Re-Gloss my Paintjob!?

[Narcissus]

Just a stupid painting question, I painted my dash all black now and its super glossy, unlike my dulled tank. Can anyone recommend an easy way to regloss a paintjob other then polishing? I'm not too concerned about the imperfection (scratches mostly0 in the paint being removed, I just want it to be glossy like it was new. Can anyone come to my rescue?

[Queso]

Duplicolor sells this kind of paint that's clear, and all it's for is "glossifying" old paint. You can also get it with glitter 

[Narcissus]

I see they have a general purpose paint called crystal clear, which must be their clear coat. Can I apply this right ontop of my existing paint after a quick polishing session?

[Onlypastrana199]

Some clear coats require you to wet sand, not a big deal but it looks gross till you actually spray the clear. Clear should gloss it right back up...I don't hae experience with the clear in a can though.....Chuck might be able to answer this...

[Narcissus]

Well I e-mailed duplicolor asking about how I could apply the clearcoat on an existing paintjob and hopefully I'll hear back from them soon!

[Chuck]

If your tank is dull because it's not very smooth, I'd sand a bit first.  Maybe a 1000, 1500, then 2000.  You have to be careful if it's factory paint because if you sand through to primer it would be really hard to match it up.  But that's probably not the case.

You can feel it with your hands though, if you run your fingers along the surface does it feel smooth?  If so, you can just spray some clear coat on it.  You'll have to sand and polish the clear coat, but it will look great when it's done.

One caveat with painting a tank.  You have to do one of two things.  1- get a clear coat that is resistant to gasoline, or 2- NEVER NEVER GET GASOLINE ON YOUR NEWLY PAINTED TANK!   Gasoline will eat away regular clear coat, especially in the first months where it's still setting.  After a month or two, you'll be okay as long as you wipe it up quickly, even if it's "regular" paint, so maybe it's not so serious.  Just be careful when it's fresh.

[Narcissus]

its still very smooth, its just a bit dull and I'd like to shine the bike up before I sell it, and I have the intent of selling the bike in better condition then I bought it, other then the 2000+ kms I put on it hahaha. Thanks!!!

[CRXDrew]

this is what I would do if i wanted to keep it.... so read this as the prefered method of polishing a clear coat...

-wetsand (you know fine sand paper with constant clean water flow) with 1500 then 2000 paper

-use rotary buffer w/ fine rubbing compound

-same thing then with ultra fine polishing compound

(If done properly the paint will look like glass)


Or... just wetsand as mentioned, degrease and hit it with some clear coat in a can. I suggest a clear coat made for wheels. Duplicolor as always is my recommendation.

[Kasumi]

1) Drain and remove the tank.

2) Clean it with some parafin (keroscene) or if not oily use some soapy water.

3) WET sand the entire painting surface with some very fine paper. It may not seem to make any difference but trust me it does, you need to do this until the entire tank is done. Just a light sanding will be enough to "rough" up and prep the surface so the paint will stick. For scratchs you can try reduce them using some corser grain paper but then make sure you go over with fine afterwards.

4.) Wipe the tank off, no dust or any dirt should be on the tank otherwise the paint wont stick. If your worried about dirt thinners (which is what you mix with paint in a spray gun) will clean it off and evaporate to leave a good surface but this is not neccessary.

5.) Using the clear coat - if it comes in a spray can (rattle can) apply evenly a good few inches away from the tank (perhaps 2-3 not sure exactly it will say on the can) Here its better to do lots of very thin layers than lots of thick ones. The worst thing you can do is let it run.

6.) Once its done if your happy with the finish then just polish it up. If not give it another quick sand and go again.

This should make it shiney and glossy. Over here in sunny old england (not) clearcoat paint is sometimes known as laquer. You spray it on to make a nice shiney surface and to protect the paintwork and any decals or vinyls. Sounds like you have the clearcoat paint sorted though.

Good luck!

[Narcissus]

I clear coated a few peices that go around my guages and I'm not super happy with the way they turned out, kind of bumpy. But I'm assuming I could apply a few new layers the way Kasumi described then polish those new layers the way CRX described before him to get a very smooth glass-like finish without the minor blemishes a spray can produces (bumps). I find the bumps are only produced when I use light layers however, if I use a thick layer created with several passes it creates a thick and level coat, which hasn't resulted in drips yet... Thanks guys! I really need the help 

[Kasumi]

Yep that should work, be careful using a power tool buffer, im not advising against it just be careful they can make things get real hot real quick and you dont want any meltings, lightly with the buffer and/or polisher.

[Narcissus]

Me and my father are going splits on a buffer made for this purpose, so we're going to find something with a very low, and adjustable RPM rate.