Motorcycle Forum banner

Can I get away with a rattle can (spray paint) paint job

49K views 27 replies 25 participants last post by  cattzap 
#1 ·
I just got my first bike and I love every aspect of it except the paint.

It's really not worth it to me to spend any significant money to paint the bike but I'd really like to try to paint the bike myself.

If I did the job I'd just be doing a flat black for the whole bike. I would basically pay someone to clear the original paint. Then prime paint and top coat the bike all with home depot spray paint ( the sell specific automotive spray paints that I would assume are meant to be pretty durable in the outdoors. My thought is that if I have the original sanding done proffesionally and then do the rest of the job well, I should end up with a durable finished product.

Am i getting myself into trouble or is their a chance that this would work out.
 
#2 ·
You can do it yourself. Unless there is rust or dents, you can do the sanding too. The purpose of sanding is to rough up the surface so that the new paint has something to stick to. As far as the automotive paint from Home Depot. I would test it before I committed to it. Get a piece of metal, paint it and see how it works. Then drip some gas on it and see if it bubbles. You may also want to leave it out in the sun / rain for awhile to see how durable it is. It would be bad to do all the prep work just to have the paint fail.
 
#5 ·
I did a little bit of surface preparation and this is my rattle can work, without buffing yet. So its possible, still will never be as good as a professional job. The main problem I have found, is the terrible spray pattern that you get, which is also usually unreliable, can spit if not shaken for about 10 million hours before spraying... etc etc etc.

but hey, im a complete amateur, so why not give it a go?



 
#6 ·
If you want to do flat black, its pretty easy, i prefer gloss though (but orange peel is a killer for inexperienced peeps like me)

1- sand it down, as much as possible to get the old finish off start with a lower grit like 220 and work up till about 800, no higher as it tends to stop the new paint from sticking.

2. give it a good wash and use some wax/grease remover. I use white spirit cause im cheap. :p

3. give it a few coats of your choice of primer, i usually use etch primer on most things just because i tend to sand or strip to bare metal. ive never had a problem with paint cracking or peeling off plastics with etch primer but you can also use a plastic primer if you wish.

4. give that a LIGHT sanding with 800, wash and repeat the grease remover step. Use some spray putty to even it all out, sand, wash etc again.

5. give it a few light coats of colour, then some heavier ones, then some more. dont stay too long in one spot or come too close or you will get runs, dont do it too light or too far away or you will end up with sandpaper as paint. practice makes perfect here, i still make mistakes, lots of them. and they are annoying.

6. let it touch dry, then set it somewhere safe. let it cure for a WEEK! trust me, ive screwed up 2 paint jobs for this reason. ESPECIALLY if you are going to use a clear coat. For some reason when you spray the clear it just eats into the freshly dried paint, and BONZAI! your hard work is ruined.

if you cant find a matt clear, you might want to just keep a few cans of black paint handy. the clearcoat also evens up all the mismatched spray patterns you get in the raw colour coat with rattle cans.

hope it helps a bit, just some advice from a backyard DIY bum.
 
#8 ·
Keep the paint warm. I warm the can by running hot tap water on the can or sitting the can in a pan of hot tap water. No way do you heat it on a stove - too much risk of blowing up a can if it gets too hot.

Warm paint atomizes better. Too cold and it will start to spit droplets.

Use 600 grit as the finest for sanding, using wet/dry and sandind with water and a drip of dish soap (keeps paint from loading up the paper).

Be careful to be even with the final coat, otherwise you'll get a striping effect. I painted my Zephyr with semi-gloss and that was the hardest part, to get an even finish.

If I had it to do over, I'd do a regular gloss color (still might), because you can color sand it, rub it out, and buff it to make a uniform high gloss finish. I've done it several times before,

The only current weakness of doing spray can jobs is that gas will eat into most of them. But there is a two part catalyzed paint in a spray can now. I'll be trying that out next.
 
#11 ·
Deffinatly use Duplicolor, once the color is down, use a clearcoat, it prevents fading and brings out the wet gloss. I'v done several restorations of Bultaco dirtbikes, and they looked factory or better, also a Yamaha RD 350 some years ago. If you can afford it Harbor Freight hac some pretty inexpensive spray cans in the quart range, all you need then is an air compressor from a friend for a day. But yea, you can pull off a nice job with cans. It can never be stressed, prep work and sanding, then a primo primer will help you pull it off.
 
#12 ·
You might look into a product called Plasti-Dip. I know it's available at Home Depot. I have seen people spray their truck's wheels with little to no prep and it turns out great! Just some food for thought.

It's honestly what I plan on doing to mine this winter. I believe they have multiple colors and it comes out looking like a matte finish. I will either do black or a dark gray.
 
#25 ·
You might look into a product called Plasti-Dip. I know it's available at Home Depot. I have seen people spray their truck's wheels with little to no prep and it turns out great! Just some food for thought.

It's honestly what I plan on doing to mine this winter. I believe they have multiple colors and it comes out looking like a matte finish. I will either do black or a dark gray.
Anybody thinking about Plasti-dip, beware. Although its easy to get a nice finish if done inside and easy to clean up overspray, only use it for a temporary solution. Its awesome for making sure you'll like the color before making permanent changes. So be ready to peel it all off one every month or two, tape off chrome and restraining because one drop of gas will ruin the tank and anywhere you make the slightest contact (putting down the kickstand causes me to rub the lower cover on mine) will be peeled off pretty quick. I've had to spray again 5 times in a year and am now slowly doing flat black with a rattle can since its more durable.

You can smooth out Plasti-dip with your finger and a few drops of gas, then spray the area, but it's more work than using real paint, then sanding scratches and touching up. If your original powder coat isn't messed up and you can live with the color, keep it so you can spend more time riding than you do touching up your paint.
 

Attachments

#13 ·
Scuff original paint with a red 3m pad. Wipe down areas with a wax and grease remover.....sometimes called final prep.

Now you have a good clean surface that the paint will adhere to.

Spray paint that biatch.

This is flat OD out of a rattle can....Krylon that WalMart sells.

Its been on the bike a couple years....no issues.



If you do it right it shouldnt take any longer then a 6 pack.....maybe 12 if your jamming out to some good music and the paint fumes get to you.
 
#16 ·
this is all rattle cans -


took a lot longer than if i'd done it in the workshop at work, but thought it would be a bit cheeky seeing as i was off sick at the time lol.

take your time.
use your sense of smell. the last coat isn't cured if you can still smell it.
t cut before lacquering, and get some uv & fuel proof clear coat on top.

no reason why a rattle job can't be as good as the factory finish.
i do recommend you get good quality 1 pack aerosols though - the acrylic paints you buy in the shops aren't as good imo due to the solvents having a higher flash point and don't evaporate as fast, meaning the cure time is a lot longer.

for smaller components, put them in the oven and bake at 70c - gives a very hard finish.

good luck - show some pics of the finished job :thumbsup:
 
#17 ·
rattle canning a vehichle is really not as hard as you'd think....

home depot has everything.

you need

1. a sander, as cheap as $30, but $50 min for a good one, and get some sand paper.

2. primer - get two cans of primer

3. paint - flat black enamel.

4. clear coat.
 
#18 ·
I’m a mechanic by trade but grew up in a paint shop. I have painted many cars and bikes and I can tell you the proof of the pudding is in the preparation. There are several sites on line that will teach the techniques of getting a quality paint job, they will all tell you that the prep work is the most critical.

Needless to say I don’t like rattle cans, however most of the cost of a paint job is in the preparation. If you take tank and fenders to a shop and they see that the prep work is done well they are just may give you a very decent price on painting. Here is a little know trick. Ask what leftover colors they have that would be enough to paint your bike. That left over paint has already been paid for. If you go with a two stage paint obviously they won’t have any extra top coat but will probably have plenty of left over base coat.

DO NOT paint the base coat and then delay putting on the clear coat, it will eventually separate if you do. Most paints want the top coat put on within no more than 24 hrs but that is dependent on the temperature. Perfect temp for painting is 70 degrees with low humidity
 
#19 ·
the one thing i found out about flat black is that if you dont clear coat it every little drop of oil,gas, and whatever shows up...even the oils from your skin will make a mark on the paint. It can be cleaned off with 409 or windex but its just a bit of a pain in the but when you go somewere and want to show it off
 
#23 ·
merckid ... on the clear coat, would a satin finish clear coat keep the flat black finish 'flat'? and does that help to stop the smudges? Amazing what you guys are creating there with a little bit of extra time and prep.

Only thing I've ever applied a finish to is furniture/art ... definitely agree that prep can make a good job great, or keep one back on the "do-over" shelf.

shervinator - cute about the prom queen's paint ...
 
#24 ·
too lame to read the entire thread, this may have been mentioned already.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make with rattle can paint jobs is they are too eager to finish. They hold the can too close to the work and apply coats that are too thick. This results in an uneven coating which tends to have striping. The directions on the can say to hold it further away than most want to, if you follow those and do many lighter coats it will come out looking better. Also when you spray do an even pass until past the edge of what you are painting, then come back. If you stop and change direction while still over what you are painting you can get an uneven application of paint where you stopped, slowed, changed direction, etc and that can look worse.

Its all about slow even painting.

This video shows the technique although they do not say it. Watch when the primer is applied how he oversprays. I did not finish watching, just enough to see that the technique I was trying to describe was shown. There may be other tips in this video that are useful to you.

 
#26 ·
Plasti-dip, beware

Agreed. My son put that stuff all over his car and it looked good the first day but in weeks it turned into a nightmare. It is not durable at all, any little thing makes it peel or bubble. Getting it off is not just peel it like the adds show. He used goo gone to get rid of a lot of it. You;'ll never talk him (or me) into that again.
 
#27 ·
Plasti-dip, beware

Agreed. My son put that stuff all over his car and it looked good the first day but in weeks it turned into a nightmare. It is not durable at all, any little thing makes it peel or bubble. Getting it off is not just peel it like the adds show. He used goo gone to get rid of a lot of it. You;'ll never talk him (or me) into that again.
Yup, I logged in for opinions on rattle can jobs, then went out and peeled until my fingers bled. So far I have the rear fender peeled. Never again.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top