Beginners Guide to Painting Bodywork. From a beginner to a Beginner

also, use circular motions when wet sanding. if you go in straight lines you may see them later.

 

Thanks guys. Should I use a rubbing compound for the final buff? I have a 3M Fine Cut compound that's a light tan color. Is this too corse or will it be OK?

 

that is for the for the first stage of buffing. get 3M Finesse-It Polishing compound for final buff.

 

Some other thoughts. I am not a professional painter but have some experience with both rattle cans and spray guns.

If you think you will be painting body work a couple of times a year you may be better off investing in an inexpensive paint gun and using better quality paint. For $60 you can buy some decent paint that will hold up a lot better than anything in a spray can. That doesn't include other products like reducers or harderners but most of those supplies will last for more than one paint job. A decent spray gun will lay the paint down better too, and keep you from having to spend as much time wet sanding and buffing.

That said, I just used a rattle can to paint my bike. I didn't do the whole thing though. I just did the tail section and the upper fairing. I have an SV and just have a half fairing not full fairing. Since it was just a couple of pieces and I don't plan on painting it very often I decided to use rattle cans. If I ever paint the whole bike I will use a spray gun.

You can make 99 cent rattle can paint look good if you wet sand and buff it. Like Puresportsdesign said it will not hold up to rocks and other things as well. To get rid of the orange peal I used 800 grit and then 1200 and then 2000 (wet sanding). Followed that up with 3M buffing compound. It turned out good for a track bike.

You can paint enamel over laquer just not the other way around. I had to use enamel for my number plates because I couldn't find a yellow laquer that I liked. If you paint laquer over enamal the enamel will peal up.

Another tip is to use automotive pin striping around your number plates or to seperate different colors. I bought some 3M pin striping at walmart and used it around my number plates. It's easy to use and imroves the looks a ton. Plus then you don't have to be as exact when you tape off to paint different colors as you can just cover up the seam with the pin striping.

 

Thanks for the info. All of you! Would a cheap sprayer from Harbor Freight be OK? I don't want to spend allot because I have a guy I use for my real paint jobs.

Thanks

 

One of the Harbor Freight guns would probably work fine for occasational use. It may not last as long or may require rebuilding more often than a more expensive gun. I would recommend one of the smaller touch up guns or an HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) gun. The HVLP guns tend not to create as much overspray. The smaller touch up guns have a smaller spray pattern which is fine for bikes. Their downside is that the containers tend to be smaller so you would have to fill them more often.
Anyone with more experience please feel free to correct me on any of this.

 

Check ebay I bought a guy from thetulshed for $30. Haven't gotten it or tried to paint yet though.

 

That's what I have. The gravity fead, purple anodized one. Works like a champ. I've painted around 12 sets now and they just keep getting better each time. :up:

 

Anybody know where i can get that Klean Strip? I went on the web site & went to all the stores that they list as carrying it, as well as a boat supply store. Came up with nothing. If anyone knows what chain store carries Klean Strip fiberglass paint stripper, please let me know.

 

you ever find that klean strip?

 

it's also called 'aircraft stripper' you can get it at autozone/advanced auto. it comes in an aresol can.

caution: it can eat at fiberglass also.

 

I just want a fucking stripper..........

 

so don't use it on fiberglass?

 

THOSE ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT THE SAME THING!!!!!!!

DO NOT USE THAT STUFF ON FIBERGLASS!!!!!

the aircraft stripper is called "Tailstrip", and is a heavy acid gel based product. It will destroy the gel coat of your fiberglass and and soften your bodywork up to shit. Not to mention it will stay in the fiberglass cloth and fuck up and future paint work.

 

there is some good advice for a do it yourself job in this thread here and there, and I appreciate the effort trying to help people out, but there is some mis-information too. I think people need to be careful about what they really know when they write a "how to"

Here's my $.02, I just don't want to see anybody waste a whole saturday and $50 at autozone, or worse yet, mess up a nice set of bodywork.
First, you should rarely if ever sand the basecoat paint between coats before clear. NEVER sand the color if it has any metalic or pearl in it (most auto paints). Any sanding whatsoever (even with 2000 grit) on bare paint will disturb the metal flakes and pearls in the paint, and will definately show up and ruin your paint job under clear coat. You can get away with this technique with some solid whites/blacks/reds, but a good smooth clearcoat would smooth it out without sanding anyway. If you're worried about dust, just wipe it with a tac rag and blow some air over it.
If you are sanding the final clearcoat to get a really smooth finish, I wouldn't go below 2000 grit unless you have a bad run or really bad orange peal you need to sand out. 1200 and 1500 grit scratches are pretty difficult and time consuming to sand and buff out, even for professionals. And that being said, that much buffing and heat can get dangerous and you can burn through your clearcoat very easily and end up having to start over. With a little elbow grease 2000 (wet sand) will work great, and then finish with 2500. The 3m rubbing compound works great. If you want to be anal you can go after that with 3m "perfect it" swirl mark remover, but that is probably a bit much for a track bike and you probably won't need it.

Also, I'd say don't use laquer paints. Almost nobody in the professional industry uses them anymore (except old hot rod resto shops). Just like the other painter on here said, they are hard and brittle, and you can get a lot cooler, more brilliant colors from the new eurethane paints.

And for cleaners, I think the best thing in the world is "3m scuff it". It is a cleaner and abrasive in one step. Just squirt a blob on a red scotch brite pad, wet everything and scrub away like your washing greasy dishes. Whatever you use though, make sure you use a "degreaser", that is the most important part. Then make sure you wash that off with a regular soap and water...

 

thanks for the info. what about repainting bodywork? what's the best way to get paint off fiberglass?

 

paint...

Sand sand sand is the best way to remove paint from fiberglass. I have a fair amount of paint experience and i have learned that sanding down to the gel or base coat is the best and surefire way of assuring no funny reactions with the exsisting paint on there.

Prep is the key to painting in my books. I always sand, clean with a grease and wax remover,prime, wet sand to make sure there are no high or low spots, prime again, wet sand again, use wax and grease remover with a tac cloth and then paint. A HLPV gun is the way to go aswell! On a side note make sure you get a good automotive paint with a flex agent and a FAST activating clear coat as it's basically dry when it hits and this helps big time with runs.

When you apply the first coat of paint it sould be VERY VERY thin and let it get tacky(10 to 15 mins) befor spraying another coat. As for clear, it should be shot about 20 mins after the last coat of paint. I usually do 4 to 5 coats of clear and if you hapen to get a run use 2000+ to sand it out.

If there is anything i can emphasize about painting is to make sure you have a very clean and dust free area to paint and that what your painting is very clean.....the oils from a simple fingerprint can f up paint where the paint won't stick to where you touched.

Hope this helps.

 

if you are going to spray automotive paints over other automotive paint, you don't have to remove the old paint if it's in good shape. if any spots of it is cracked or rubbed down to the fiberglass just sand it smooth and hit that spot with primer

I've never tried to paint over spray paint with automotive grade paints though. suposedly it's fine to leave also. but you need to sand it down really well.

wet sand the rest of the good spots and the primer with 400. let it dry. then it's ready to be sprayed over.

you never have to remove paint to paint over it. (as long as it's not peeling, cracked or rubbed off)
if you guys want to learn about painting look here.

http://autobody101.com/forums/index.php?sid=de03e4c225f3e5eeaeff4f884f85958b

http://repairnation.com/paint_n_bodywork/index.htm

I dabble in painting. learned it from a body shop owner and those two sites.
like D-Swens was saying, most of this thread is full of false and bad info.

I wouldn't really take anything but what D-Swens and Dano506 said and use it.

I've only had nothing but bad luck and trouble using wax and grease removers and surface prep solvents/cleaners. I stay away from them all together.
or if you do really think you want to use them, you better give it a day or two to dry before you spray the bodywork with paint. if any cleaner solvents got under the old paint or primers, it will cause the new paint to fuck up.

 

pics of my work

 

Autobody 101 is the place for good info.
Also if your spraying auto paint over a spray bomb job you will need to seal it with something. Spray bombs bleed through and cause all sorts of nasty things to a good auto paint job. Dont' ask how I know