Topic: Painting gas tank

[thenewbie]

Is it terribly hard to paint your own tank and also to get it to come out decent?

[stereosilence]

I used spraymax and it went well.

[Hasenkopf]

if you mess up, you can always do it over!

[xnoahx]

The trick to getting good paint results is in the prep work.  Having a good clean, smooth surface does wonders for the finish.  I have used single stage urathane paints on bikes before for good results.  Products like Spraymax make the job a lot easier if you dont have a spraygun and the equipment to use it.  You can get good results from regular spray paint but a lot of times fuel will eat those up so a drip on your tank at the pump will mess up all your work.

[RFogelsong]

I painted mine using a HVLP setup with guidance from an experienced painter.  It really is all prep.  I probably spent 6 hours wet sanding, but it came out great and I didn't even wet sand after the final coats, just didn't need to.  Not hard, just time consuming.  Where I wouldn't feel comfortable is if a lot of metal pulling gets involved.

[Cabilao]

check this link:  http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=10993.0
nice tutorial for rattlecan painting.

[flybox1]

Is it terribly hard to paint your own tank and also to get it to come out decent?

No, but the better you prep the tank, and the cleaner your paint booth, the better the end result.  I did mine over ~4 weeks.  had a pretty bruised tank to start with.
the paint part of my bikes revival ---> http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=105018.msg1194845#msg1194845

[Holubs]

I took a class at the local community college to learn basic painting techniques.  Was well worth the couple hundred dollars it cost. 

I second the importance of prep work, our instructor ("Special" Ed Simmering) told us many times:  "Clean, clean, clean, then when you are certain that it couldn't be any cleaner, clean it once more."

We did a class project (mine is in my ID photo) to prep, prime, paint, and clear coat a 2'x2' piece of steel.  My kids helped me cut a blown-up Honda emblem out of a sheet of contact paper.

Holubs

[70CB750]

I worked in a shop that did a lot of painting - mostly old corvettes.  One of the best tricks to deal with sandable primer is to spray a light coat of cheap black paint over it before you start sanding.  The black against the primer will show you all the not so smoth areas.

Myself - I think I will do preparation work on mine and outsorce the painting. 

[flybox1]

I worked in a shop that did a lot of painting - mostly old corvettes.  One of the best tricks to deal with sandable primer is to spray a light coat of cheap black paint over it before you start sanding.  The black against the primer will show you all the not so smoth areas.

+1!!!  this was the best trick I learned during my first tank painting. 

[RFogelsong]

Color sanding is great, it's how I did my tank and sidecovers, but I would suggest staying away from rattle cans as the top color.  They can cause fisheyes depending on the type of paint (color and clearcoat) you're using

[thenewbie]

My tank has a few little dents in it, how would i get those to come out or do you guys just bondo over it? And what about spoked wheels? Keep in mind i dont have a sand blaster.

[70CB750]

I used JB weld epoxy to fill them in.

[Lostboy Steve]

I just had my tank powder-coated (to match bike) and I don't know who did it, but for 100$ my powder-coater had a guy remove EVERY dent. Tank looks BRAND NEW.

[lucky]

Powder coating is the absolute best!
It is rock hard and smooth as glass and fuel proof!

If you want to line the inside of the tank it must be done AFTER powder coating.

Second best is painting with enamel and putting MAX2K clear coat over the top.
Then it will be fuel proof.
MAX2K will go over Rustoleum enamel.

[Stoli]

Any testimonials out there for Eastman's Urethane paint?  Was thinking about finishing my tank with 3 coats of their Boulevard Black Urethane then topping with a few coats of the Urethane Clear. Will be spraying with my HPLV gun. Was wondering how the stuff stands up to gas and other solvents as well as UV protection.

[Geeto67]

My tank has a few little dents in it, how would i get those to come out or do you guys just bondo over it?

Bondo is the brand name of a cheap talcum based filler. Yes the filler in bondo is talcum powder like your barber uses. Why is that important? talcum absorbs moisture and over time will rust the metal underneath it and ruin the paint on top of it. You want a quality filler that isn't moisture sensitive like marglass (fiberglass filler). ideally you want it against bare metal to get the best adhesion, but you can use it over factory applied primer.