Topic: Rattlecanned Rustoleum Paint Job (Update with Pics of my 750 K4)

[pbbraun]

HondaMan,

Which clear coat did you find that will protect the tank from gasoline spills?  Have you applied it to your tank?  How long after the paint job did you apply it?  How long after application does it take before the clear coat cures?

Thanks for your contributions to the discussion.

[rbmgf7]

i used your polishing compound recipie and the results came out great.

[bradweingartner]

My buddy the body man wanted to pain his land rover but didn't feel like spending money on good paint for a woods beater. I suggested trying Rustoleum, to which he looked at me in disbelief.

Well, $20 later, he shot some black satin through his HVLP gun, thinned at like 5:1 with Acetone and it looks pretty darn good after a single coat and basically zero prep.

I'm convinced with some prep and setup and plenty of time color sanding you could get it to look real good for real cheap.

[wildcatmahone]

Hey thx for the comments all and I'm happy that some of you have tried my techniques after my posting....

Great paint job Wildcatmahone.

You said you used a heat gun.  How long did you use it and how do you know it baked at 400 degrees?  Wonder if baking the tank in an oven would work?  I have sealed my tank with Caswell Expoxy Tank Sealer and will check with them on the effect of heat on the sealer.

I got the heat temperature suggestion from the hot rod magazine article when they did a car with rustoleum.....enamel likes to be baked on.

More pics to come soon of the whole bike!

[JZEROE]

Paintjob looks amazing. How did you go about painting the bottom?

[tank410]

That job looks awesome. I am going to give it a try. Did you use the heat gun in-between each time you painted and sanded or just the last coat?  How long did you wait between steps?

[wildcatmahone]

Hey thx alot! Each step consisted of a light coat then a medium coat. I then waited for the paint to dry for 48 hours as per the instructions on the can. After all the coats were applied, wetsanded, I then baked the tank with my heat gun. Just so you know I used the Wagner variable temp gun.

Just a tip.
I did get a little orange peel while baking the tank and I had to wetsand some spots again. For future reference its a good idea to do the final wetsanding (1500-2000 grit) after the Rustoleum has been baked.

Cheers

[wildcatmahone]

So here she is finally got some friggin pics taken. 6 months on my Rustoleum job is holding up REALLY GOOD as you can see. I have splattered gas many times filling up and taking the fuel hoses off and no orange peel discoloring at all. I keep it waxed once a month and still has a mirror glass shine! Had a minor issue with the paint peeling under the filler cap a bit after installation. Got my x-acto knife and I trimmed the paint right below the fuel cap seal. Got to it just in time before it peeled any further. Word of advise to anyone spraying their tank just be sure to tape off where the fuel cap seals to avoid this. Or use the Spraymax clear but it's not neccesary to get a nice lookin tank. All in all a BULLETPROOF job. Enjoy!

[pbbraun]

WARNING ******** Anyone considering using clearcoat on a MC tank please read this first.


I refinished my MC tank using black lacquer.  It turned out great.  The black lacquer alone scratched relatively easily.  I then applied clear coat that I got from the local auto parts store.  Gas fried the clear coat and I had to start all over.  I have redone the tank and the paint looked great.   I then applied Eastman's 2 part Spray Max clear coat.  Where this product appears to be bullet proof to gas, it is not easy to work with and the finish when polished is not as nice as that of the polished paint alone.  I may strip the tank again and start with Rustoleum and forget the clear coat

[Hush]

Nice finish, (watch that Asian guy in the taxi,I think he's gonna steal ya bike!).
Looks like the best way to travel in that city.

[andy8190]

how did you get the gas cap off, i have been looking and cant find info on that