Thanks Cliff, you're embarrassing me. From what I see your work is top notch.
Anyway, time for an update. I received my clear coat on Saturday. Monday morning I gave the covers a quick once-over to make sure they hadn’t tarnished at all and dropped them off at the painter’s. He shot them Monday and I picked them up Tuesday night. I debated using some other products but I wanted a more permanent solution and decided to do the same as my K0 even though that was somewhat of a nightmare. I ended up using Eastwoods Diamond Clear Extreme. Last time it took me 3 tries to get it right.
First go round I used an Eastwood spray can clear coat. For whatever reason it just peeled right off. Maybe it just wasn’t clean enough. After stripping and “rebrushing” I chose the Diamond Clear Extreme for the second try. That time the painter couldn't get to it right away so I asked him to make sure they still looked good before he shot them. Well he touched them up but didn't really pay attention to the “brush” stroke direction and between the fingerprints and runs and sags they were a disaster. Here's where the big problem came in. I tried all kinds of nasty solvents and even Aircraft Remover and nothing would touch it. After an hour using sandpaper (the stuff is hard as nails) I finally sent them out for bead blasting and polishing. Then I brought them back to a satin finish with the Scotchbrite. Third time, as they say, was a charm. Then I ran into another problem. I tried to paint the black around HONDA on the rotor cover and the paint would not stick, it just beaded up. So after trying a couple different things I found the Bulldog Adhesion Promoter. Here are the products I used.
The first thing I did was mask the area around HONDA. I didn't worry about the letters or getting too close to the recess I just wanted to reduce the amount of paint that had to be wiped off.
First I sprayed it will the adhesion promoter. Even that wants to bead up so while it's still wet I used the tip of a 1” paintbrush to make sure the recess is completely covered. I did two coats. After the second coat I waited 10 minutes and sprayed the black, two coats and used the brush again between the coats. I used the Duplicolor DE1635 semi-gloss black. It may be a little shinier than original but I think the DE1634 low gloss is too dull. After another 10 minutes I peeled off the masking and used a piece of blue paper shop towel wrapped tightly around a small flat block to wipe off the excess paint. I dampen the towel with acetone and only make one wipe per piece.
Here's the finished product along side a NOS cover. Can you tell which one is the restore? They both have imperfections and the restored one is just slightly less shiny than the NOS one and I think than my K0 ones. This could be because the K0 ones were more polished when I used the Scotchbrite to bring it back to the more satin, brushed look and I did so some 800 and 1000 grit wet sanding before finishing with the white Scotchbrite this time . In person you could definitely tell the difference but by itself, on the bike, from a few feet away it will look pretty close.
Now a disclaimer. I am not recommending this process; this is just what I did. If you try it you are at your own risk. My brushing method is close but not perfect. The clear coat is totally unforgiving if you make a mistake and my painter says not to breath it, it's the nastiest s**t He's ever seen (plus its about $50 for that little can) and I don't know how well it would stick to a brightly polished surface. If you use a different clear coat I'm not sure you could use my spray and wipe method, the paint might stick much better. Also it remains to be seen how well the black will hold up over time. It's been on the K0 for two years but I don't use anything strong near it when I wash the bike. If you try it good luck. If you find something that works better please let me know. I'm going to find some old covers and do some more experimenting (when my fingers are healed up). I wish I could find out how Honda did it. My guess is it was some kind of long, soft, fine grit rotary bristle brush.
Now I just need my zinc plating!
