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Hi my magna tank is purple now, but want to change it to black. How should I go about this procedure? Sand old paint off or paint over it? Im completely new at this...
Rattle can spray paint.
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Sand the clear off the stickers so you can peel them, then sand the whole thing smooth. The stock paint is really a good base to paint over, it's just getting the ridges from the stickers smoothed out.Hi my magna tank is purple now, but want to change it to black. How should I go about this procedure? Sand old paint off or paint over it? Im completely new at this...
Sand everything smooth, then prime it and paint it. Warm the paint with hot tap water to get the paint to atomize better. Keep it warm and it will flow smoothly. Do a light coat from about 8-10" to get a tack surface, then within about 15-20 minutes apply another coat at about 8" getting most of the surface to color. The key point is to NOT put too much paint on to the point where it runs or sags. Continue with maybe about 4 coats. When you do the color coat each progressive coat should be a bit heavier and the final coat fairly wet and shiny - a good coat - but not so much paint as to run.
All sanding should use water - wet sanding. Use only wet/dry from an auto parts store, 220 to rough sand to get the stickers off, then smooth out the ridges and go to 400 before priming. After letting the primer dry sufficiently use 600 grit to wet sand the primer for color coat prep. If you should let the color coat dry completely or do multiple colors, wet sand the color coat lightly till the shine is gone, using the 600 and water again. Usually you can put on a few coats without letting the paint fully dry, but if you do delay do NOT try to wet sand too soon, be patient and let it sit for a few hours or more. I'd paint and let it dry overnight, wet sand and paint again, let dry overnight and do it again when I did that flame fade from yellow to red.
After your final color coat, let the paint dry thoroughly, then wet sand with 600 to take out any "orange peel", smoothing the surface. Don't sand through by any stretch. Then rub out the paint with some good rubbing compound. Technically the rubbing action actually does two things, the abrasive cuts the peaks off the paint surface and the heat from rubbing causes the paint to "flow" a bit, smoothing to that shiny surface. Final rub out would be with really fine polishing compound and should end up with a glass-like finish. If you apply clear, all you'll do is wet sand the color coat to scuff the paint for the clear to adhere.
Again, keep the paint can warm to the touch. I usually hold it under hot tap water or sit it in a pan or sink of hot tap water. Obviously DO NOT put it in a pan on a stove.
When it comes to bare color coat or clear coats I will tell you gas will eat most spray can paint these days. There is a two part clear coat in a spray that is on par with current pro finishes for gas resistance. Consider doing that clear coat. It's not cheap, but if you have as good a job as the one I'm showing below, it would be well worth it. It is called SprayMax 2K urethane and can be gotten from R&E Paint supply. They are on-line, but the policy of this forum not allowing links prohibits me from hooking you up. PM me if you want the link.
This paint job was done with Krylon $2.98 a can paint. It is a poor picture, the paint job was exellent, some people accusing me of lying when I said I did it myself. The worst mistake was getting the wrong "pro" to spray a clear coat on it. He didn't scuff the paint, which allowed the clear to lift when it got a small stone chip. Ruined the paint job. I wish they'd have had the two stage clear back then.
I knew what I was doing with cans, I've just never had the time and equipment to try to mix and spray like a pro. I did cans because one pro I knew did the detail on my old flat tracker using a spray bomb, he said for the amount of paint the stripe took it wasn't worth mixing paint and that laquer (at that time what was used) was laquer. His results bore that out, I learned from him, so I wasn't afraid to do the spray can paint job.
Have a go at it, keep the paint warm, don't get impatient and cause a run, and have some fun.
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Or sit it in a pan or bowl of hot tap water. I run it as hot as it can run, probably about 130-150 degrees or so, whatever the water heater was set at. Just wipe all water off the can so it doesn't drip on the fresh paint.
If you've spray painted before you'll be amazed at how nice it sprays and flows. When I was doing that tank it was a 60something degree day and I could tell when I let the paint get too cool, it would spit slightly. I'd rewarm the can.
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Thanks Makk53! Just what I was looking for, I will just be going from a purple to a flat black on my 84 Magna tank!
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Mark, you have proven my point that a rattlecan job can look every bit as professional as one done in a specialized paint room with 15G of equipment.
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Few questions, so sand the paint already on there to bare metal or just smooth it out?
What kind of primer? Do you sand the primer?
After a coat of paint you sand the paint too?
Final coat you DO NOT sand correct?
What kind of primer? Do you sand the primer?
After a coat of paint you sand the paint too?
Final coat you DO NOT sand correct?
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Sand the paint on there, cut through deep enough to get any stickers off, then smooth it out completely to the touch - touch tells the truth. I just used cheap primer.
Wet sand the primer between coats if you let it dry out completely. If you're applying a coat within 10 minutes of the previous coat, sanding isn't needed.
Sand lightly to scuff the primer surface everywhere before color coating. Again, scuff the color coat if you let it dry completely. If you spray another coat within 10 minutes no sanding. If you don't, let the paint dry completely then shoot another coat either about six hours later (my opinion, making sure the paint is dry and wet sanding won't screw it up) or I let it go overnight.
Final coat is wet sanded - called a color sand - before being rubbed out. It's done to smooth out any orange peel (pebble grain appearance). Then the paint is rubbed out with regular rubbing compound to get that good shine. Then the final finish job will be polishing compound to look like glass.
If you spray a clear, and I recommend that two part clear, the color coat should be lightly scuffed again to help the clear adhere. That's where the goofball screwed mine up. The smooth paint - regardless of whether it's primer, color, or clear - will not allow the next coat to adhere properly. The 600 grit is fine enough that the rubbing compound will smooth the scratches over... but make sure to use lots of water whenever sanding.
Here's the progression:
initial sand to get the clear cut over stickers and initial smoothing - 320 grit.
smoothing process to cut down ridges from clear over stickers - 400 grit to start followed by 600 grit
all paint sanding - 600 grit
it is possible to save some rubbing time if you use 1000 or 1500 grit in the color sand after final paint application.
Wet sand the primer between coats if you let it dry out completely. If you're applying a coat within 10 minutes of the previous coat, sanding isn't needed.
Sand lightly to scuff the primer surface everywhere before color coating. Again, scuff the color coat if you let it dry completely. If you spray another coat within 10 minutes no sanding. If you don't, let the paint dry completely then shoot another coat either about six hours later (my opinion, making sure the paint is dry and wet sanding won't screw it up) or I let it go overnight.
Final coat is wet sanded - called a color sand - before being rubbed out. It's done to smooth out any orange peel (pebble grain appearance). Then the paint is rubbed out with regular rubbing compound to get that good shine. Then the final finish job will be polishing compound to look like glass.
If you spray a clear, and I recommend that two part clear, the color coat should be lightly scuffed again to help the clear adhere. That's where the goofball screwed mine up. The smooth paint - regardless of whether it's primer, color, or clear - will not allow the next coat to adhere properly. The 600 grit is fine enough that the rubbing compound will smooth the scratches over... but make sure to use lots of water whenever sanding.
Here's the progression:
initial sand to get the clear cut over stickers and initial smoothing - 320 grit.
smoothing process to cut down ridges from clear over stickers - 400 grit to start followed by 600 grit
all paint sanding - 600 grit
it is possible to save some rubbing time if you use 1000 or 1500 grit in the color sand after final paint application.
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Wow thanks for the great info! I will definently give it a go! (once the snow drift is melted infront of my bike storage.)
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Is a sprayer any easier if I have an air compressor? I have a buddy that has an automotive sprayer, although I've never used one, nor know how good it is...
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The key is what my friend the pro, who said it was all in prep and technique. It is all pretty much identical to using the good equipment, but the spray band is much smaller than the full size guns. You've got to do proper prep for the primer and the paint, do the spray with care and proper technique, then do the proper finish work on the dry paint. I will say I didn't color sand or rub out paint for about a week after a paint job just because I wanted to make sure it was reasonably cured - but I don't know for sure that it has to wait that long. I just figure you can't wait too long, but you can do it too soon.
I've not use the new Krylon paint with the nozzle that allows a fan pattern instead of the round sort of dot pattern they all had till now. I really want to try it out, should make it easier to get a more uniform spray. With the round spray there is more concentration of paint in the center of the spray. With the fan pattern it should be pretty much the same concentration over most of the width of the fan pattern.
Then there is the color sand and finish rub out/buff that many probably don't do with spray cans. That's how the shine comes out of about any paint job.
Bikes with minimal bodywork are prime candidates for spray can work, small surfaces and all. Big fairing panels can be a bit tougher with spray cans.
( Need some post count )
I use 3 coats of rattle can rustoleum black enamel spray paint and let that dry. Rub some paint thinner on, tack cloth, and then spray some clear coat and let that dry. Hit it with 1000 grit sandpaper and polish with megulars compound to get rid of the orange peel.
)I use 3 coats of rattle can rustoleum black enamel spray paint and let that dry. Rub some paint thinner on, tack cloth, and then spray some clear coat and let that dry. Hit it with 1000 grit sandpaper and polish with megulars compound to get rid of the orange peel.
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+1 on the two part clear coat. There is no point in taking your time to do a good job painting your tank only to have a few errant drops of gasoline eat through it. I wish I knew about this several years ago when I rattle canned my old Intruder tank. I spent a lot of time making the paint on my tank look great. In fact it looked at least as good as the factory paint. But, when fueling, I discovered that even a single drop of gas would damage the finish.
Hey Markk53, I am going to use a desert Tan for my paint and do not want it to shine. I am looking for the flat look. However I do not want gas to rip it off. What can I use to protect it without giving it a shine?
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