Looking good. You have a good attitude about the possible imperfections. All we can do is the best we can with what we have at that moment. It looks great in the pics, and I'm digging the Zombie Apocalypse theme.

 

Thanks mad. I'm remembering.

 

Thanks street! I used SprayMax 2k high gloss clear. The stuff is supposed to dry in 12 hours, ready to polish. That's what they claim. I'm giving it about 4 times that and it's been drying in my unairconditioned shopt so with the 100+ degree temps in there I'm thinking that will be enough time. I plan to start sanding on the front part of the rear fender in the area that will be hidden under the seat and see how it goes before doing the tank or any exposed parts.

And that was my plan with the lettering, to make it look similar to the factory HD. I spent a lot of time playing around on the computer trying to get the font as close to OEM as possible. It's close, but I think it's a tad larger than stock. I was going from memory and pictures because when I did the paint mock up a few months ago I painted over the original.
But it's close and I'm good with it.

These are the pads I'll be using - microfiber and synthetic wool. No good?

 

Thanks aqcr. Here's my favorite part.

 

Thanks UFO. I'm not a professional painter and this is a rattle can job to save money, so I couldn't expect there wouldn't be a few blemishes.

And most days I feel like we're already living in the Zombie Apocalypse so the theme works for me.

 

Where to start?

Ok, I agonized over the paint for this bike for months. I knew I wasn't going to be able to afford a professional job. One of Ozzie's friends who does body work (he did the patch on the ECM hole in the rear fender) was thinking about doing it for awhile but that ended up falling through. I checked around with several local guys who do painting but the cheapest price I could find to do what I wanted was $1200. I couldn't afford anything close to that. So after much hemming and hawing and reading articles online and watching YouTube videos, I decided I could do a pretty good job of it myself for a fraction of the cost.

I had used the Rust-oleum gloss black on the fork tube covers and the bars, and despite the problems I had with the bars, I was impressed with how close the finish was on the fork covers with the powder coated triple clamps. And that was with no buffing or polishing. So I decided to use Rust-oleum spray enamel for everything except the clear coat. I know, I know. A rattle can job...how good can it be?? And after all this work, time and effort, to rattle can the paint seems a bit...half assed. Well, I understand the sentiment. But, I don't have the money to spend on a pro job. I don't have a paint gun. And I don't have a paint booth. Without a paint booth there's really no point in buying a paint gun and then having to buy expensive two and three part paint, and worry about mixing it up just right. Hell, for a relatively small tank and fender job with basic colors I figure if I ***** it up all I've really lost is my time. And with the right prep and taking my time I'm thinking I can do a pretty decent job. I can always repaint later. So here's the line up. At $5-$6 per can I spent about $50 bucks total on paint.


For the clear coat, I read great things about the SprayMax 2k clear and decided to use that. It's a two part clear in a can, which means you have to break a seal on the bottom of the can that pierces a container inside the can containing a hardener - shake it up and you've got about 12 hours to use it up before it hardens completely. It is highly chemical resistant so gas isn't supposed to affect it and they say the gloss is really good and durable. It's not cheap - $22/can and I used 2 cans.


Then there is all of the sanding you have to do. The 3M wet/dry sandpaper isn't cheap either. And you need a lot of it in various grits. I probably spent $20-$30 on that.


Then I had the issue of the pin stripe, the lettering, and the biohazard symbols on the side covers. For the pin stripe I used 3M 1/8” vinyl tape. I spent a couple of hours laying out the stripe on both the tank and the fender. It was near impossible to get it symmetrical, to get the radiuses on the curves to match, and the get the line where I wanted it. Hours of very frustrating work…



For the biohazard symbols I decided to use vinyl stickers. I found some online in orange for a few bucks and ordered up a set. They had the Zombie Outbreak Response Team lettering around them and I wanted just the symbol so I used an exacto knife and a piece of glass to cut that part off leaving just the symbol. They go on easy and seem to stick like glue. They stuck fast when I sprayed the clear over them.





Then there was the “Zombie Apocalypse” lettering on the tank. That was also very time consuming work. I used adhesive backed clear vinyl sheeting that I picked up at the autobody shop. Same place I got the sandpaper and the SprayMax clear coat. After playing around with the lettering on the computer I printed out the font and size I wanted and then taped the printout on the back side of a piece of glass. Then I laid the clear vinyl on the front side and using the exacto knife I cut out each letter. I used another piece of vinyl tape for the line I wanted and stuck each letter in place on top of the final coat of grey paint, already wet sanded and ready to paint.





After the lettering and pin striping was done I was a bit concerned about the black and orange paint potentially seeping in under the edge of the tape/lettering so I sealed them with another light coat of grey. I figured that if there was seepage the grey would seal the edges preventing the subsequent coats of orange and black from getting under the tape. When that dried I taped off the area below the line and painted the orange. When that was dry I taped off the orange and painted the black. I was wet sanding between each coat of paint, being very careful around the tape and lettering. When the final coat was on and all of that was dry I peeled off the masking and vinyl tape and the lettering. The lettering had to be carefully taken off using the exacto knife, slipping it carefully under an edge and peeling it up without contacting the paint underneath. Came out pretty phucking good if you ask me.






Last thing I did before the clear was the put the zombie biohazard symbol on the top of the tank. For this I found the symbol I wanted online, printed out the size I wanted, and taped that to the underside of the glass. Then I used my trusty exacto knife and the vinyl sheet to cut a stencil of the symbol. This was another multi-hour project. Getting the adhesive backed stencil down in just the right spot, all lined up on the curve across the top of the tank was...challenging. Every time part of the stencil sticks down in the wrong spot and you pull it up, it stretches a bit. After doing that three or four or five times the stencil was trash so I had to cut another one. Took about an hour but this time it went down perfectly. Taped everything off and shot it with a couple coats of black. It came out really good but I nicked the underlying orange on one of the skull eyes taking the stencil off and I had to go back and touch that up with a small brush. Wet sanded the whole tank and it was ready for clear.




Two cans of the SprayMax clear gave me a tack coat and five additional coats, starting with a lighter coat and graduating to heavier coats to finish off, with 10-15 minutes between each coat. It looks good, but there is some orange peel that needs to be sanded smooth and polished. Like I said earlier, I'll start that tomorrow night.





Not bad for $150.

 

Sweetness

 

Thanks Rog.

 

Rather than wet sanding Ergo you might consider some products similar to these with a low speed buffer...works pretty sweet.

 

Thanks Rick. The plan is to wet sand the orange peel and then use this stuff,

either by hand or with a polishing pad on my hand drill.

If that don't work I'll give your stuff a try. I'm also thinking about buying one of those random orbital sander/buffers. They've got one at Lowes for 29 bucks...