Painting

[jesseweaver]

Does anyone know how hard it is to paint a-arms? i want to paint my a arms. i have no idea of what paint to use etc.. and i dont have the money for powder coating right now. would it be possible to paint the swingarm too?

[miller821]

Not very hard. I've done my A-Arms and Swinger. Take your time and it'll come out good. And I just used rustoleum spray paint on the A-Arms, and a pretty cheap paint on the swing arm.

Here's a pic of the swinger.. Lil bit dirty.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/400exrider4eva/Quads/Quad6.jpg

This is probably the best I have of the A-Arms.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/400exrider4eva/Quads/Quad5.jpg

[jesseweaver]

thanks. also, how many coats did you put on? did you put any kind of clear coat on it to protect it? Did you use any kind of primer?

[jesseweaver]

o yea, how long would it take? could i get it done in 2 weeks. by sep 29?

[JOEX]

Originally posted by jesseweaver
o yea, how long would it take? could i get it done in 2 weeks. by sep 29?
Should be able to do it in a day or two. Make sure the parts are prepped well. Remove all dirt, grease, rust and loose paint. Prime bare spots. Spray new paint using several thin coats. Spray a few coats of clear and reinstall after the are dry.

PJ-1 brand has the color that matches stock. Awhile back someone mentioned another more readily available brand that matches as well but I don't remember the name.

ride hard man's paint job looks pretty good;)

[jesseweaver]

ok thanks. i think im gonna try it.

what about painting the a-arms because i need to do that too. I thought you couldnt paint them because you couldnt remove the ball joints?

[miller821]

Originally posted by FoxHondaRider
what about painting the a-arms because i need to do that too. I thought you couldnt paint them because you couldnt remove the ball joints?

Thats if you were to powdercoat them. Spray paint won't hurt them at all.

But like JOEX stated, take your time and it should look good. The worst part is just going to be getting your axle out if your not use to doing it. Can be a bit frustrating but shouldn't take you no longer then 3 days to have this finished up.

[flauge]

What all did you do to get your a-arms painted up? Like with prep and what not? I need to paint mine quick. There starting to chip and rust in some spots and look like shid.:scary:

so what all do I need to do to paint them? what do i disasemble?

[jesseweaver]

how hard is it to take the swingarm and the aarms off?

[JOEX]

Originally posted by jesseweaver
how hard is it to take the swingarm and the aarms off?
The hardest part about the a-arms can be removing them from the spindle. There's a post in the steering & suspension section right now talking about that.

The swing arm is a bit more involved and if it has never been removed then it could be a nightmare because the pivot bolt is notorious for difficult. Some people have resorted to cutting the swingarm to get it off, not going to work in your case:p

The lock nuts can be a pain as well but not impossible.

I'm still a little confused on what needs to be taken off. I assume my brake lines need to be disconected? I hope not because I just put my new steel braided on.

[JOEX]

Originally posted by FoxHondaRider
I'm still a little confused on what needs to be taken off. I assume my brake lines need to be disconected? I hope not because I just put my new steel braided on.
The calipers need to be removed but you can leave the brake lines attached. Just don't let the calipers hang by the lines, use something else to hold the caliper up... wire, coat hanger, zip ties, string..... Nerf bars with nets work well for the fronts:p

I wish someone had a diagram because now that i clearified the brake lines can stay attached I still dont know what exactly i have to take off :/

[miller821]

Originally posted by FoxHondaRider
I wish someone had a diagram because now that i clearified the brake lines can stay attached I still dont know what exactly i have to take off :/
Its very simple. Just take these minor things off.

Jack up your front end. (May have to wait till after step 1.)
1st. Take off your front wheels (via the 4 lug nuts holding them on)
2nd. Take off your front shocks. You can either take out the bottom bolt that mounts to the A-Arms, then just let your shocks dangle. Or you can not be as lazy and just take the top bolt out also.
3rd. Take off your Tie Rods. Just follow that down by the caliper and remove the nut and pull it out. You can then push that backwards and move it out of your way.
4th. Take off your brake caliper. This is just where it mounts onto the rotor. Should be 2 bolts then it will slip off the rotor. Then take the little bolt thats on the A-Arm holding down the line off.
4th. Move onto the 4 bolts that mount your A-Arm's to the frame. (4 per side)
5th. Pull the A-Arms off from the frame and sand/prep everything. This means just get the old paint off and make sure there's no rust.
6th. Begin to spray paint. Now JOEX mentioned taking the spindle out. And that is A option. But I just put a rag over my spindle, hub, and rotor and left it all intact.

Hope this helped a bit.

[miller821]

Originally posted by JOEX
The hardest part about the a-arms can be removing them from the spindle. There's a post in the steering & suspension section right now talking about that.

The swing arm is a bit more involved and if it has never been removed then it could be a nightmare because the pivot bolt is notorious for difficult. Some people have resorted to cutting the swingarm to get it off, not going to work in your case:p

The lock nuts can be a pain as well but not impossible.

Oh my I forgot about the swingarm bolt. That's the biggest booger on these machines if not taken care of properly:grr:

Its about that time for me to pop mine out and lube it up again.

Originally posted by ride hard man
Its very simple. Just take these minor things off.

Jack up your front end. (May have to wait till after step 1.)
1st. Take off your front wheels (via the 4 lug nuts holding them on)
2nd. Take off your front shocks. You can either take out the bottom bolt that mounts to the A-Arms, then just let your shocks dangle. Or you can not be as lazy and just take the top bolt out also.
3rd. Take off your Tie Rods. Just follow that down by the caliper and remove the nut and pull it out. You can then push that backwards and move it out of your way.
4th. Take off your brake caliper. This is just where it mounts onto the rotor. Should be 2 bolts then it will slip off the rotor. Then take the little bolt thats on the A-Arm holding down the line off.
4th. Move onto the 4 bolts that mount your A-Arm's to the frame. (4 per side)
5th. Pull the A-Arms off from the frame and sand/prep everything. This means just get the old paint off and make sure there's no rust.
6th. Begin to spray paint. Now JOEX mentioned taking the spindle out. And that is A option. But I just put a rag over my spindle, hub, and rotor and left it all intact.

Hope this helped a bit.


Thanks man! I really appreciate it. Now I have to decide whether to go with stock color paint or change it.

[Pipeless416]

mixing it up is always fun :devil:

[440challenger]

Dupont base coat clear coat

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-2/1153164/Picture024.jpg

[jesseweaver]

Did you do that yourself? if you did it looks pretty sweet. i like the color. post some pics when its back together.

Originally posted by Pipeless416
mixing it up is always fun :devil:


I would just like to see somepictures of a 400ex with stock frame color but diffent color a-arms to see what looks best. I would either go red, black, stock, brushed aluminum color

[jesseweaver]

ill post some pics (if i remember) when im done painting mine. my frame is stock and im going with black aarms. i have them off now, it was much easier then i thought. im not going to do the swing arm right now though.

alright thanks pictures of the black would be great. I'm leaving my swingarm the stock color

[jesseweaver]

should i paint the tie rods, too, or do most people just leave them stock. i was thinking maybe black aarms and red tie rods. would that look good?

idk paint them chrome :) I have red steel braided brake lines so that might be a good accent. They look a bit funny because they are +3 and I have stock a-arms lol but the work awesome