Topic: Terry's Boneyard Barn find Budget Suzuki T500 Reanimation.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Per, I quite like the colour too, I'm glad that you suggested it. Acrylic lacquer is fuel proof, so no issues, but I'm going one step further, I found some special 2K clear coat in rattle cans from a company in Sydney, so I bought 2 cans. I'll use a couple of coats of clear lacquer to seal it before I apply the decals, then hit it with the 2K clear, and it should be good for another 47 years.    

[PeWe]

My copper brown K2 got 2k glossy clear from Spraymax.
It is very hard and do not mind fuel now and then.
Good if can is warm for better flow since the clear was rather thick.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah mate, I always painted cars with acrylic lacquer, but I did a BMW with 2K, it's dangerous stuff but the results are really nice.

[Terry in Australia]

Well the weather went back to winter today, so I didn't get much done, but that's OK, I wasn't expecting to anyway. It rained on and off all day, so I spent my day getting my wife to give me a Covid-19 lockdown haircut (my first, and hopefully last..) then I degreased the swingarm with a sharp blade on my Exacto knife, as the grease was so old it had petrified, so no amount of degreaser was gonna move it. I'll sneak it around to my sandblasters tomorrow and hopefully get it back in time for some warm dry weather, so I can paint it, install the forks, wheels, shocks etc, and have a rolling frame to shove the engine back into, once I put it together.

I wandered out to the garage to have a look at the paint, and was surprised that regardless of my troubles yesterday, it was as smooth as a baby's bum. I wiped it over with some wax and grease remover, and sprayed another coat of blue on, and was happy with the result.

T500 Sunday 29 Aug 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

All going well I won't need to put any more paint on it, just some clear lacquer, then the decals, and then the 2K clear. I better buy a new sidecover so I can spray it and the oil tank, and then I only need to paint the frame, swingarm, battery box, airbox etc. Getting closer, hope some more parts turn up soon.

[grcamna2]

That's a nice shade of color blue Terry 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, and there's a story therein. The original color was a Mazda Miata blue, but I didn't have enough, and when I checked my online "Click and collect" Repco order from Thursday I realised that there was no stock, so I'd be waiting awhile. OK, I scoured all the Repco stores, and found some more a couple of suburbs over, so ordered it. Success! No, 5 minutes later, got a phone call, they were out of stock also, and they checked their computer, no stocks anywhere! I said, well do you have anything close to that color? "No, try Autobarn".

Okay, tried Autobarn, same/same, no stock, of anything even like it, so I went back to Supercheap Auto, and found another blue that was close, a Ford color, and as you know I'm a Ford man, so I ordered two cans, and 30 minutes later got a text message to say it was ready for collection. Bonus! To be honest it's actually slightly closer to the 1974 T500 color than the Miata color, (to my color blind eyes, at least) so while either one would have been OK, I'm not unhappy.

[PeWe]

The clear coat will make it to sparkle much more and deeper!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Per, usually I don't like to paint metallics until the weather is warmer, but of course, when we get warm days here, we get lots of dry overspray, so this painting stuff on cool days is interesting to me, as there is no dry overspray, and being cool (but not humid) allows the paint to flow out much better. Maybe I should do all my tank painting in winter?

[ekpent]

 I would be temped to paint a little piece of sacrificial metal with the blue and then use it as a little test just to make sure the clear overcoats are all compatible with each other and the blue if not specifically designed to work together.  Be a bummer to get a bad reaction at the end of the game.

[PeWe]

Good idea, Eric! 
I have seen how expensive paint  crackled in front of my eyes. All layers 2k car paint.
Golden stripes/graphics on top of maroon red metallic which was my plan for my  K6 1982-83. The maroon red metallic was a 2 layer paint, final clear within 30 minutes after last layer.
Doing all taping for the golden stripes took a lot of time, in vain..... Strange...clear was from Sikkens which I use later and it was very durable. Difficult to scratch it.

[grcamna2]

Thanks Bill, and there's a story therein. The original color was a Mazda Miata blue, but I didn't have enough, and when I checked my online "Click and collect" Repco order from Thursday I realised that there was no stock, so I'd be waiting awhile. OK, I scoured all the Repco stores, and found some more a couple of suburbs over, so ordered it. Success! No, 5 minutes later, got a phone call, they were out of stock also, and they checked their computer, no stocks anywhere! I said, well do you have anything close to that color? "No, try Autobarn".

Okay, tried Autobarn, same/same, no stock, of anything even like it, so I went back to Supercheap Auto, and found another blue that was close, a Ford color, and as you know I'm a Ford man, so I ordered two cans, and 30 minutes later got a text message to say it was ready for collection. Bonus! To be honest it's actually slightly closer to the 1974 T500 color than the Miata color, (to my color blind eyes, at least) so while either one would have been OK, I'm not unhappy.

Terry,that blue does look a bit more pale than the blue you had used to paint your F2:just a lighter shade but similar to the picture Eric posted of the T500?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Eric, 2K is a hardened enamel, so much less aggressive solvents than Acrylic lacquer, and no problem coating acrylic lacquer that has cured with 2K clear, it’s an old painters trick that I’ve done many times. Where people stuff up is spraying acrylic lacquer over enamel, the harsh solvents react with the enamel and destroy it. I used 2K over acrylic on the K0 tank too, and that’s what gave it such a deep gloss.

[ekpent]

 You know the ropes then. Having had a furniture refinishing business in the past and many hours under my belt holding a spray gun you quickly learn what can be sprayed over on top of whatever else. Fingers crossed for no orange peel or fish-eyes !!   

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks mate, orange peel is caused by the solvents evaporating faster than the paint can flow out, and fish eyes is caused by a reaction to silicon contamination. There are lots of products you can add to your gun if you're a pro, but amateur's like me farting around with rattle cans are at the mercy of the elements.

I'm painting it in the confines of my garage just because it's bloody windy at the moment, and a rattle can doesn't have much "Ooomph" behind it, so the still air in my garage, plus that fact that it's slightly warmer than outside (even in summer, when it's sweltering) is the best I can do right now. There may be some orange peel, but that's OK, I'll "wet rub" the clear to flatten it before I apply the decals anyway, and it's good to build up a nice clearcoat to seal the paint to protect it from fuel spills, birdsh1t, and even UV fade. I've been sneaking out today every hour or so and giving the tank another coat of clear, and I'm pretty happy with the result. A couple of minor sags, but I'll rub them out when it cures, it sure is looking glossy though:

T500 Monday 30 Aug 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I had to laugh this morning, Repco sent me a message to tell me that my Mazda blue paint had come in, but that's OK, I can use some of it for the base coat for the oil tank and the new repro sidecover that I just bought, from the US. I just dropped the frame and swingarm off at the sandblasters (it's gonna be bead blasted, but I've never heard of taking a frame to the "Bead Blaster"?) and with luck I'll get them back on a nice sunny day so I can paint it outside, as I can't do it in my garage, as there's just not enough room. No biggie, I just want to make sure I can put a rolling chassis together in anticipation of me putting the engine together. It's all happening!    

[ken65]

That tank looks pretty good to me Terry.  Good result.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Ken, the only good thing about cool weather is the paint gets to flow out before it dries, so I’ll leave it alone now until the decals turn up from Britain, then rub it back smooth, apply the decals and hit it with the 2K clear. I may as well strip the oil tank and paint it while I’m waiting, that way I can test the 2K clear on it before I do the tank.

[Terry in Australia]

The day started out wet and cold, but improved slightly, to sunny, windy and cold. The tank looked so good I decided to leave it alone, so instead I stripped the paint off the oil tank. There were two oil tanks that came with the T500, but it appears that one had been dropped on the bottom threaded lug, which is slightly bent forwards. The other one had a couple of dings in it, but otherwise looks OK, and I'm pretty sure I bought another sight glass assembly for the T350 but didn't use it, so I'll find that when I've painted it. I might even polish the alloy cap. Maybe.

Anyway, I filled the dents and hit it up with some high build primer, and tomorrow I'll rub it smooth, and maybe hit it with some paint.

T500 Tuesday 31 Aug 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Talking about paint, I've explained that I couldn't find the same shade of paint on the weekend so I used a Ford color. Today I compared them, and while I'm color blind, they really do look like the same color to me? What do you guys think?

T500 Tuesday 31 Aug 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

The guy doing my vapor blasting sent me an update with the pic I posted a couple of days ago, but then went quiet. When I first spoke to him he boasted that if I dropped them off Friday he'd give them back to me on Saturday, so I spoke to him last night, and he's having a little bit of trouble getting some old black paint off the fins. He tried to tell me that they'd been powdercoated, and I laughed and explained that these old parts have been sitting in an old guys garage since before powdercoating was a "thing" here in Oz, and to use some aggressibe paint stripper, like the stuff I use, which will remove just about anything except the sins of the Nazis.

He told me that he used a really strong citrus based stripper, and I laughed and told him to go buy the Septone stuff but no, he's going to persevere with lemon juice, so I said, "no worries, but I want everything back no later than Friday, whether you finish it (and get paid) or not. He was going to go back out to his garage after dinner last night and keep going. With luck he'll swallow his pride and get it done properly, I don't want to paint the parts, that'd piss me off. We'll see.    

[jgger]

I'm not too good with color either, but to me the one marked T500 looks a shade greener. Almost a dirtier version of the one on the left.

[KennyRedman]

Thanks mate, orange peel is caused by the solvents evaporating faster than the paint can flow out, and fish eyes is caused by a reaction to silicon contamination. There are lots of products you can add to your gun if you're a pro, but amateur's like me farting around with rattle cans are at the mercy of the elements.

I'm painting it in the confines of my garage just because it's bloody windy at the moment, and a rattle can doesn't have much "Ooomph" behind it, so the still air in my garage, plus that fact that it's slightly warmer than outside (even in summer, when it's sweltering) is the best I can do right now. There may be some orange peel, but that's OK, I'll "wet rub" the clear to flatten it before I apply the decals anyway, and it's good to build up a nice clearcoat to seal the paint to protect it from fuel spills, birdsh1t, and even UV fade. I've been sneaking out today every hour or so and giving the tank another coat of clear, and I'm pretty happy with the result. A couple of minor sags, but I'll rub them out when it cures, it sure is looking glossy though:

T500 Monday 30 Aug 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I had to laugh this morning, Repco sent me a message to tell me that my Mazda blue paint had come in, but that's OK, I can use some of it for the base coat for the oil tank and the new repro sidecover that I just bought, from the US. I just dropped the frame and swingarm off at the sandblasters (it's gonna be bead blasted, but I've never heard of taking a frame to the "Bead Blaster"?) and with luck I'll get them back on a nice sunny day so I can paint it outside, as I can't do it in my garage, as there's just not enough room. No biggie, I just want to make sure I can put a rolling chassis together in anticipation of me putting the engine together. It's all happening!    

Looks great. Dig the color.

[grcamna2]

I'm not too good with color either, but to me the one marked T500 looks a shade greener. Almost a dirtier version of the one on the left.

When you finally get some sunlight there,take both cans outside and the difference(if any)may be revealed.Nice colors. 

[MauiK3]

These smart phones and computers seem to struggle with green. Photos of my K3 candy blue green look "bluer" than it really is.

[RAFster122s]

One on left appears to be just a hair darker, but sunlight would be a better judging light to view them, as has been said.
You do nice rattlecan paint work Terry. I'll let you do any of mine if ya come for a visit... Ha!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I'm happy with it so far. Now for me, the turning point in any build, is painting the frame. Once the frame is painted, I can take all the parts that have been cleaned, de-rusted, painted, or replaced (I was gonna add "polished", but I'm not really a fan) and start assembling a motorcycle from a pile of parts that arrived here in tubs, and to me, apart from the first few shake out rides, this is the most satisfying time, seeing an actual motorcycle born from a pile of junk parts.

Today, the first day of Spring here in Oz, was a cracker of a day, 23 degrees C, (73 deg F) the warmest day since May, and brilliant sunshine. I had a phone consultation with my doc, who prescribed more Melatonin and Morphine (mixes well with ginger beer) so I went to drop off the SMS message prescriptions (they have to make the stuff for me specially) and picked up some chicken and fries for the family lunch. After lunch I called the sandblaster just to enquire as to when the frame would be finished, only to be told that it was finished, and to come and get it. Woohoo!

I raced over there and collected it, and was happy with the result, looked terrific.

T500 Wednesday 1 Sep 2021 a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Now I usually paint them in my driveway, but there's still the remains of a tree in there at the moment, so I dragged it around behind the laundry. I only had just less than one full can of Rustoleum as I'd ordered two on the weekend, but hadn't received notice that it was ready to collect, so I was super careful with it, hoping to get the frame done with enough coverage that if we got any rain overnight, (doubtful, but it's happened before) it wouldn't "flash rust". I was so desperate that I painted the swingarm with some epoxy enamel that I'd bought to do the K0 frame last year. Good thing I did too, as I ran out of Rustoleum with a bit more of the main frame left to do.

T500 Wednesday 1 Sep 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I went back inside and did some more paid work, then an hour or so later I got a SMS message from Bunnings saying that my Rustoleum was ready to collect, so I booked a time to pick it up, drove over and grabbed my 2 new cans. By this time the paint on the frame had 2 hours to dry, so I flipped the frame over and painted all the bits I'd previously missed. I was pretty happy with the result, yes, there were a couple of runs, but hell, that just gives it character!

T500 Wednesday 1 Sep 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyhoo, all going well tomorrow, I'll start assembling it. I'm still waiting on the new Dunlop K70 tyres, but the 47 year old Dunlop K70's will be safe enough to go for a lap or two around the block, they're in much better condition than the 20(+) year old Dunlops (no idea what type they are) on the CB750A, which are absolutely buggared. I'm not sure if I have the correct bolts for the fenders etc, but I should be able to make something work, probably rednecking at it's finest.

Also, my gaskets arrived from Canada today, so I want to assemble the engine, but the "oil dams" for the gearbox haven't arrived yet. I was looking on Youtube at the "fix" and saw a good vid with pretty clear instructions, so if the "dams" haven't arrived by the weekend, I might have to get the welder out. I haven't done any alloy welding in years, and so I don't bugger my good cases, I might have to practise on my old cases first.....We'll see.

T500 Wednesday 1 Sep 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[RAFster122s]

Nice progress, hope Mrs P isn't going to take it out of your hide for the overspray on the wall...

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, I'll scrub that, and the overspray on the concrete off tomorrow David..........