Hitchcocks Forum

Light grey it is. Thanks to whoever suggested that. I'm going to use spray cans because I've not got a compressor. Can anyone recommend where's best to buy them? A good online supplier? Halfrauds always seems overpriced. Should I use a primer or undercoat? Lastly, there is a tiny shallow dent where the decompressor lever has contacted the tank before I owned the bike. Should I fill this with some epoxy body filler whilst I'm doing this do you think? Thanks again everyone for the resource that is tis forum.

Hi Matt. I can't help much with your specific questions about where to buy etc, but what I would say is that it's a funny time of year for spray painting either outside or in the garage. For a nice finish you really want it dry and warm and not wet and cold as now. However, if you DO go ahead, after you've bought your paint I'd keep in the house for a few days to 'warm it up'. (Ideally you should do the same with your bike but I reckon that might cause a family break-up!). Seriously though, try and get the garage warmed up a bit for a couple of days with your bike inside of course, and KEEP IT WARM until the paint dries. Rough up the old paint a bit with emery cloth to give the new primer something to key onto, and smooth it down bewteen coates. Two or three coates of primer (carefully smoothed down between coates) and a couple of top coates of gloss should make a nice lasting job. Done with care spray cans can achieve a really professional finish. Cheers. Tony.

Nothing wrong with rattle cans, they can pruduce a very good finish. In fact they're probably better than a spray gun unless you really know what you're doing. I'd get them from a local auto paint supplier to get a decent quality. Preparation is everthing when painting so get various grades of wet-n-dry paper and use it wet to flat down the original. Any defect left will show when you've finished, the paint won't hide anything, so make sure you get rid of any scratches. Apoxy filler will fill the dent. Do the job in the warm as Riggers says and use plenty of coats, don't try to cover in one go. A primer is a good idea to get the colour something like the top coat. Oh, and rattle those cans for a good 2 minutes before use and again when you put the next coat on. Clean the nozzles between coats by putting them in a jar of thinners.

Hmmm. I hadn't thought about temperature to be honest. It's a four car garage with a gabled loft space that is detached from the house so heating is a bit of a problem. I have made a "tented" curtain area in there before to heat when I've been working in January but all I have is a free standing wheelie calor gas bar heater and these things create humidity, which would be a problem I reckon... I do have a good friend who owns a spray shop. It's a proper dust free room and all that. He's always said he'd do a good price on jobs for me if I did the prep work but to be honest it seems like massive overkill for a £700 dog of a mud thrashing green lane Enfield. I don't know what his mates rates good price is... I've never asked. It wouldn't surprise me if it were anywhere from £20 to £100 I guess!!? I really have no clue. Anyway, thanks for your input guys and I look forward to hearing from anyone else out there..?

I'd be interested to know how petrol-proof various paint types are?

Well Chris, the Indian factory paint from 1993 is awful! I'm sure you see why I want to paint it! Also I need to fix the cap leak. I ordered the extra thick seal for the cap from our hosts but it's too thick. I'll order the standard one on Monday and see how that goes. The one that's in there is pretty perished.

I would like to add that these pictures show the results after trying to polish the marks out for an hour with a cotton wheel on an electric drill with a rubbing compound and then T-Cut.

Hi Matt,

Golden rules for spray cans have already been touched upon:-

A - Warm, dry and dust free environment,

B - Keep cans in really hot water before shaking for a good two minutes,

C - Surface prep time pays dividends in the final stages, so lots of fingers on fine Wet n Dry used wet with a drop of washing up liquid. Keep rinsing the paper regularly.

D - I wouldn't worry about filling the dent, it'll get bashed again before long! It's called 'patina'..

E - Get in the mindset & take your time. It's a labour of love.

F - lots of light coats are preferable to a few heavy ones & don't be afraid to rub down between coats.

Halfies are expensive, but easily accessible. Motor factors sometimes have discount baskets with paints in, and get a light coloured undercoat.

Final lacquering is personal choice. I did mine, only to discover it reacted with petrol droplets and ruined two weeks work. Aaaaagh!!

But at least it didn't cost me much, and it was my mistake so I put it down to patina and rode the ass of the thing.

Good luck and lets see the end result

Steve

Hi MATT---------- I know you said light grey BUT, ---------- give this a look at}--- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wurth-German- ... ehicles_Ot ----------- As you can see it is a German laquer paint developed for use on car wheels ( A particularly hostile envioroment !!)----------- I've used it on several motorcycle crankcases wiith no ill effects----- I didn't use any top-coat laquer, that way I was able to do some touch-up on a few "dings" here and there without having to rub-down again etc, etc.

This was the most recent use of WURTH silver paint }-----------------