It’s been a semi-productive, semi-frustrating weekend here, at the Project headquarters. Saturday, we had a beautiful 60-degree day – probably the last one of the season. Thus, painting was in order.
When I work on a project like this, I like to get all the cleaning, painting, and repairs done before reassembly. There is nothing worse than having bins full of parts, working on putting everything together, only to come across a piece that needs to be painted or fixed or replaced, which then stalls the entire project. No, there is a method to my madness – having all done and ready before the D-day.
Lets just say that I have learned from past mistakes, when I restored/fixed/hacked an FZ 600, and a Shadow 750.
So, where do I begin…
Working on the various painted parts, I soon came to realize why the previous owner applied the hideous camouflage paint: It was to hide all the nicks, scratches, and dents in the bodywork. Lets begin with the tank. I started sanding off the paint and discovered a blue/white/green combo factory paint underneath. Unfortunately, I also came across some rust spots and a fairly large dent in the right side of the tank. Along with a few smaller dents, this needed to be filled in. Working with a fuel tank, I did not want to use the power sander so as not to heat the metal up too much. Maybe this was an unnecessary safety precaution, but the smell of gas residue does not combine well with the close-proximity of an electric motor. Hand sanding it was. Seeing that the paint did not want to come off, I resorted to using a 60 grit paper to get to bare metal in and around the dents, to get a good “grab” surface for the fiberglass filler. Instead of a plain-old Bondo, I used a short strand reinforced body filler, which I have used in the past with good results. It provides for about 5-8 minutes working time and can be sanded in less than 30 minutes. The small dents were easy, but the large dent required two applications – first to fill the dent, and the second to contour the filler to match the tank’s curves. A couple of hours later I had it all primed and ready for paint. For a final color choice – despite the “push for green” – I went with a gloss black. There is a simple reason for this: This is what I had on hand, and the bike being a project on a budget, I have to save wherever I can. Using acrylic enamel, four coats of paint, followed by four coats of clear, were shot about 10 minutes apart. The tank is now drying, waiting for final sanding (wet-1500 grit) and buffing. This was a simple “rattle-can” paint job, but with the right prep it should last a while a weather well.
While waiting for primer to dry and so forth, I painted the frame and sub-frame with a “hammered” finish Rust-Oleum can. Of course, the frame was scuffed and primed as well. In my experience, this inexpensive paint is very durable if applied properly, and easily repaired if needed. The frame of a bike that will see a lot of off-road use is hardly the place to get fancy, so this finish is more than adequate. I’ve used this paint in the past inside fenders, and it amazed me how much abuse the cured paint can sustain without damage. This about concludes the semi-productive part.
Now onto the frustrating part:
The plastic panels were covered in the same camouflage paint, but removing it proved more complicated than with the metal tank. Sanding with 60 grit paper would kill the soft plastic, wire brushing was not an option either, and acetone would just eat the plastic away. After many unsuccessful attempts, I resorted to using a 150grit paper on a handheld power sander. Some of the paint came off easily, while the black base held on like glue. This was not expected, as the camouflage chipped without much effort. Sanding it, however, I discovered that the black was not fully cured and got sticky, clogging the paper very quickly. After many hours of fruitless labor, I was left with plastic panels that looked awful. Scratches, dings, and rough spots.
I sanded it as smooth as I could, then primed, only to discover that it needed sanding again. Now, if the previous owner would just let it be white as it used to be, I wouldn’t have all these problems. Well, after three separate coats of primer and three separate sandings, I have plastic panels that are not smooth yet, and need more primer/sanding. I, however, ran out of suitable sunlight/temperature and had to stop. By mid afternoon, it’s gotten too cool for paint to work properly.
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| Primed Plastic Parts |
On another positive note, my new-to-me sidecover arrived Saturday night via FedEx. It was an Ebay find for $13.99, and it looks to be in a very good shape.
For now, the engine sits on top of my workbench, as I’m still waiting for the kickstart spring. Once that arrives, I’ll start taking the engine apart.
Everything else is stacked on the side.
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