Well I cut down the ham can a bit to expose the K&N filter , haven't gone all the way as I'm waiting for a rain sock. I wanted to paint it flat black and keep the powdery texture , I prepped by cleaning with acetone . The paint is looking like crap because of the way I hung the ham can and got build up of paint . So now I'm going to sand it down smooth and paint as I tried to remove some of the build up with acetone and then the sponge and towel left crap on it . Then I tried to sand the crap off with 1000 grit sandpaper and it's getting smooth in spots so might as well strip it and start over. I have a sandblast cabinet but my frigging air compressor is in the shop.I have a 2x72" belt grinder I use for making custom knives so I can strip the paint in 10 minutes . I'm using Krylon indoor/ outdoor flat black and I have Krylon flat black camo paint too. any suggestions or just go with what I'm doing ?



Here's some pics :








I'm planning on making a new different style cover outta stainless soon , I have the metal just got to get around to shaping it so I'm not too, to worried about the ham can.

 

Your best bet is to sand it down to metal then hit it with something heavier than 1000. Lay some black primer then the paint. That's what we do for our aircraft parts and they come out alright. But one thing that will mess up the out come is the way you spray it. If you go wavy in one spot and not the others you'll end up with a dark spot that'll throw it all to crap. So just take your time. Youve got a sand blaster so I'm Guna guess youve done some painting before. But sometimes I forget the small stuff

 

I too would take it down to bare metal now, your prep work now is really going to determine the finish you have. Any flaws from the get go will show through the paint. 1000 grit is not going to cut it. I would use 600 and then follow up with 800. Lay a coat of primer and then hit that with 1000 grit so its nice and smooth. Need to use very light coats for the first two you spray on. Keep your wrist locked, move fast, and stay the same distance away from the part the entire time. I like to paint about 5 inches away. On your 3rd+ coat you can start moving a little slower but not to slow as you could get runs.

 

why not a chemical stripper.and start fresh.

 

You need to use a good paint stripper first or you will be cussing and sanding all day. That will get rid of 90% of the paint and then follow with at least 220 sand paper then primer it and go over it with 400-600 paper (use water with the 400-600), primer again and then paint. It will look better than new.

 

I stripped it to the bare metal with my belt grinder 80 / 220/400/600 /800 made a gouge at 80 and had to reshape the gouge with an auto body hammer and sand it out and then painted it again . Got a blob so sprayed it with paint stripper scraped , sprayed it with paint stripper again . Now got rust clad or whatever primer and some more flat black . Third times a charm I hope. Wish I had my sandblast cabinet working would've saved a lot of heart ache now I know for next time . I'll post a pic of the finished product if I get there.

 

Sorry, I know its off the subject, but I like your exhaust. Was wondering how loud it was. I'm looking for something quieter than my V&H straight shots. Thanks. Nice looking bike you have.

 

Quieter then the SE Pipes without baffles but loud enough that you can hear them , nice pop pop pop sound , I'd make a vid but the exhaust and air cleaner is in pieces right now , maybe tonight once it's back together.

Here is where I'm at with the Ham Can , gonna stick with this and trim it some more once the rain sock comes , still drying it out a bit . Used Rustolem Camo ultra flat with 4 coats in the afternoon then Krylon textured flat black 3 coats around 10 to 11pm in the basement . Oh and 3m UV Bondo sucks ***, the end of the tube burst open when I first opened it then when I sanded it came out of the scratches , junk.






Thoughts? It'll look better on the bike with the chrome decal in the middle.
Anyone know of a good glossy black touch up pen for where I scraped the bike when bottoming out?

 

Thank you

 

That ham can came out looking really nice....good job!