RWB 1996 - a winter restoration...

VT, that is bad ass. Great choice on the old school wing.

 

Even in the (fairly dry New England) winter?

I am completely new to the whole idea of auto/mc painting. Out here soakin' up info.

 

Yes. No matter the ambient humidity, the act of compressing (and subsequently releasing) atmosphere will causes water to appear in the air tank. This water will find it's way out the nearest exit, which happens to be the air hose attached to your spray gun. This is one of the reasons why you're supposed to drain your compressor of water every time you use it.

The other reason is so that the tank doesn't rust from the inside out and turn into a 140psi bomb.

A moisture separator on ANY compressor system is a good idea in general, as it will extend the life of your air tools as well.

 

Ooooooooh!! That bike looks sooo pretty!!

Great work!!

 

Not sure what you do for a living but you may have missed your calling as a painter.

 

Thanks, everyone! I'll be slinging clear coat tonight!

 

I think that tonight, I'll be gold striping the tank and upper fairings. If that gets done, I'll re-assemble and mount the nose/headlight and tank and post up pics.

The tank has 7 coats of clearcoat on it, and the decals are pretty much buried. Looks and feels excellent!

I also need to take a trip over to my dad's place this week and spend some quality time with his professional buffing wheel and the TBR slip-on...

Once that's all done, I can fill her back up with gas and start her up!

Final clearcoat polishing will have to wait until the clear is fully cured.

 

I'll post the pics tonight when I get home - last night was a late one putting the nose and tank back on the bike. I didn't feel like firing up the computer and uploading photos last night at 11.

 

looking very very good sir.....


I'd say all of the hours cussing fussing and sweat was well worth it.

 

not to be a party pooper ...but you forgot the mirrors.....

 

how far into Vermont are you? Burlington is a couple of hours from me? BTW..the bike looks friggin awesome....

 

Keep going man, you're almost there.

 

Looking great, can't wait to see the finished article. If this has all been achieved using spray cans of enamel paint, I might be interested in having a go myself at some point. How many cans have you used in total so far? and how do you decant a pressurised spray can so that you can use the contents with an air brush?

 

@tsg - It's hard to say how much product I have gone through at this point because there has been a fair amount of "re-doing". If I were to have gotten it exactly right, I'd say that 3 cans of red, 3 cans of white, 2 cans of dark blue, plus the pint of light blue. There will be about 6 cans of clear on it all said and told, one of which accounts for de-canting and using to lay down the 2nd pearl coat on the white.

To "decant" spray cans' paint content to use in an airbrush, follow this guide:
1.) Use sticky tack (used for hanging posters, etc), and temporarily attach a fast food-sized (i.e. large diameter) straw (cut to 4-6") over the business end of the spray nozzle. Make sure that the nozzle is not blocked by the sticky tack or the straw. This makes a leak-proof barrier - some suggested masking tape, but also noted that it was messy.
2.) Find a suitable container, and spray your paint into it
3.) Let the container sit, open, for at least 12 hours before using. This allows all of the propellant to evaporate, leaving behind the paint. Use within 24-36 hours.

@crustyrider - I am about 20 minutes E of Burlington.

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW VT, you did one hell of a job-Looks FU*KING AWESOME

 

Even though the enamel is still a little on the soft side, I decided to start polishing her up. The entire left front side is complete now at this point, stripes and stickers installed.




BTW - I have a LIFETIME supply of light gold metallic striping - I may re-do a stripe or two... ;-)

 

The last red color went on the two parts I had to re-paint last night. They both came out pretty good.

These two pieces won't be able to be wet-sanded for quite some time (at least a month) as the enamel sets up. I also will temporarily gold-stripe them, but remove the striping and re-apply once it's shiny.

I think that I can put her together fully tonight!

I just want to get it back together 100% and ride it!!! It will be a little "rough" (read: orange peely) until I can go after it with 2500 grit and then bring the shine back with polish and elbow grease.

 

See's a beaut!!!


Nice job!

 

"I think that I can put her together fully tonight!

I just want to get it back together 100% and ride it!!! It will be a little "rough" (read: orange peely) until I can go after it with 2500 grit and then bring the shine back with polish and elbow grease."

Just my 2 cents but this is not the time to rush, I know it's hard but you're almost there, leave it alone for a day or 2 and then carry on. It's also been my experience that stuff you plan to do later never actually gets done. It's looking great, well done.