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Real paint supplies like you bought have a high toxicity level. Make sure you're well ventilated when you're painting. I've even heard catalyzed paint is flammable and that the "booth " lights should be enclosed so no arcing and no sparking should occur.
but with what you've competed so far I'm sure you're not just lucky!
Good to know, thanks. I'll be hanging plastic sheeting from my garage door rails as the "booth" to keep overspray and fumes relatively contained. I'll also be cracking the garage door about 4" and putting a box fan in the garage window facing out to keep air circulating. The "booth" will not be vented, but it'll also not be air tight either so I'm not worried.
It's the cleanest I can get it without renting a professional booth for way more than the paint I just bought. I've got a respirator with paint specific filters already.
I've been fiddle-fartin' around with putting the bike back together and get it painted over the last couple weekends now that the temps have made working in my garage tolerable. Regarding the paint, I didn't end up using the HOK stuff I bought primarily because I'd be doing body work on all the little dents and scratches for another few months to make it look good. I ended up going with a metallic gray rattle can but topped it off with three coats of this rattle can automotive grade clear coat. It's about $20/can, but there's an activator inside the can that you puncture before use so it hardens just like the pro stuff. Granted you have to use it within 48 hours, but I did all my paint over a few days, and bought 4 cans of it. I'll get pics on here the next nice day I'm out breaking her in.
The best part, 20 miles and I haven't blown it up yet!!!
Seriously though, had a close call today with an errant pushrod that didn't want to stay long, but she's getting a gentile break-in with nothing over 50 yet on low traffic side streets on weekends. Just tonight coming back from fuel I goosed her a bit in 2nd and 3rd and even with the mellowed cam and flat top pistons at 9.5:1 CR there's plenty of pull. AFR's have been in the 12's and 13's depending on speed, and the EGT is a bit high but I've recently learned that's because I'm running a subdued ignition map with 26 degrees full advanced.
Matt;”I'm running a subdued ignition map with 26 degrees full advanced. End”
that must sound really nice.
Any chance of a walk around video with this machine running please?
Thanks Matt and Happy New Year bro
Was the 2 part clear SprayMax 2K ? I used it a while back and it works great, Folks will bust on you about using a rattle can but you can tell they've never used it by the crap they say. It works awesome and is durable for a driver, Will it give you a show quality paint job? Possibly, I haven't put that much effort into it. You can see the reflection of the tree behind me in the pic of the rear fender. Post up some pics of the paint job, looks good in the video..
Was the 2 part clear SprayMax 2K ? I used it a while back and it works great, Folks will bust on you about using a rattle can but you can tell they've never used it by the crap they say. It works awesome and is durable for a driver, Will it give you a show quality paint job? Possibly, I haven't put that much effort into it. You can see the reflection of the tree behind me in the pic of the rear fender. Post up some pics of the paint job, looks good in the video..
Yup, that's the stuff! Technically I wouldn't call it "rattle can" even though that's exactly what it is but rather a genuine acrylic enamel with hardening catalyst just like you'd mix up in a paint booth. The whole bike got three coats of it over the top coat. I got four cans and burned thru three of them over the whole bike.
I can say this, I needed to do a LOT better prep job on the surfaces I painted on to get a great looking paint job. The clear really makes it shine but if you look close you can see everywhere there's a small dent or somewhere I didn't smooth out the bondo perfectly.
I'll get some closeups of the paint tomorrow, when I put some more miles on er'.
Last edited by Mattbastard; Jan 5, 2019 at 07:59 PM.
Nice looking bike! Nice list of mods. Sounds good too.
If your not happy with the look of the clear, you can always carefully wet sand and re-clear (extreme case) but I think it looks good from the pics you posted.
Once your happy with the final coat, let that paint cure for awhile. If still unhappy, very fine wet sand then different levels of polishing compound will give even more gloss and get rid of some of the "nubs and specks". Of course do it all by hand, no machine buffing unless really experienced with a buffer, but bikes don't have enough paint to warrant needing a machine buffer. Keep the pics coming, YD
Last edited by Yankee Dog; Jan 6, 2019 at 05:37 AM.
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