel,
"impervious" eh? Most likely "highly resistant" is nearer to the truth.
But yeah, the spraymax is way better than a single component paint even if it does swell up if it's gas-flooded enough. Got an ugly little bubble next to my filler cap to prove it.
However, don't get obsessed with getting a perfect paint job.
A bike is a mechanical artwork, best seen in motion.
Orange peel that only shows when the bike is parked and the observer's breath is misting on the paint plain ol' don't matter.
 
2cents; at gas cap and petcocks, remove a narrow band of all paint to bare metal. I razor blade and sand the paint off the flat petcock mounting area so that the clearcoat seals in a narrow band directly to the tank metal. I now have painters do my work but I still do this step myself and use a small amount of clear epoxy to seal the edge of the paint to bare metal at cap and petcock. I'll put it on with an artists paint brush. If you don't do this, gasoline will absorb/wick into primer, color coats UNDER the final clear and it's a guarantee it will bubble the paint.

I am not much on using lacquer based primer anymore, especially on frames and parts that will see use, scraping, wear etc. It seems to be rather brittle and not adhere as well as high quality enamels. I have good luck with high build fleet black for frames and small parts.
 
thanks gggGary, Thats a good tip. well the peel was killing me, my wife thought I was crazy(again)but to me it looked like a fuzzy peach! I started with 1200g wet, went to 2000g wet then a slooooooowww even polish with my drill, a foam pad and some meguairs 104 compound. i'm very happy with the end result.tankfinish2.jpg Can anyone tell me how to post pics from an I-phone that aren't sideways?
 

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