Gas tank respray / refurbish

Nelly

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Hi Guys "n" Gals,
A while ago you may recall that I unintentionally modified my gas tank with a dumb bell. Well tonight I purchased a tank in a similar state from e-bay £20.00. Bargin I thought. So my plan is to sort out the cosmetic issues and then spray it Black. I will take pictures of the preperation and the various coats of paint going on. All I need now is some top tips on spraying, and to track down the trim colour for the 06 Black.
Wish me luck.

Neil
 

Boneman

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Your dealer should be able to hook you up with the proper colors and paint info. If not, try a local body/paint shop. They ahve access to all that stuff. There are a few places online. Give Google a shot.

1. Use proper automotive paint and use a mini-spray gun to apply. Don't use spray cans. I got a mini-spray gun off ebay for under $30 (compaired to $95 in Home Depot for the exact same thing). It is very hard to get an even finish using spray cans. Your tank is a major focal point on your bike, so you want to make it look nice.

2. Do a light sanding with fine grit wet/dry sandpaper & water between each coat of paint. Rinse off really well. Once dry, use a tack cloth between each coat to wipe off any loose residue and dust. Apply about 3-4 light coats of colour. Sand the last coat as well.

3. Get it clear coated! 3-4 coats. Clearing can be difficult if you don't have a spray booth as any, and I mean ANY, dust/dirt that falls on your tank will be very visible once the clear coat is applied. A spray booth or down draft booth MUST be sued for clearing! When I need stuff clear'd, I just call up a paint shop and get them to spary a few coats of clear and give em some cash for it. Something like a tank should be around $40-$60. Worth it. Another option is to buy one of those big rolls of vapor barrier plastic from the hardware store and make your own little spray booth.
 

JONAC

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Thanks Boneman, I will heed your advice and post some pics.
Neil

Lookin forward to this :)

little-boy-covered-with-paint.jpg
 

yamadamadoo

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All good suggestions here. Attached a few pix of my first bike. Was black when I got her and after alot of de-chroming (headlight, instruments, exhaust, kickstarter, fenders and made a custom tidy tail, new bars & mirrors and . . uh. . .oh yeah! PREP, PREP, PREP work, the finished product. 1979Yamaha Xs 750sf. Triple cylinder, 750cc shaft driven beast. Just sold it about a month ago to pay down my FZ6 loan. I miss it already :(. . . . Time to play with my FZ :rockon:.

YOU CAN DO IT !!!!!
 
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Nelly

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All good suggestions here. Attached a few pix of my first bike. Was black when I got her and after alot of de-chroming (headlight, instruments, exhaust, kickstarter, fenders and made a custom tidy tail and . . uh. . .oh yeah. PREP, PREP, PREP work, the finished product. 1979Yamaha Xs 750sf. Triple cylinder, 750cc shaft driven beast. Just sold it about a month ago to pay down my FZ6 loan. I miss it already :(. . . . Time to play with my FZ :rockon:.
Good Job my friend. Im gonna tak time doing this as I would like it to be good. I have heard that black is a difficult colour to match and to spray on evenly. Is this true or a load of bollox?
 

yamadamadoo

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I use black for more things than I like to admit.
To me, black is the universal whitewash. If you are using a good quality paint and sand between coats, You should be right as rain. Clear on black is the hardest to get even for me. (wear rubber or nitrile gloves through the whole process cause the natural oil is your fingers could fish eye the paint or clear).
The wheels in the pix here are my jeep wrangler factory wheels that only come in silver. I like black better. I used Du-Pont Chroma systems 1950 Chrysler black mixed 50/50 with their basemaker. Then a 3 to 1 mix of the clear and hardener. I also airbrushed a silver one eye skull on each center caps before clear to bury and protect it from UVs and road grime. Hope it goes well. Post pix when you're done.
 

bike10

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Good paint is worth the money!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t be afraid to use rattle cans, so long as it is professional grade. If you buy over the counter cans, you won’t be able to color sand (1500) in 45 – 60 min like you can with quality paint. I have experience in both spray guns and rattle cans and the flash point in pro paint rattle cans (custom ordered) is much faster than OTC (over the counter). “colorite.com” can mix your paint and have it to you REALLY fast. As previously mentioned your final product is only as good as your prep work!!!!!!!
Sand with 600 grit, before applying primer. If no imperfections on primer sand with 1000 grit, lay down your color. Let dry 45-60 min and color sand 1500, re-apply. After 45-60 min apply clear ( suggest 3 coats of color, 2-3 of clear. Your clear is more likely to run than your color.
You have to use clear on gas tanks to protect paint from gas. I use it on all body work.
Here are some pictures of my lowers I did. try this link;

FZ6 Lowers - Sportbikes.net
 

Nelly

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Good paint is worth the money!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t be afraid to use rattle cans, so long as it is professional grade. If you buy over the counter cans, you won’t be able to color sand (1500) in 45 – 60 min like you can with quality paint. I have experience in both spray guns and rattle cans and the flash point in pro paint rattle cans (custom ordered) is much faster than OTC (over the counter). “colorite.com” can mix your paint and have it to you REALLY fast. As previously mentioned your final product is only as good as your prep work!!!!!!!
Sand with 600 grit, before applying primer. If no imperfections on primer sand with 1000 grit, lay down your color. Let dry 45-60 min and color sand 1500, re-apply. After 45-60 min apply clear ( suggest 3 coats of color, 2-3 of clear. Your clear is more likely to run than your color.
You have to use clear on gas tanks to protect paint from gas. I use it on all body work.
Here are some pictures of my lowers I did. try this link;

FZ6 Lowers - Sportbikes.net
Thanks mate, I do like a straight forward plan. I was considering some sort of retro tank design. However, you gota run before you can walk. I will have two tanks so I can practice to my hearts content.
Cheers.
 

Nelly

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I use black for more things than I like to admit.
To me, black is the universal whitewash. If you are using a good quality paint and sand between coats, You should be right as rain. Clear on black is the hardest to get even for me. (wear rubber or nitrile gloves through the whole process cause the natural oil is your fingers could fish eye the paint or clear).
The wheels in the pix here are my jeep wrangler factory wheels that only come in silver. I like black better. I used Du-Pont Chroma systems 1950 Chrysler black mixed 50/50 with their basemaker. Then a 3 to 1 mix of the clear and hardener. I also airbrushed a silver one eye skull on each center caps before clear to bury and protect it from UVs and road grime. Hope it goes well. Post pix when you're done.
That is a very nice piece of work. I hope to have a very similar finish when im done.
Cheers.
 

nickrocca87

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I know this post is pretty dead....however may I see your results...i messed my tank up...and i had a few questions regarding a respray.
 

Nelly

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I know this post is pretty dead....however may I see your results...i messed my tank up...and i had a few questions regarding a respray.
Hi Mate,
I originally stated that I would wait for the good weather to come. Well it hasn't yet lol. I have still not started. I will start soon. Because I have two tanks I am not really in a rush.
I will post as soon as I have completed the job. Icidentley the most difficult thing I have had a problem with is where to get the correct paint match in the UK.
I have asked two dealers, they did not get back to me.

Nelly
 

VEGASRIDER

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Hi Guys "n" Gals,
A while ago you may recall that I unintentionally modified my gas tank with a dumb bell. Well tonight I purchased a tank in a similar state from e-bay £20.00. Bargin I thought. So my plan is to sort out the cosmetic issues and then spray it Black. I will take pictures of the preperation and the various coats of paint going on. All I need now is some top tips on spraying, and to track down the trim colour for the 06 Black.
Wish me luck.

Neil

Let's back track a bit for our newer members.....I created a new thread with this topic a while back..

Is your FZ6 Perfect?
Has your bike ever been down, knocked down, or received any scratches from hitting the pavement, wall, curb, etc. Or is it still like brand new like it left the dealership? I have to admit, today I thought my kickstand was down, well, you know the rest.

OK I have had a Brain fart. I will try to post photographic evidence, so that my peers may judge me with all of the facts. I have just been to Ireland for two weeks holiday. Prior to going I was just making sure that my garage was secure ect. I was just walking my bike out of the garage and I caught the hem of my trousers on the pedal of my cycle. I had that awful moment when you over balance and for a brief moment you still think you got it. I didn’t still got it and I dropped my bike. Now this in itself is not such a big thing however, only a few weeks previously I was joking at the expense of some of the other rider’s misfortunes, and posted a reply stating that my bike was still a “minter”. I also manage to land the bike on a set of dumbbells that I cant be arsed to use so I now have a nice dent in the petrol tank.

This is one of my favorite-all time greatest post! Not about you damaging your bike, but on how it all played out with the thread.
 
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Nelly

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Let's back track a bit for our newer members.....I created a new thread with this topic a while back..

Is your FZ6 Perfect?
Has your bike ever been down, knocked down, or received any scratches from hitting the pavement, wall, curb, etc. Or is it still like brand new like it left the dealership? I have to admit, today I thought my kickstand was down, well, you know the rest.



This is one of my favorite-all time greatest post! Not about you damaging your bike, but on how it all played out with the thread.
Yeah mate don't remind me, thats what i get for being all high and mighty. As my mum would say that was God punishing me for laughing at the expense of others. LOL.
 

nickrocca87

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I'm assuming color-rite doesn't ship international? :( ishopusa.com <----they ship american online store products international. Food for thought.

Well I just got some paint hopefully ill post my results and ill forget my shame once my bike is "minter" again.
 
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