how much??

how many cans of spray paint should it take to cover a seca 750??

 

What do you plan to paint on it? Frame and all or just bits and pieces?

As a reference point, I covered my old GMC sonoma from top to bottom with 7 cans of Rustoleum spray paint, so I think you'd be able to do an entire bike with 2 cans, 3 if you want to play it safe.

 

just doing the tins now. hitting it with candy apple red and then putting duplicolors sparkly on it with a good clear coat.

 

I painted my bike with cans I used 2 metallic black and 2 metallic dark red .

I have about 1/3rd of a can of black and 1/2 can of red.

 

Dude, if you're going to paint it with rattle-can paint, LAYER IT ON.

Because I'm more interested in paying off debt than dropping serious coin on a professional paintjob, I've been doing some serious experimentation with rattle-can paint. (I had a ton of it in my basement)

I laid it on, what I thought was thick enough and clear coated it too. My fender has been blasted with road debris and it's wearing right through. My fuel tank had some gasoline splashed on it, and it melted the clear coat.

I painted a spare fuel tank I had, stripped it completely, primed it, and really layered the paint, over and over and over, and when I thought it was enough, I still added some more. Then I did the same with clear coat. Layer, after layer and still more layers.

In trying to install it, I had a bad petcock leak, and running to the backyard to drain it, I spilled fuel all over it and it didn't do a single thing to the paint. I've left it in the back yard to see how it wears and it looks great. Too bad I can't use it. :roll:

The moral of the story is, rattle can paint can look good but use many, many, thin layers and many, many thin layers of clear coat until it's indestructible.

 

I'm going to burst your bubble Sushi (nothing personal I assure you), but many layers of rattle can (usually enamel or lacquer) will not make it impervious to fuel, no matter how many layers you lay down. Only use of the correct materials will assure that (certain types of polyurethane and polycyanides, poly epoxies, etc...there are others). Spring the extra dough and have a paint shop mix up some clear poly for you to lay down after you wetsand your pigment layers nice and smooth. Runs about $35 a can here (Ventura valley) and has a shelf life of 8 hours. Hard as nails and will stand up to fuel.

 

Ok, I overstated a little. Repeated exposure to fuel will eat rattle can paint away. The 2 times I exposed my spare tank's paint to fuel (and it wasn't a little spill), the paint job stood up to it.

 

I plan on just taking my peices parts of my bike off and takin it to a paint shop. Gas tank, front and back fender, side panels. They wont charge too too much if they dont gotta take it apart. I got my XJ700 appraised at 60 bucks. Ta-daa. 40 if I sand it for em

 

well i did it with 4 cans. way to much my friend kept opening up a new can when we started another piece. it looks great with candy apple and the sparkly effex over my excellently placed stickers. i cant wait to get these pictures of them on here. im not going to have them on the bike for a while but ill get some good pictures.

 

I do car restorations and can personally attest to the fact that spray can paint is not what you want to use. But, there is another, easy and not too expensive option for the do-it-yourselfer. Buy the paint from an automotive paint store. (Thousands of colors to choose from) Go with the base coat - clear coat system and get the necessary hardner and thinner. To apply, buy one or two "Preval" sprayers (same store). They consist of a small glass jar with a charged cartridge that screws on to the bottle. It has a valve on the top just like a spray can. Mix your base color per directions (one bottle will easily do a fender, maybe two as it does not to be thick, just even) and spray like you would with a can. Let cure then repeat with several coats of a two-part clear coat. After curing, wet sand with 1500 - 2000 grit McGuires sandpaper, and buff. It will look 100% pro and will last many moons. If you spray a bit of lacquer thinner through the sprayer when finished, you can reuse the Preval over and over. I've used this to repair spots on show cars or to repair and blend small dents. And remember, surface preparation is about 80% of a good paint job.

 

Nice, Cole. I'll look into that. Do you use etching primer if you go down to bare metal?

 

Etching primer probably not required. I typically treat bare metal with a liquid etching solution (cheap), rinse very well, dry with lint free cloth, then use a high build primer, sand smooth to eliminate any scratch marks, wipe again with a lint free cloth or tack rag, then paint. If you see or feel any imperfections before you paint, they will show up like a nose pimple after you paint. You can use a lacquer-base primer to save money, instead of the two-part primer, but let it cure for a day or two before painting. Those solvents need to evaporate. Good luck. With a bit of practice, you'll be able to work wonders.

 

Thanks for the excellent advice. I might be able to abandon the rattle-cans after all.

 

I've mentioned this before, but this clearcoat was a great find....by someone here that I can't remember.
http://www.uschem.com/index.cfm?page=pr ... =141&pid=2

2 part clear in a rattle can with a very nice nozzle (superior to preval sprayers IMO)
It's about $17 a can and one can did all my tins with no mixing or mess.

I agree with cole about the automotive pain. LOTs of colors available and not that much more expensive.

I'd recommend very fine wet sanding between coats since the preval sprayer still isn't perfectly smooth.