What Paint ?

[Pommie]

I'm off the road for a little while and decided to tart up my bike a bit. The fairings have a few marks on them and scratches so I'm thinking PAINT JOB !!!!. Gonna have a crack at this my self, got compressors and guns etc, even got airbrushes however never painted plastics before or even prepped them. Still on cellulose last time I painted anything seriously. Anything special
i need to know from your experiences ? Like best way to get old Kanji logo's etc off, and does normal body filler work on plastics ? All else fail I reckon buy some new plastics and get it done by a pro, but I want to make it mine and do it myself, if you know what I mean

Thanks guys

[ROD]

All else fail I reckon buy some new plastics and get it done by a pro,

Thanks guys

New plastics come pre painted with stickers on them but big $

[Pommie]

All else fail I reckon buy some new plastics and get it done by a pro,

Thanks guys

New plastics come pre painted with stickers on them but big $

I'm sorta thinkin of going more original as opposed to buying pre painted. Just wandering whats the go with the prep if you can paint over the original colour scheme successfully or not

[kev11e]

All else fail I reckon buy some new plastics and get it done by a pro,

Thanks guys

New plastics come pre painted with stickers on them but big $

I'm sorta thinkin of going more original as opposed to buying pre painted. Just wandering whats the go with the prep if you can paint over the original colour scheme successfully or not

Umm, I believe so. Problem is that the repainted panels are easy to pick from Suzuki bits because the finish will be so much better on the repainted jobbies - no raised edges etc.
Regards
kevin

[Pommie]

Umm, I believe so. Problem is that the repainted panels are easy to pick from Suzuki bits because the finish will be so much better on the repainted jobbies - no raised edges etc.
Regards
kevin

Maybe a misunderstanding when I say original I meant original paint job not original colours, sort of thinking Union Jack as an overall design but covered with a Candy Blue so its not in your face but giving a 3d in the background effect

[1300hayabusa]

Umm, I believe so. Problem is that the repainted panels are easy to pick from Suzuki bits because the finish will be so much better on the repainted jobbies - no raised edges etc.
Regards
kevin

Maybe a misunderstanding when I say original I meant original paint job not original colours, sort of thinking Union Jack as an overall design but covered with a Candy Blue so its not in your face but giving a 3d in the background effect

I saw a busa in the UK (brands hatch)with the u/jack all over and a small british bulldog airbrushed on the rear cowl.The paint job looked good but it looks silly when the Jap kanji and the rest of the decals are in one picture.Jap/Uk/Jap/Uk its a bit of a visual contridiction unless all the decals are left out,the paint job/artwork on its own would look a little better imo.

[Pommie]

I agree, if I go that way then the decals will be gone, only thing thats putting me off is when it comes to selling it, either gnna have to find another pom or respray it again

[steventh]

Hi Pommie,

My understading is that you need a specialist plastic primer (which works a bit like an etch primer rather than mechanical primer becuase plastic flexes more than metal etc). With thanks to www.cityplastics.com.au/painting.html, "Generally the materials that can be solvent glued can be painted easily. Some examples are Acrylic, HIPS, ABS and polycarbonate". Standard laquer can then be used.

Im not sure about the body filler, again I think you need a plastic specific filler. I have an article on this somewhere which I will find and ad to this post.

Regards

Steven

[Pommie]

I can flat out most of the scratches so filler isn't a big issue, and according to paint suppliers an acryllic clear over base would be the go for ease of application and finish. Apparantly is reasonably flexible. We'll soon see. Finish wont last 5 minutes on roads round the Gold Coast, cant travel on too many of them without having roadworks chipping the crap out of it and wet tar flicked all over, not to mention the low flying debris on the Pac Highway, need friggin body armour on there just lately

[Maj]

I can flat out most of the scratches so filler isn't a big issue, and according to paint suppliers an acryllic clear over base would be the go for ease of application and finish. Apparantly is reasonably flexible. We'll soon see. Finish wont last 5 minutes on roads round the Gold Coast, cant travel on too many of them without having roadworks chipping the crap out of it and wet tar flicked all over, not to mention the low flying debris on the Pac Highway, need friggin body armour on there just lately

I have had bikes painted in acrylic, its too soft and scratches too easily, you need a good 2 pack paint,

[Pommie]

Got my 2pack, got the decals off, what a pain in the ass they are to remove, ready to go with the wet and dry. This is gonna turn from a tidy up to a major project I think, keep seeing and thinkin of other stuff to do while I got it in bits, oh well, no great rush, still on one leg

[steventh]

Hi,

This is the info i have on painting and filling plastics. It was taken from the Plate and Paint website (www.eplate.com.au) which I tried to open without success - don't know if its permanently down or just temp but its worth a look for detailed info on surface preparation (they make aerosol spray kits).

Hope it helps.

Steven

Surface Preparation & Priming (Plastic Parts)
Damaged parts should first be repaired by plastic welding. It is possible to do this yourself, but I find it easier to get the job done by a professional. Wet rub with a sanding block to remove old paint and obtain a smooth surface. Start off with 240 and finish with 400 grit paper. Minor imperfections can be filled using a special 2 part flexible filler. This is available from auto paint shops and is used for repairing plastic bumpers etc.

Roughen the repair area with 180 grit paper and wash down thoroughly before filling. Laundry detergent is fine. Do not use wash and wax detergents. Apply filler and allow to dry as per the manufacturers instructions. Dry sand repairs with 180 grit paper to remove excess material. Again, it is a good idea to wait for the filler to cure before final finishing. Allow a minimum of 24 hours to dry and finish by wet rubbing with 240 and 400 paper. Wash down thoroughly and dry off.

Prime with a single coat of plastic primer. Do not sand after plastic primer. Allow 30 minutes to dry and apply primer surfacer.
NOTE: Do not use solvents or paint stripper on plastic parts. ABS in particular will be attacked by paint stripper.

Primer Surfacer
This coat is used to seal etch primed surfaces and fill minor surface defects such as fine sanding marks. Anything deeper than the scores produced by 80 grit paper should be filled using spray putty or spot putty after the primer surfacer coat. Dont go crazy with primer surfacer and/or spray putty. All you want is the minimum required to fill defects and seal body filler. I have stripped parts that have had a millimetre or more of this stuff under the colour coats. This is not the basis of a good paint job.

[Pommie]

Thanks for that, seems I'm going down the right road, like I said most of the scratches were surface and the others have got the thinnest wipe of filler as to be almost not worth bothering with.
Appreciate the time you spent looking up the info, its a great help

Thanks
Chris