I'm working my bike over replacing just about everything it seems [its a 91 that had sat in storage for 10yrs] n-e ways I've painted my wheels by fine grit sanding them down...meticulous cleaning then two coats of primer 3 coats of Krylon pain then a krylong clear coat...all from the spray can.....How long can I expect the paint to last if I wax the surface before installing the wheels back on?
As I"M NOT GOING to krylon the tank [for obvious lack of skill]...I though about powder coating it since I know a friend of a friend who works in a machine shop which has access to this process...
How does just regular paint that has been baked fair on a gas tank?
Graphics:
What's acrylic paint :dunno: ?
Is outdoor paint from like Lowe's/Home Depot that you can brush on good for the rear plastics on a GS500E..assuming I de-decale them and smooth out the nicks and what not?
acrylic is baiscally water based paint opposed to oil. why don't you just sprat paint the bady panels. there's even spray cans made specifically for plastic application.
Acrylic paint isnt neccesarily water based.
Basicaly, an acrylic paint is one that uses synthetic pigments (*very* finely ground plastics... hence acrylic) instead of natural pigments. It is possible to have an aqueous acrylic (popular with artists), or an acrylic lacquer (what most car paint is, and my favorite kind of paint for modelmaking/airbrushing), and so on.
The krylon on your wheels should last a fair amount of time if the surface was clean and properly prepared.
The last thing I would do is use a latex based exterior paint on a bike. First off, its very thick.... the trick tp painting for a smooth finish is to do lots of light coats with a spray apparatus. Unless you're painting a very small area with very thin paints, you're not going to get a smooth finish on metal or plastic with a brush.
My vote is for krylon, unless you want to invest a few hundred bucks in a basic painting rig (tank-equipped shop compressor and a low-range iwata paint gun).
Take your time, and it can look very good.
A few tips for spray painting well:
Prep the surface! Wash it thuroughly with a mild detergent, make sure any and all oil is off of it. Pretty obvious, and i think you've got that covered well :) Also sand with fine grit paper.... wet sanding is great, and less toxic. You really dont need to go too overboard with this since you're priming. 200-400 grit should be plenty.
Use several coats of primer, and wet sand between them. Spray a coat, let dry, and sand again with 600 grit. Take your time, and go until you've got a nice smooth layer of primer.
When it comes time to paint, use light coats, again... let them dry thuroughly between coats.
Also, heat the cans in a pot of hot water before spraying... this will greatly improve the quality of the spray. Just go light, dont worry about full coverage at first. Paint runs are a pain. :(
Check out this site, they have spray cans of lots of popular bike colors.
http://www.color-rite.com/
Wait at least 30 days for the paint to fully cure before waxing. If you wax too soon it traps gasses that need to be expelled for the paint to fully harden. The paint won't fully harden and you will be able to peel it off with your fingernail. Not good.
Make sure the clear coat you use on the tank is resistant to gasoline otherwise the first time you spill gas while filling, all your hard work will be ruined
YUP, panted my kawi 440 tank, came out nice, but didnt look to see if clear coat could handle gas, first time i slipped with fuel can it turned into a glazed doughnut. i havent redone the paint yet