Fuel Tank is finally painted

Well folks. I know it's been a while since many of you heard from me here. I've been kept pretty busy lately.

Anyway. Here it is. I finally completed the repair and paint of my 750 Maxim tank for my 650 Maxim. I went with gloss black for the center/top of the tank. I painted the sides a gloss black with a prism-flake mixed into it. I laid down the graphics and pin striping (all in white vinyl). Then I used about 8 coats of clear over everything. Wet sanded and polished. Now all there is to do is install the petcock and put it on the bike.

Let me know what you all think.

 

Supurb!
What a nice job.
It's great to be able to do the really expensive restoration work yourself ... huh?

(Before you mount the tank ... stop-in at an Auto Parts store and grab some Door Edge Vinyl Strip. Black, white, whatever they got that might make the Tank look better with the Seam covered. If you decide to hide the seam with door edge:

Heat a Beach Towel in the dryer.
Wrap the Door Edge in the hot towel for 30-seconds
Apply the strip to the seam while warm and pliable
Seat it good with a firm palm thrust
Prep the end to be mated to a continuation strip with a new razor
Make a mitre-type angled cut.
Mitre the beginning of the continuation strip
Throw the towel back in the dryer
Do the next strip

Bring a 1-Inch sample of the edging vinyl to the drug store.
Hand it to the pretty girl and have her get you a bottle of Nail Polish to match
Hide the Mitre ends with coats of Nail Polish until it disappears.

 

I'm thinking of using a 750 tank on my 650 as well. Can't wait to see pictures!

 

Wow! nice job, I'll be doing this at some point but first getting it running right, still a challenge for me at this point

 

oops! wonder how that happened double post, sorry

 

Sharp tank... it looks great. You did a great job on it. Pinstripes I usually don't like, but it really set off the look of this tank.

 

What kind of paint did you use? Is this a done with a compressor/paint gun or is this rattle can?

I'm trying to decide what to do with the paint on my bike, so advice would be great. I've seen a couple good ones done with spray paint, but I've also heard you can rent sprayers various places, which could be worth it if the difference it quality is great.

 

Looks fantastic. Great job!

 

Great paintjob!

 

I used automotive grade paint. It was applied with a bottom feed gun at 35psi.

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby, they have the exact same type of gun I used on this tank for about $14 (usually $9 on sale). Then all you will need is a compressor/regulator capable of the flow used by the gun.

Here is a like to the unit I used.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mnumber=86

 

I just picked up a new polish and some microfibre applicators. I was able to continue polishing parts of the tank. My goodness how I like this new polish. The freshly polished areas are looking almost like a mirror. I'll take more pics after it's all completed.

 

Thanks, wink. I can probably get my hands on a compressor.

These might be noob questions, but how long does the real paint take to dry (*fully*, like to where I can put things back together), how much does it cost, and where is the best place to get it?

Thanks!

 

What polish are you using?

 

I went to a local auto parts supplier that carries Dupont automotive paints. The paint cost a bit. But it wasn't horrible. About 3 times what you can get Dupli-color at your local chain parts store. But it's much better than Duplicolor. I always try to use a eurothane base paint. Duplicolor uses a lacquer based paint (which doesn't hold up as well. When mixed (with the proper reducer) the paint will start to tack up to the touch within a few minutes. My paint was cured enough to wet sand overnight.

Bill, I first tried using Turtle Wax's past polish. But for some reason, it just wasn't giving me the desired results. From there, I went to Turtle Wax's liquid polish. Albeit much better results, I still wasn't completely satisfied. But once I went to Mcguire's cleaner, I was finally able to achieve the "mirror" finish I desired. But in order to get to that point, I had to use the high speed buffer. Then I polished by hand with a microfibre applicator. Once this second stage was completed, I was very pleased. Then, as a final task, I used a good yellow wax (Mcguires).


Hope this helps,

 

Mcguires is god stuff - the name keeps coming up. I have been using the turtle liquid with decent results but like you not completely satisfied. Thanks!