I think this problem was from last week when the primer started to go off in the pot, I didn't get it all out by the looks. It's clean now and I ordered another $30 gun in case it happens again. I can't afford to toss out any colour due to a clogged gun, don't want to run out of it now it's mixed.

It's also looking way brighter than I was expecting. It looks the goods in the pot though. Not sure if it needs more coats or if I should be spraying it over a black base coat instead of white primer. It sure has a lot of thinners in it, 80%, which I guess would make it pretty thin. I'll ring em tomorrow and ask.

Hey Robin, full marks for giving pearl paint a go, there's plenty of professionals that get pearl wrong so don't be to disappointed. Some of the problems your having could be your elcheapo gun, rather than buying another cheap gun , why don't you try to buy a good quality second-hand gun, I've used an iwata for years now.
Get yourself a good measuring stirring stick
2K colour = 2 parts colour - 1 part hardener 10 to 15 % reducer

Hey Smithy, any pearl or metallic I've bought from Harts have been Concept Paints No Mix. It's designed not to separate so suspends particles better and it doesn't need hardener just thinners. The hotter the temp, the more thinners. The [url=http://www.conceptpaints.com.au/TDS/No Mix COB for 2K System.pdf]Data Sheet[/url] says to thin 50% - 70%, but they told me 80%, it's bloody hot here. When I asked why it didn't need hardener they just said it's a base coat. I have a little BMW classic black left which is 2:1 + thinner as you say.

A little bag of red metal flake arrived in the mail today. Going to try that over the panniers, why not

Hey Robin,  are all concept 2K direct gloss that way or just the pearl ? I only use the PPG Global system ( Dulon ). I have got some concept acrylic here that I tried on the Austin , but it wasn't as good as the Dulon . I haven't painted pearl before, but all good 2K paints are controlled by the correct hardener and reducer.

Your asking the wrong person   I know zero about 2K paint and have to rely on the guys at Harts to supply the right stuff. The online docs seem to say this no mix came onto the market last year. That Classic Black is Dupont Centura and I'm using DuxOne clear coat and hardener.  I dunno what else they sell but the joint is absolutely full of paint stuff.

And I rang them about the brightness of the colour. They say black undercoat will make no difference so long as I have 100% coverage and they can darken it for me if I want.

I'm assuming you are talking about the pearl in the red colour paint. I've also put some wine red pearl in clear over black metallic on the trim panel for the screen just for a bit of extra sparkle.

[edit]
The transfer tube blew out on the compressor this arvo, so it's all stop.

It's funny how the simplest things can turn into a nightmare. 

Here's the pipe that blew out on the compressor.


The guys that make this compressor will only sell me 1,000 of these pipes   

I've been on the road all day today working and called into about a dozen places looking for someone who can make a pipe with fittings like this.



It's some sort of pressed on washer but no one had any idea or interest in helping out so the compressor went to Gumtree and it sold in an hour. Bought for $60, sold for $30. I've bought a new/bigger one   

Of course it's pouring rain now so we'll pour Jack into a glass and thin with coke instead of pouring paint into a gun and thinning with poison 

Maybe that happened for a reason, come on, admit it you really wanted a bigger compressor.
Now hopefully you get a few good day's to use it.

 

This compressor has a fair bit more go juice and the numbers on the dials look a lot better. The old one always had very low numbers for the guns I have. This one has room to move. 

HVLP guns squirt paint like a fire hose, I'd like to try a LVLP gun just to see the difference, but they don't seem to be too popular here. Ebay shows most of them coming from the UK. I think they'd be better for doing bike bits rather than car panels.

Hmm, dual ports.





One tip, when spraying metal flake, remove the filter under the pot or it will fill with flake

I bought a 12 cfm Compressor from the Aussie compressor company 32 years ago , only ever changed oil and filters, and has been a great unit. I don't think the direct drive Chinese  units are made to last, I know of other people that have bought them, and they ended up in the rubbish hole.

Hey Robin , I wasn't having a dig at your new machine, just a rant at how everything these day's is made to see out a warranty and not to last, be it Chinese or not. The pipe on your first compressor should never have broke , just cheap materials. one day when manufacturing is completely gone in Australia we'll all be #ooted as the cheap #hit that's around today doesn't last.

No problem. I went to Trade Tools today and to buy a compressor with similar figures from them was well over $750 up to around a grand. They may have been Chinese units as well? This one cost $190. I was at yellow cabs today, theirs cost $4500. I guess it's what you want it for and for how long. This one is primarily for blowing dust out of computers.Well that's what I'm telling the tax man  

One observation, what you are saying about Chinese quality is exactly what was said about Japanese quality in the 60's. I guess after the Chinese cost too much we'll be complaining about African quality

Hope all you ozzies have your eskies packed and cooled and are heading off to a BBQ somewhere. Enjoy your Australia Day.  A group of free loaders are arriving here in a couple of hours. Should be a good day, light showers here so not so hot.

Got the panniers off the paint table and I've finished all the primer work. Colour can go onto everything now. These need one more rub and they are done. I have used the whole litre of primer on this bike.

 

I got the panniers off the table the other day. I like this candy red flake over black effect and think I've worked out what not to do so I'll have another go at the panniers once the colour is on the bike panels. 

Here's some Flake tips: pour it out of the gun pot into a cup between coats otherwise the flake sinks into the gun and clogs it. Put 3 or 4 new nuts in the pot with the flake to agitate the mix when spraying. Remove the filter under the pot or it will clog with flake. Avoid runs and extend the flash time else the flake will flow with the clear coat and form lines. Apply enough coats of clear to bury any flakes that are are standing upright. I'm going to try doing a straight clear coat between flake coats next attempt to try and knock down the flake and improve the depth effect. All good fun. 

There's definitely an art to spraying flake.





I've also found that orange peel effect shows up with lots of clear coats (there are 8 coats on this counting the flake coats) but it's easy to cheat and rub it flat with a block and some 1500 grade wet and then spray on a little more clear or polish with compound.

Been a bit of work on lately but I have managed to get Harts to darken up the paint a little so I have resprayed the front guard for a look. On the left is the original colour, the second is the darker red and the third is the colour under a light bulb. It looks like the pearl in the paint makes it pop more in the sun.

 
So that'll do I guess. I got more clear coat while I was over there and some plastic to screen off a section of the garage to minimise the dust. Everything is primed and sanded and ready to go, now all I need is time  

Looks good Robin, main thing is you are happy with it. Sounds like you are fully prepared
and (selfishly) hope you get the time soon. With lots of guys doing renos, cafe etc. at the same time
gives inspiration to each other, spurs one on, at least it does for me.

Hey Gordo, I probably spent a bit too much time on those panniers figuring out what not do do with 2pack    but I think I got a handle on it now. I tend to lose interest doing the same thing over and over again, so getting this done and out of the way will be a major milestone. Counting up all the 20 minute flash times between coats it works out to about 8.5 hours spraying time. I don't have the space to do all the bits in one go, more like 4 goes. The first cyclone of the season on it's way down the coast but it won't get this far south I don't think (fingers crossed), it'll just drag out these cool showery days we are getting for a while longer.

Pop over here mate, 40 degree C ave for next 7 days is the forecast! Flash off? Be lucky to get it on the job!
Runs? No way unless you really try.

No thanks it's been that hot here this year already, I'm yet to pay for the air conditioners electricity   Overcast skies and a little intermittent drizzle is keeping it around 20C at night and 30C daytime for as far as they can forecast. A lot better than other years when the water's been meters deep down town, but summer's not over yet ..... Flash off time, lets the solvents in the paint evaporate before you lock them in with another coat and runs in the clear coat seem common when you lay it on thick, but they aren't too hard to sand out and fix. Although I didn't realise it takes 2 weeks for the clear to get to it's fully hard state.

WooHoo, got some time free. I stuck some masking stuff to the ceiling and enclosed the spray table. Thought I'd have a go with no extraction fan and it worked but I might get an extraction fan working for tomorrow. The mist lingers for a long time inside the plastic. 

I hosed the garage out first then mist sprayed inside the plastic with water. I got stuck into the tank, main fairing and there is not one dust imperfection in the clear coat. There are several runs so I'll sand them out when it goes off and give it another coat. I did that to the side covers today and they came up almost perfect. I hope to spend all day tomorrow getting colour and clear onto everything.

Garage? That looks more like an operating theatre.  

Cheap Cheap Cheap, $20 worth of plastic and it worked. I have just put an exhaust fan in cos I replaced the pre filters on the respirator before I started this arvo and just check em out now, they were white. That's just 3 coats of red, can't see the clear  Lucky I opted to wear the googles, I believe this stuff can get in through your eye balls as well   

that darker red looks the goods rob

good luck !

Hey Charlie, strangely, it's very close to the colour of the RS  (see avatar)   The tank in this shot is it. I've sanded the runs off the fairing so it's dulled down and I'll rub down the tank tomorrow, I've run out of daylight just now. That fan is on the inside, I cut the plastic and stuck it to the fan to hold it. The plastic blows around a lot in the wind with the garage up, it's extremely thin. But with the garage down, as I had it, it's too dark and you get runs cos you can't see what's happening. Might be a trip to bunning straight up tomorrow for a new set of pre filters for the respirator.   

I'm glad you explained that photo of the mask filter. At a quick glance it could be mistaken for Pierce Morgan's box after his over with Brett Lee!

I had to google what your talking about there Mike. I used to play social cricket with the Good Times Social Cricket Club. We'd ride the bikes anywhere for a match. None of us came close to bowling at 150KM/Hr though and if the opposition could, we would have just retreated to the drinks pavilion   

I better get this stuff out of the garage soon, the misses wants her car park back  

Quick update. Sunday was a disaster. Loaded the spray table with as many bits as would fit and put colour on everything, 3 coats, no issues. However the 2nd clear coat was a total mess. The gun spat the paint out and it made a real mess of all the bits. I could not get either gun to spray properly. I'm not sure what went wrong but with hindsight, I suspect the paint went off too soon. Maybe I mixed it wrong. I did try adding more thinners etc etc but nothing worked. I had to sand everything back. First thing Monday morning I went and bought another spay gun. This one is from trade tools and cost just under $130 including a regulator. So far it's working like a dream although as with all these guns, the paint comes out like a fire hose which may be fine for a car but there must be a better way for bike panels.

I've had a couple of quiet work days and I'm back on track. The exhaust fan didn't work, it sucked crap in, you have to have a sealed room with filtered air inlets. I turned it off and the clear has no divets in it   Everything has colour and 3 coats of clear. I'm finding it very difficult to get enough clear on the target without getting runs. I've sanded back the runs from the remaining parts and I should see everything finished this week. 

If I was doing this again I think I'd pay to have the stuff clear coated. It really needs a spray booth and an experienced hand to get it looking good. Clear has to be the most noxious stage, clouds of stuff come off it when spraying and it hangs around for a long time.

I played 3 games for the Waterhouse (Tassie) Wanderers. Bruce was on our team because he thought the prize was The Sinsamela Cup, he couldn't have wanted it too bad tho' 'cos he dropped a "sitter" ( couldn't bat or bowl either.)
Stick with it Rob, almost there.

Ghost who rides wrote:he thought the prize was The Sinsamela Cup

 :smoke: :afro: 

Of course I wasn't even sure how to spell sinsamela but luckily someone could translate, must be phonetics.

Edit.. The Sinsamela cup was awarded to the winning team between Liffey and the Lone Star All Stars,

I think the All Stars won it but don't quote me, as they say "I wasn't there."

Everything has colour and has been clear coated. 
Still a few runs to sand flat and polish out, but that's it.
Even repainted the mirror pods off the R-RT.
I swear I'll never do this again   

 

Robin, when people admire the bike, at least you'll have the satisfaction of saying that you did it yourself. I know what you mean though, I did the same once. Now I stick to aerosol cans or farm it out.

Hey Mike, I painted that RS boxer, Metallic Blue, with Acrylic Rattle Cans and it was no where near as much of a hassle as this one. I did it, one bit at a time though and I remember saying never again after that one    This stuff is way more glossy, straight off the gun, than I could ever get the acrylic with polish. But that 2 pak clear coat truly is a real pain in the arse to do at home, it needs someone with experience. Everything up to that point is fine. Small parts are easy, big bits are an issue. I ended up drowning the tank and fairing in the stuff so most of the runs ran off the target and dripped onto the table     I just hope I can polish up the bits I need to sand to the same gloss as the rest of it with the polishing compounds I have here. After blowing 2 months on this already, I'm keen to sort out the rest of the bike instead of starting with sandpaper and polishers :suspect:

Just when I thought I was done, It drags me back in ....

I forgot to finish the Panniers, so I sprayed another coat of flake then added some red pearl to the remaining flake mix and sprayed that from a distance. Then 2 coats of clear. It still needs a rubdown and another couple of coats of clear but I'm almost out of clear and hardener and I don't want to buy anymore, it's almost $85 for clear+hardener, so it will have to wait. I'll get all the bits that need a little clear and do them all at once. Overcast here today so not so sparkly.



I also had a go with the cutting compounds I have here and they are no good for clear coat. I couldn't get the gloss back so have ordered some G3 buffing paste which is made for the job. First job will be the tank, here it is with the runs sanded off, just need that gloss back.

My G3 polishing compound for the paint arrived this arvo. It seems t have cleared up the sandpaper marks on the tank without a problem but it's too dark now to get a good look at it or to do anymore. The drill I was using as a polisher, took a tumble off the table and now makes a grinding noise instead of spinning so it's toast    Bugger ....



I also got the relays installed for the headlights. I pulled power from the starter relay and put an inline fuse in circuit. I pulled -ve from the chassis earth bolt.



And I got a ceramic H4 plug installed up front.



All seems to work as expected so far. 

I guess I'll be spending tomorrow chasing a polisher. Need to get that job done before the clear coat gets too hard.

Got another polisher and this one has a 14mm fitting so got a new white and black foam mop to suit. What a difference it made. More than likely the new mops have made the finish a whole lot easier. The white foam head is for cutting with the G3 compound and the black head is for the polish. Basically the white foam is hard and the black foam is soft. I have some McGuires rubbing polish and it's doing the job. Too well at times, as the gloss comes up so do the imperfections I missed on the first pass. I sanded crap off the tank 3 times and polished it back up. I also want to rub it all with some hand glaze/wax I have there but that's the last job. Still, got the tank, tail and windscreen finished this afternoon. It's now beer o'clock, all stop
 
I used the cutting pad on the windscreen and it's cleaned up a treat. I spent all that time and money looking for the best polish and the white mop with the polisher in the vice worked best with anything, even just water. Just have to keep the screen moving, it does get hot.

I hope to have the main fairing done tomorrow, it's a big job, hasn't been sanded yet

Is that a light I see down that tunnel

Light  Ha Ha it's a train coming

Smartarse    

I am seeing the odd random silver dot appearing in the finished paint. There is one on the tail and one on the tank. I have no idea where they came from and they don't sand out, well at least I don't want to sand them any more than I have      I guess if you ignore it, it will go away

lol ...maybe some nail polish ...( the right shade of coarse )

Still got a little colour left Charlie and have already spotted a couple of divets with it early on but without clear on top it'd be really obvious. I'm positive if you ignore it it will go away     I wonder if they are single pearls from the paint with the top sanded off ????  I'm pretty sure paint pearls are little balls of coloured glass.

And so endeth the paint job, with more of a fiz than a bang.  Just need to polish off the hand glaze from the radiator cover once dry and put it all back together. I thought I'd put it back together before starting the mechanics to ensure I aint lost nothin. It's been a while   

Mechanically it's pretty good, I'll just do a full filters and fluids, spline lube and have a look at the timing chain. I put the R-RT on bikesales today if your after an RT boxer. The add should come active soon.

One thing, the mirror pods wobble. I think there was some sort of packing in between the pods and the fairing which got sanded off. I thought some pieces of felt, stuck to the pods might fix it. Sound like a plan?

I remember the packing you're talking about. Either felt or some thin soft rubber sheet (clark rubber do some self adhesive stuff).

My "new" RS had one loose, wobbly mirror that fell off very easily.  I fixed it by crushing the spring steel clips a bit to tighten their grip on the steel pins.

Al

Cheers Al. I have a feeling the pods are a little steel clip challenged, but I'll check. 

I actually found one of the old pieces of packing but it's hard to tell what it is, the last guy just painted over them  

Robin,

They're a sort of fibre-mat, self adhesive on one side. 



I'd just use some 3M single-sided sticky foam.

single-sided sticky foam

Sounds a lot like a weather seal. I'll check out the local hardware first.


Cheers Mike.

I got lots of that stuff rob ...you can cut it  and stuff to fit nicely (but only small sections rather than the whole gasket in one piece ...  two should do it nicely )

its has real good compression elasticity for that type of job

problem is it only lasts about 3 years in direct sunlight  must be some kind of polypropolene


you're welcome to some if you want


cheers

Thanks Charlie. I have to do the Bunnings shuffle sometime this week-end, I need another meter of hose for the pool cleaner, it doesn't reach one corner. If they got nothing I'll hit ya up.

Best thing to use on those 3 clips instead of the rubber mat is an O-ring for a garden hose fitting they give the perfect fit. Most hardware stores have them at $2.00 for 5 so you gotta get 2 packs.

That's the goods Rick. Had a 10 pack here with only 2 left and now only the corner without the o'ring wobbles.  Cheers mate, I'll get more.

The o'rings go over the holding bolt and are retained by the bolt so they won't vanish. Elegant solution indeed.

till some d..head bumps the mirror  and it hits the ground   ..invest in lanyards ?

Naaa, bugger it, they really don't seem to wanna come off at all, they need a real good wack from the right direction.

Found all the bits so it's back together, apart from the crash bars, they are being polished.

The panniers don't fit anymore. They hit the handles on the tail.    
I'll have to space the mounting frames away from the bike a little more.

looking good there rob !!