"choose your weapons"
With the motorcycle now completely disassembled its was time to begin the long process of painting everything and making it look presentable, so first up the frame. Originally I was going to have the frame powder coated but my finances are a bit tight at the moment, so that idea was scrapped in favour of re painting the frame using cans found and any hardware store.
First port of call was to get as much crap off the frame as possible. I used degreaser mostly then hosed it down once I was finished. I did this three or four times and occasionally used a brush to work the degreaser into areas where the dirt was really stubborn.
"after loosening the dirt a bit before hose down"
"as clean as its gonna get"
Cleaning the frame revealed a few areas where rust was starting to bubble up under the paint. So using the wire brush attachment on an angle grinder, these areas where taken care of. Dad was kind enough to do the grinding for me since I have little experience and would like to remain uninjured, at least until after christmas. As a warning when the wire brush is spinning little barbs can fling out and hit you... I was pulling a few out of my clothes long after we had finished.
The frame is now clean and the rust spots ground down, so it was hung from the ceiling, given a wipe down with paint thinners to remove any left over dirt and dust. Then it was primed for paint. I used an etch primer so it would bite into the metal and give the paint a really good chance at sticking. The only advice I can give on priming anything is do a light coat first, then go ever it again a couple of times making sure to look at it from different angles so you don't miss any spots.
With the frame primed It was left to sit for an hour before the actual paint was applied. Originally I was going to paint the frame red as it would have come out of the factory. but since i'm painting everything else black anyway it would have looked odd so a gloss black frame it is. Like the primer apply a light coat first and then using long slow sprays go over the entire frame. Going a little slower helps the gloss paint actually be glossy, with a matte paint it shouldn't make to much of a difference.
"not to bad... not great but not bad"
And thats pretty much it, I'm not making a show bike so I'm really pleased with how it turned out, though it does need a couple of touch ups it still looks halfway decent. Anyway now that the frame has now been re painted and I can move onto the next step. Which will either be re painting the engine or sorting out the pitting in the front forks. WHO KNOWS! lets find out together next time shall we.
Before you ask, yes their is a video and yes it will be up soon... its just taking longer then I thought it would.
No comments:
Post a Comment