I know painting comes up a lot and I had my share of questions regarding this so Im posting whatever/whenever I can to help out those seeking some tips.
I painted my gas tank the same as the sidecovers.
Materials:
Harbor Freight "purple gun" model 43430 - regulator at the gun set at 50 lbs
21 gal compressor with regulator set at 90 lbs
Used PPG Shopline (budget paint) single stage black, medium hardener, fast reducer
Sprayed the first coat light but wet, waiting about 10 minutes for the paint to flash, then applied two more coats with 10 minutes between those coats. Paint flowed really well with very little orange peel. I let the paint dry for 2 days, then wetsanded (lots and lots of water) with 2000 grit until all same color.
For the tank I used my rotary buffer and 2 rounds of 3M rubbing compound for the first initial cut. Super glossy already, then used my orbital buffer and Maguiers Scratch X (a little goes a long way). Man, that stuff is awesome. Use a microfiber towel to wipe clean and reapply until youre happy. Then use Nu Finish polish to wrap it all up.
The pictures dont do the sidecovers justice, but here they are:
Left one is wetsanded, just before getting buffed.
