Painting GB400 fuel tank.

[mark247]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if it is a good idea doing a DIY job on my fuel tank with some decent spray cans or should i pay for someone to do it? I have spray painted before, but i do want this to look really good. I only want one colour ( black most likely )

If you think its a good idea doing a DIY job, what type of spray cans should i use? And is there anything i should reallllly look out for when spray painting my tank?

Oh and if you have done home DIY jobs on ya bike before, it would be great to see how they came out so i can compare them to actually paying someone my hard earned money.

Cheers guys.

[Busy]

You get what you pay for ...

Ideally you want to etch prime the tank first then prime then paint and clear, using a 2 pot is best as is a lot more durable.

You can do a decent job with spray bombs but it involves a lot of sanding between coats, lots of evening out and lots of grades of sand paper - 320 up to 1200 or greater

[Dodgyiti]

Both these tanks were done with a $30 Badger air gun I bought 10 years ago.

I would go that way because you have a lot more control of the paint, in application, thickness or thinness of the mix and it gives you the option to put in a pearl or metalic over coat or into the clear coat- that sort of thing makes it look pro.

I have done 3 spray can jobs and they are a very convinent thing. The problem is; no matter how well you apply the paint, it always looks like a spray can job. Automotive paint shops will mix paint and put it into a few cans for you, so if you have to go down that path it would be the best option.
It will cost more than off the shelf stuff, but you can rest assured it is of good quality and they can add all sorts to it if you ask. I use AutoColor in Henderson for all my paints.
Clear coating, and making sure the clear coat is compatible with the base color is a great way to give depth and look pro as well.
With my Badger I spray primer, filler primer, top and clear coats- look after something like that and it will repay you time and time again.

The all black tank has 1/2 a teaspoon of silica in the clear and sparkles in the sun- and looks straight black in the shade . The gold double pinstripe was $1.20 a metre, I used 800mm and it was my first go at laying on stripes.

The red and black one I did two weeks ago and needs a few more clear coats, I was going for an original look.