tour pack paint and prep
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Tourer
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: CANADA
tour pack paint and prep
Looking at buying a used tour pack that needs painting. Would like to do the prep work myself to save some bucks so that the paint shop just has to paint. Is there a procedure for getting it ready for painting. Any suggestions would be great. Also how much paint and base does a king tour pak take to paint.
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From: No where near you, OH
That depends on a lot of things. I'm a painter by trade and I can tell you that if you want it a custom color like I assume your bike is, it will be basecoat/clearcoat for sure. Which means the way you would sand it down would be with finer sandpaper which would eliminate sandscratches once the basecoat is put down. I have been in the automotive refinishing trade for 25 years and I gotta tell you that to get a job like that done yourself, there's a buttload of steps a guy's gotta do to get it to the point that it can go to a painter. PM me if you'd like and I can get into more detail. The amount of paint you would use wouldn't be a lot. I'm thinking about a pint of basecoat and a quart of clearcoat. You have to add the price of the clearcoat hardener and reducer too. I use PPG so that's how I came to that material estimate. This is all assuming there's no damage to you tour pak that is.
Last edited by Newharleylover; Dec 20, 2011 at 09:47 PM. Reason: forgot one thing
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2008
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From: Midwest City, OK
Kinda of a trick question...What kinda of shape is it in?Chips,nicks,scratches and what not.
If it is clean then just disassemble it and, if it does not have the upgraded hinges now would be a good time to add those as trying to get a clean line tapeing those up is a pain.
I would prefer it taken apart and then I prep it.It should not take a painter more than 15-20 minutes to prep it if it is clean. However if it is in need of some work then I would prefer to do it my self which again, other than dry time for primer should not be longer the 20 minutes.
Not a whole lot you can do really.You want to see a happy painter tell him you will buff it yourself.No painter wants to buff...
If it is clean then just disassemble it and, if it does not have the upgraded hinges now would be a good time to add those as trying to get a clean line tapeing those up is a pain.
I would prefer it taken apart and then I prep it.It should not take a painter more than 15-20 minutes to prep it if it is clean. However if it is in need of some work then I would prefer to do it my self which again, other than dry time for primer should not be longer the 20 minutes.
Not a whole lot you can do really.You want to see a happy painter tell him you will buff it yourself.No painter wants to buff...
Last edited by BIGVTWIN; Dec 20, 2011 at 09:53 PM.
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From: Indy
Painting is the easy part , the prep work is where a paint job is good, or bad most of the time.
Sand, and feather out all blemishes, and then prime , block the primer out with 220, 320, then 400 ,and 600 wet, you may go to 800 wet, I use a drop of ivory dish soap in my wet sanding water.
It will probably take 2-3 coats of primer to get it blocked out straight.
Primers have come a long way , don't use just any primer , ask the painter what he wants used , I am sure he will have a preference.
Sand, and feather out all blemishes, and then prime , block the primer out with 220, 320, then 400 ,and 600 wet, you may go to 800 wet, I use a drop of ivory dish soap in my wet sanding water.
It will probably take 2-3 coats of primer to get it blocked out straight.
Primers have come a long way , don't use just any primer , ask the painter what he wants used , I am sure he will have a preference.
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Joined: Apr 2006
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From: Roswell, GA
I'm not a tech or paint/body guy, and I'm sure what's been posted already is good information. The only thing I'd add is that if the TP has pinstripes, you should sand the pinstripes completely off to the point that there is no visual evidence they were there.
I prepped the parts when my bike was repainted, and had the TP with pinstripes and saddlebags down to the point that you couldn't feel them, but you could see where they were. The painter told me that they needed to be sanded more to get rid of the visual evidence of them; otherwise, "ghost" pinstriping would show through the new paint. I don't know if he was right or not, but I did as he said and everything turned out great.
Good luck with your project.
Carl
I prepped the parts when my bike was repainted, and had the TP with pinstripes and saddlebags down to the point that you couldn't feel them, but you could see where they were. The painter told me that they needed to be sanded more to get rid of the visual evidence of them; otherwise, "ghost" pinstriping would show through the new paint. I don't know if he was right or not, but I did as he said and everything turned out great.
Good luck with your project.
Carl
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Joined: Nov 2010
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From: Simi Valley, CA
I was also a painter by trade at an earlier part in my life. If someone wanted to save some money by doing the prep work themselves, I simply wouldn't do the job. Most people that have never done this type of work simply do not understand the steps and the precision required.
Now if you have a painter that is willing to coach you through the prep processes, and you have a very high "attention-to-detail" mentality, then maybe that's a different story.
Now if you have a painter that is willing to coach you through the prep processes, and you have a very high "attention-to-detail" mentality, then maybe that's a different story.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2008
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From: Midwest City, OK
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Tourer
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From: CANADA
thanks for the tips. When I find a tour pak that works for me I will see the painter first to see what he wants. It may turn out as 2BLACK1S has indicated that maybe the painter will not take the job at all. When I find a tour pak maybe I will take NEWHARLEYLOVER up on his offer of a pm for more details on prepwork. I would really like to be a large part of my project and learn. Thats what projects are about
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From: Roswell, GA
Just a heads-up regarding the rivets used on the hinges and latch catch on the lid--they use rivets that require a special riveting tool. Dealer service depts. have them as part of the dealer's specialty tools.
You can avoid using the hinge rivets by installing HD's premium tour pak hinges which are installed using screws. As for the latch catches on the lid, consider taking the repainted lid and hardware for the latch catch to a dealer for the installation of the rivets--you can buy the rivets from HD. You can buy very small stainless hardware to use instead of rivets, but the nuts on the inner side of the lid will hit the top edge of the tour pak bottom damaging the paint.
Good luck with your project.
Carl
You can avoid using the hinge rivets by installing HD's premium tour pak hinges which are installed using screws. As for the latch catches on the lid, consider taking the repainted lid and hardware for the latch catch to a dealer for the installation of the rivets--you can buy the rivets from HD. You can buy very small stainless hardware to use instead of rivets, but the nuts on the inner side of the lid will hit the top edge of the tour pak bottom damaging the paint.
Good luck with your project.
Carl
My first prep work was more than 25 years ago on my old VW Bug. I did a ton of research and followed all my painter's & manufacturers instructions, but the final result was terrible! I'm glad my first prep work was not something valuable like a Harley!
You might save some money doing it yourself, but if the paint failed a few months or years down the road, I'm sure your painter will not take responsibility for your prep work!
Poor quality paint jobs often look awesome at first, but fail within the first 2 years and common problems are; peeling, lifting, fading, cracking, bubbling, yellowing or shrinking just to name a few.
PM me with how much your local painter is charging you, we might be able to match the price and do the prep work too. We even give you a free extended 5 year materials & craftsmanship warranty, which will protect your investment against above listed problems.
Good luck and Happy Holidays,
You might save some money doing it yourself, but if the paint failed a few months or years down the road, I'm sure your painter will not take responsibility for your prep work!
Poor quality paint jobs often look awesome at first, but fail within the first 2 years and common problems are; peeling, lifting, fading, cracking, bubbling, yellowing or shrinking just to name a few.
PM me with how much your local painter is charging you, we might be able to match the price and do the prep work too. We even give you a free extended 5 year materials & craftsmanship warranty, which will protect your investment against above listed problems.
Good luck and Happy Holidays,