painting

[deathcorefan2]

ok so i plan on doing a lot of painting for my "new to me" 400ex. not the plastics. but stuff like the brake lever, the motor parts and such. how hard is it to paint the motor and what kind of paint should i use. i want it black with the covers polished.

[Chukkinsod]

find a local shop that does powder coating....cheaper and will last way longer than paint ...most shops will give you a discount the more you bring them...

[deathcorefan2]

i was thinking more...heat paint..
i dont have the money to powdercoat.

[bbender85]

- clean everything very well
- wipe it with rubbing alcohol
- use a self-etch primer.. i used aerosol cans (this primer is key, especially on aluminum)
- paint with a high temp paint... i used grill paint on mine

i painted it mid-summer and put a ton of hours on it... it held up well. i thought about touching it up for this year, but i still think it looks alright.

i just took pictures but need to reboot.. will post in a sec.

[Stoke88]

Black heat paint shouldn't be hard to find. I see it all the time for bbq's. If you don't have the money for PC, heat paint is your only other option.

[bbender85]

i never cleaned the motor after the last ride so it has crap all over it still, but you can see the spots that wear; i think i might just polish out a little further to cover the areas that wear instead of trying to paint it again. like i said... i put some good hours on this paint:

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s248/bbender85/quad/943d5080.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s248/bbender85/quad/70f98473.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s248/bbender85/quad/2359601f.jpg

[deathcorefan2]

yeah i baby my quad as it is..i wash it after every ride. mostly i want the larger parts like the head and the cases to look good. i will get the cases polished and paint everything with black..i have to repaint the hubs and other stuff too.

do they make a clear coat that is like a spray?

[Honda#4]

Good prepping is the only way to make paint actually work otherwise it can look like a nightmare.

[deathcorefan2]

right. ill be sure to prep a lot. lol

[deathcorefan2]

btw if i sand stuff, what grit should i use?

[Honda#4]

Just enough to scuff up the surface somewhere in the 500-700 range is good, you dont want a real course sandpaper cuz you'll develop lines in the metal and the paint wont look too great.

[deathcorefan2]

i just went out in my garage and winged it with what i could find. i found some sandpaper..i think it was 150? and i sanded down the heat shield from the exhaust. then painted it with candy red krylon paint. it looks decent. a couple more coats and it will look awesome i think. ill post a pic when its done.

[Honda#4]

sounds good. IDK if you ever looked at my painting threads but I use a 2-3-3 painting process 2 primer,3 coats paint, 3 coats clear. Now depending on which part you paint say the swinger I use one more coat on all 3 things.

[deathcorefan2]

what is the primer for? and where can i find clear coat that is a spray can?

[Honda#4]

Primer is the base coat so the paint sticks to the metal. Any place that carries spray paint will have clear just look for a clear cover on the can.

[deathcorefan2]

ok cool...i might update this thread with some paint work.

[Honda#4]

Cant wait.

[deathcorefan2]

neat. i might have the heat shield done tommorow..and if it works like i want it to, then ill start painting more parts.