Howdy all! I'm a new member, but I've been lurking for the past 2 years since I bought my '04 F. Well, last March, she decided to take a nap around a 90 degree bend into a mailbox. I rebuilt it shortly thereafter, but never got around to touching up the nicks on the tank. So, I decided this would be a great way way to document my progress and get involved in the community.

First off, I ordered a touch-up kit from Colorrite, which included primer, clearcoat, top coat (blue), sandpaper, tape, prep wipes, and a tack cloth. I also had to order the white base coat because it's a 2004... Yay.

Anyway, I taped off the areas before priming so I could sand them down a bit with 600 grit sandpaper to get rid of the minimal surface rust and even out the surface, and then used a prep wipe (degreaser) and a tack cloth to clean it up.

Before primer:


After primer and base coat (the primer ran a bit, but it should polish out once it's all said and done):


I'm going to let the base coat dry overnight while I go enjoy a few  .
I'll be back at it tomorrow for the top coat in between ripping the shocks off my car  .

Good luck, I'll keep up with this thread. I've got some gas tank work to do myself.

I think I would have used filler to fill in and feather it down and then primer/paint.

But post a link to the kit you bought as it might help others out

Good call, weedahoe. I thought about that after I got the base coat on. I'll hopefully be able to blend it fairly well with some polish once it's all said and done.

As for the kit, this is the one that I got (the touch-up pen kit): http://www.colorrite.com/product/suzuki-yc2-candy-grand-blue-1739.cfm
It also requires the 1043 base coat, as the 2004 has 3 stage paint: http://www.colorrite.com/product/1043-base-1173.cfm

And an updated pic of the first layer of top coat!


Not perfect, but I feel like it's coming together fairly well for my first touch-up job.

Like weed said, you could have put some, glazing puddy, is what its usually called, or finishing puddy and filled those little chips. You did a great Job on paint though, nice.

Thanks, Jacob. Like I said before, this is my first serious touch-up job. I've got the mechanical stuff down for the most part. I do most of my own work on both of my vehicles. I've just never had the confidence to to body work before. If it happens again (I pray that it doesn't), I'll definitely consider a small layer of filler to even out the surfaces.

As it stands right now, though, I've got the second layer of top coat on. I'm thinking I may do just one more to bring up the surface a bit, depending on how it looks later on.

Anyway, updated pic of the second coat:


I found a few more nicks on the bottom of the tank, most likely from setting it down while pulling the carbs. I'm in the process of priming those up. Now I get to wait for a couple of days to polish and blend.

For now, I'm off to go enjoy my girlfriend's 21st birthday! 

Happy Beer-thday to her!

- Bboy

Thanks, BBoy! She definitely enjoyed herself. She rediscovered gravity that night lol.

So, I've been lagging a bit in this project due to a new job offer and whatnot, but I finally have the final coat on all portions of the tank. All I have to do now is wait until I get home from Ohio on Sunday to polish/blend everything, then apply the clear coat.

Here it is with the final coat all dried up:


I'll be keeping up with the thread through Tapatalk, but I won't have any updated pictures until early next week. Have a good week everyone!

Hello, everyone, I'm home from Dayton after the Vectren Air Show.
I would first and foremost ask that you please take the time to read my other post, and honor Jane Wicker and Charlie Schwenker:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=64747.0

With the heaviness of that incident behind me for the moment, here is an updated pic of yet another coat:


I started to sand down the paint a bit to smooth it out, and decided to add another layer. It looks like this is going to be a bit more of a process. Does anyone have any recommendations for clear coat application? Should I clear coat first, or sand it down and clear coat as the last step?

I almost forgot that this post existed. My summer job had me at 50+ hours a week, which ate up most of my time. I hate second shift...

Anyway, I started buffing the spots down before applying the clear coat. I'm trying to get them to be as smooth as possible before I finish everything up. The buffing compound that came with the kit is working pretty well for blending the outer edges of the spots, but they're still a bit darker than the rest of the tank. I assume this is because the OEM paint is almost 10 years old, but it still kind of bugs me a bit. Does anyone have any recommendations for blending?

I don't know if they gave you a clear coat, but some 2k clear would blend the spots pretty well even if you can see them now, the clear will make everything look wet and new. It would help if we had some pictures to gauge how badly they need to be blended haha

It's basically the same as that last picture. I just buffed it a little bit to blend the edges. And yes, I got a clear coat pen with the kit, but I'm thinking some rattle can might be in order.

Definitely buy some 2k clear in the rattle can. Its only ~20 bucks and its really shiny and good quality gas resistant paint. Lots of members here use it. You could wet sand a little before, then do a three or four coats of 2k clear, should look like new.