Rattle Can Paint Job

Here is my Red tank. The red isn't quite as red in the photos as it is in real life. I would have preferred a deeper red but went with what Duplicolor had in acrylic enamal. I learned an aweful lot but still have some questions about how to get it to come out better. Here it is:

Rattle Can? Well it's awesome!

Did you use clear coat?

Rattle can, damn braggart, way to go! Got 'er done before bug season hit I see.
Keep that slightly weaker grade of paint well waxed in the hardest grade ya can rub out.

Nothing wrong with that paint job!! You wanna paint mine?? Cj

How did you do the artwork? Stencils? I'm supposing you clear coated the whole thing and polished it? Don't get gas on it or it won't hold up. You might want to think about taking it to a painter and having 2-pack put over it, about 2 coats, then it should stand up better. You can also buy spray can 2-pack, but I wouldn't use it without the correct respirator, unless you're really good at holding your breath. Don't get it in your eyes or skin either.

Dave
69S

DogT said:

Don't get gas on it or it won't hold up. You might want to think about taking it to a painter and having 2-pack put over it, about 2 coats, then it should stand up better.

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Agree!
I have tried rattle can clear a couple of times and gasoline will mess it up.

You definately don't want to inhale 2 part epoxy spray paint! I'm an airframe mechanic in the navy and we take precautions and go to great lenghts to make sure no one is exposed to that stuff when we are spraying in the hanger. Forget about just holding your breath you'd need a respirator for sure ( I know DogT was just making a joke but it's respirator all the way with that stuff ) Cj

Looks nice, so what questions did you have?
Brent
www.vintage=vendor.com
brent@vintage-vendor.com

Thanks everybody! The process was to do the body work and then prime and paint with the red. Wet sanded it with 2000 sand paper and then sprayed on the clear coat. I wet sanded that with the 2000 paper and then polished it out with some stuff from a 3M head light polishing kit. I used the 3000 grit disk from the kit by hand wet and then the polishing compound also by hand. That is it. The decals are Andover except one of the side covers. You can see the 7 has one corner cut off at an angle and the "D" is a bit different shape. That one was off of ebay from Leftcoast something or other.

My question is: How long do you have to wait before the next coat wont wrinkle the one below it? On one of the side covers I did clear coat then waited a couple of days and sprayed again. The first coat wrinkled a bit but since it was only the clear I went ahead and sprayed more on after an hour or so and just made it thich enough to wet sand. My new theory is that I should just paint the base coat and wet sand it about an hour later and spray clear. I'll have to try it since this job was pretty much dry between each coat.

I think I will see about the 2 pack. That would finish things off nicely since the clear on the tank is a bit thin compared to the side covers. (Even though it has about 3 1/2 cans on it!)

Test something besides that pretty tank with two-pack first. Sometimes the two pack clear will lift the rattle can paint just like the gasoline will. Jim

The clear coat thickness and wrinkle proness varies with the type of coat and temp and humidity, which tends to cloud the clear until dried. Color coat just needs to be cut lightly with sanding to hold the clear. Its better to go thin dry layer om thin dry layer of the clear till deep enough to rub back. It can stay soft a long time, as each layer taking up some of the next layers solvent. Don't ever leave masking tape on a long time or may imprint its texture with glue embedded too. I never knew what a chigger or no-see-em's looked like, even hunting online, till I painted parts in yard in summer, size of tips of eye lashes or finest wood splinter but stands out well in wet color coat. I chased my rattle can layer around fast as I could with a hair dyer to gel the surface not to stick on dust or bugs. Oh yeah Duplicolor wheel coat is gas resistant and pretty hard once full set.
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/wheelCoating/

Very nice job, you should be justifiably PROUD. I have painted a few of my own and mates tanks, and I recognize the work that has gone into those tins. I use 2 pak with a top quality respirator. A 2 pak clear would be a great protection for your hard earned efforts, but test on the underside. I know 2 pak will go over acrylic on small items like bike tanks. It may be worth scraping off the paint on the filler spout, then painting in a gas safe paint. The POR15 as used in tank liners or an equivalent just hand painted would do. Otherwise fuel will get under the paint and work it 's way onto the rest of the tank. Even 2 kay can get effected by gas after a while. Oh if your Ceandess fuel cap does not seal 100%, my fix is to use 2 standard o-rings in the recess of the tank spout, that seals mine up.

Cheers Richard

Impressive job with a rattle can - I can say that I have tried and failed to meet the standard yo have achieved.

I can't remember if it was Duplicolor or some other brand, but one job I did looked great for a year or two, then the clear started yellowing. If you can get a professional mix clear shot on top of your job, that would go a long way in terms of UV inhibitors and anti-yellowing. It was suggested to me that a local automotive body supply store may make up a rattle can, I think the paint inside will go bad in a few days, but it generally is good stuff.

stockie2 said:

...Oh if your Ceandess fuel cap does not seal 100%, my fix is to use 2 standard o-rings in the recess of the tank spout, that seals mine up.

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Can you describe further? I'm not grasping how the pair of O-rings work -- are they in the groove forming the tank mating surface for the cap?

I"ve had polyurtothane clear coats yellow in couple yrs but not the Dupilcolor wheel coat. Its not as clear and say enamel clear but way tougher to solvents, so sprayed in on polished parts to make wipe off easier and retain some sheen longer. Still good advice to find a cheap painter to clear coat with the 2 part stuff. I prepped and put the yellow on Trixie but local fella did the clear coat in a few layers for $100.

Sounds like hobot has the experience on this subject and I would concur with his advice regarding rattle cans.
Keep in mind if you take it to a professional to have it cleared, you will not have the same adhesion properties you would if this was done from the start as a true basecoat/clearcoat job. A catalyzed clear and basecoat form a chemical bond together. Think of it as "paint sex" if that helps. But just spraying clear, catalyzed or not, with not have that same reaction, which could result in peeling down the road. It would have to be wetsanded, then you would have to make sure there were no streaks or uneveness or it will only get magnified when clearing, It's a bit of a gamble, but at this point, you're already commited with the rattle can base, so still might offer the best gas resistance. just keep it protected and out of the weather when not in use, that includes sunshine, garage or cover when not riding.
Brent
http://www.vintage-vendor.com

I spilled gas and oil on one of my panels that had several coats of Duplicolor High performance wheel coat on it and it streaked. It had dried for several months too. It will take the occasional drop from filling however.

I never had any problems with wrinkling. When I did mine, I did the base coat, 3-4 coats about 10 minutes between and then went right to clear, same brand, and put 6-8 thin covering coats on, same procedure, 10 minutes apart one after the other. Then I sanded, and polished mostly by hand, tried a buffer, but was not any faster. By the time you get to 2000 or 2500, it doesn't take much to bring out the shine. Like I said I use, Scratch Out or one of the cutting compounds available for polishing.

My next trial is like B+ and the 2 stencils in black and metallic gold and another several coats of clear if it turns out OK, then see if the 2-pack will cover it.

Dave
69S

Dave Sorry to hear your months dried Duplicolor streaked on gas. I use a hair drier 2x's on my in yard paint jobs, first to gel over from bugs and dust motes, then later to heat to hard to handle to bake it hard. I sprayed Trixies engine covers in hopes to wipe off the grime for less dull finish and mostly did but do see some streaking/removal evidence after seasons of leaks and gas spills.

Duplicolor ad says its chemical and solvent resistant and I read of a fellow that tested in on engine covers just fine. Its a type of enamel that has a slight statin finish compared to hi end clear coats but once waxed it looks good. No matter the clear coat there is a thickness per application before drying well, that it will tend to cloud and wrinkle.

Wax or seal paint?
http://www.autogeek.net/qude101.html

I bought paint from my local suto paint store and it came with instructions. I can scan em and post em later when I get home. It would be a good bit of information.

it really just tells you the process of how to prep by what wet sanding grit to use etc. also they were very explicit about "flashing" times and when to spray and when to go to your clear coat.

The documentation for my paint said from base to clear the MAX time to wait is 24 hours. It was clear too in the documentation that they illustrated the base and clear chemically bind together when sprayed within this time. I believe this makes for a much more strong finish.

I read between the lines on the documentation and got everything ready to spray within a few hours from finishing the base. I had to do the vinyl so that took time then clean my gun and get ready. I really wanted to get the clear on there as soon as possible.

Re: Fuel cap seal job

Can you describe further? I'm not grasping how the pair of O-rings work -- are they in the groove forming the tank mating surface for the cap

Yes the o-rings fit in the recess in the top of the tank spout, so with two o-rings there, they just sit slightly proud of the spout and allows the rubber seal of the fuel cap to seal perfectly. The mating surface on my tank was not absolutely flat.

Hope this assists?