Undoing Sun damage to paint

The top of my tank looks to be a light maroon which nicely darkens as you look to the bottom sides of the tank. Under the flap where the seat sits though is the tell-tale sign that it used to be "Ruby Red", not Burgundy as I first thought.

I don't have experience in paint restoration but know this part of Connecticut sucks when it comes to getting a decent price for repainting anything. I had the lowest estimate for $300 for a smaller tank painted one color only, I know it'll be the same or more for a larger tank.

So perhaps the damage is to the clear coat or maybe it's now to the bone. Is there any good way to tell if it's clear coat or the paint itself that has the UV damage? And how would I go about removing the damage if it's clear coat or if it's down into the paint itself?

Wish there was an Earl Schieb around here, they did a great job on an old T-Bird I had & they were cheap too.

 

Earl Schibe? I didn't think anyone was old enough to remember his commercials....."I'll paint any car for $99.99...." LOL

I'm no painting expert but having had a part in bring back to life well over a few bikes, I can tell you that if it were just the clearcoat, you would have a white "residue" over the tank and not the fading that you see. The paint itself has faded I'm afraid.

Believe it or not, you can paint it yourself with astounding results by following a few tips.....learn how to use a rattle can by buying cheap paint at the dollar store and practicing after reading up on the right way of doing it.

When your "learned", go to your local paint supply store and have them inject auto paint into rattle cans for you, you'll need two cans, and pick up a can or two of Spraymax 2K clear coat cutin or the other clear coat they make.......I have replicated factory jobs doing just that! Send me a pm with your email and I'll send you the pics....they are pretty amazing.

Total outlay, around 80 bucks!
jeff

 

20-50 Mobil oil in the drive shaft? That's a new one on me.....I've only ever used 90 weight.......

 

The 20-50 is Amsol synthetic oil in the engine. The Mobil 1 is gear oil & its in the driveshaft.

 

Oh ok! Past my bedtime - 10.30 pm here!

 

Im going to have to look into that!

 

I'm not that old.......and I still remember the ads. Heck - I even remember how to spell it correctly: Earl SCHEIB .

The Earl Scheib '99 dollar paint-job stores have gone out of business. Individual stores are now onder individual owners and they can do whatever they want. Many of the prices are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay high now.

Just FYI

dave F

 

In 1980 I let some yahoos paint my Pinto for $50, but I had to buy the gallon of auto paint for $10.00 - you can't get auto paint anywhere near that cheap today.

They screwed it up by not de-greasing it and since it had a whole bunch of "fish eyes" they didn't even charge me.

De-grease - prime - seal your work. Prep is 90 % of a paintjob.

 

used to do auto body repair, this is absolutely correct, don't underestimate the importance of prep

 

....and do not, repeat do not use DupliColor clear coat....even with six coats + cut + glaze + meguiars, gas just ate through it..........never again..

JeffK: How good is the Spraymax 2K clear? How many coats needed?

Dave

 

Base coat / clear coat paint is very expensive no matter how you cut it. The base coat it not that bad but when you have to buy a gallon of clear and hardner and reducer for it. You might as well have a body shop spray it for you. A mixed pint of base and pint of mixed clear is about all that is needed. Maybe a quick wet sand and extra clear sprayed on for extra protection.
You could just use a single stage paint but gas could attack it and you could be right back where you started. It's a coin toss depending on budget and what your needs are.

MN

 

The SprayMax 2K clear coat is the only spray-can clear that is fuel resistant that we've found and use............

 

Yamma,

I sprayed one very light coat to set the decals, let it dry, then one fairly heavy coat as I remember.....it came out pretty amazing. Len is on the one of course....the Spraymax is a two part, button actuated product with an inner container that mixes with the main charge when the button is moved and depressed to actuate the stuff. Not cheap at 20-24 per can but well worth it since it goes on like liquid glass! It is the only clear I use for my resto's. I have 2 brand new guns, never even bothered to connect them to my compressor after my rattle/spraymax came out so good. That's what I do now on each bike.

I would not buy any dupli product.....just my experience.


I sent Gary the pics, we'll see his take on it.......again, I'm not a painter by any stretch but I thought it came out great for the money.
jeff

 

Thanks Len and Jeff...local price for clearcoating tank only is $100....Just one question on the Spraymax: Is there a timeframe from last finish coat to application of the Spraymax? Local painter has 16 hour window for clear to bond with top coat.

KA1J: You need the right clear coat to finish the job....anything cheap gets eaten by the gas...bin there.....

Dave