Anyone ever stripped a Fatboy, Heritage or other FL softail down to Frame for paint /pc ?



I found a guy in the area where I am moving who can Powdercoat or Paint my frame pretty much any hue I want, for under $600.00.

I was considering having the Swingarm chromed while it's apart.


My only worry is that I won't be able to full strip the bike as a DIY.


Has anyone had experience stripping down to bare frame on a modern FL and if so, is there anything particularly daunting about it ? I'd ideally like to disassemble, have it painted, and reassemble myself.

 

Take pics, notes, label items especially wires as you go... it's not a difficult task. It's remembering the process and reversing the steps that is hardest part. I have done it three times in recent years with no leftover parts... used to have leftovers before the era of digital cameras.

 

Thats WAY too much to powdercoat a frame!

 

makes a huge dif to powder a frame! we coat them all the time and i tear almost all my bikes down for powder on the frame, diff is night and day

 

What are th typical prices you see? I am looking into doing this now and Sumax gets over $1000 to do an FLH frame, not including the shipping!! Unfortunatley, I dont have to many local places in Jersey that do it.

 

I had inquired about having my heritage frame re-powdercoated. I was told by the powdercoater, the best way to remove the old powdercoat is to burn it off. However if you rough up the powdercoat with 400+ sandpaper you can paint over it with excellent results. The powdercoater said he often powdercoats new tanks, before painters custom paint them, to prevent future rust. Had my frame painted ($150) and it looks great!

 

typically we are around 300 for a single shot frame and 75 for the swing arm on a harley

 

I'm waiting for my frame now.
Local shop here in MI. $175 for powder, $100 for the media blast to prep frame.

This was my first try at a total tear down.
A manual and a camera are going to be your best friends for this.

Only thing that comes to mind is the neck lock. The set screw is under a lead plug.
Heat the area untill the lead runs and then keep it hot untill the screw is all the way out.

 

I am being charged 170.00 for the frame, swingarm, rear brake bracket, the two chrome frame covers for the struts on the back of the frame and the rear belt pulley. They are going to be black and silver flake powder coat.

They are doing the thunderheader and three covers for 110.00 in high temp black. This is a shop in MI that has done most of my powder work on a couple of my bikes.