discussion 1/1 paintwork

[Andy T]

Not exactly a hobby but I thought some might find interest in a few of the projects I get up to in the day job. If there are any objections, please let me know and I'll happily pull the thread.

Whilst a lot of my bread & butter work is pretty boring I do get the chance to work on some interesting projects, mostly motorbikes to be fair. I'd love to push my business in that direction but since I'm hoping to retire soon, it's a bit late for that.

This is a tank that I painted & stickered some time ago but it sustained some damage. Rather than start from scratch I've done a local repair.

It's already in primer here but I've carefully masked over the graphics where needed.



I then applied several coats of white, keeping it away from the masking as much as possible to prevent a hard masking line. As you can see, there's only a tiny drift of white on the tape



With white being so transparent I check carefully to make sure it is fully covered. I turn off the booth lights and use a high lumen light with over 96 CRI and 3 different colour temperatures, to make sure it looks good in all daylight conditions

2700k



4500k



6500k



Once fully satisfied I removed the masking and clearcoated the whole tank

 

[Andy T]

Other bikes I'm in the middle of are an old RD250

Reference picture



The parts have been stripped and epoxy primed



And also a CB 750



The guy has done various bits himself over the past 15 years (lol) and presented them like this

 

[Steven000]

Great skills Andy, looks amazing

 

[PaulTRose]

That RD is from my era

 

[flyjoe180]

Excellent paint jobs Andy.

 

[yak face]

Great stuff andy , love to see this please post more . As my first ever job was a YTS scheme at a bodyshop that turned into an apprenticeship as a sprayer ( sadly cut short after a year when the company went bust ) this really takes me back . In fact I think the skills learned in that year have proved very useful and never left me .

 

[Andy T]

Thanks everyone. I do enjoy the bike & more challenging stuff, but after all this time a lot of jobs are a bit boring.

Tony, if you fancy reliving your youth a have a hail damaged one that needs a few dents filling

I counted 62 on the bonnet. God knows how many there are on the roof, I lost count!

 

[yak face]

Wow , where did you get that from , Kansas ? ! Didnt think we had hail that bad over here ! Think I’ll pass on that one though andy , how about fitting a vinyl roof

 

[Andy T]

I did suggest that Tony, or a matt carbon wrap to hide it a bit

Or 6 sunroofs

It's a Jap import. I do lots of them, usually when they've been damaged in the containers. Apparently they can have hail like golf balls over there.

 

[Andy T]

I'm finally getting round to repairing the rally car after it's roll in Kielder Forest last year.
I thought I'd check out the workmanship of the guy who fitted a "new" roof a couple of years ago








The front of the roof is barely welded at all, no wonder the paint had cracked! The rear is even worse with just a handful of tack welds and big holes in the metal from previous rust damage that had been filled with fiberglass


Looks like we'll be getting the welder out

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

That is shocking and on a rally car as well, disgraceful. Am I right in thinking that the roof forms a major contribution to the overall body shell strength Andy?

 

[stillp]

Well, it does have a roll cage...
Pete

 

[Andy T]

Yes Steve, it does.

As Pete rightly says the roll cage adds a massive amount of strength, but I'd still expect them to at least have tried to weld the roof skin on properly as it all adds to the overall strength.

 

[stillp]

In my rallying days I was often surprised at the state of some people's cars - sills stuffed with newspaper and skimmed with filler was not unusual. One nearly killed me once; I was navigating for a chap with a Corsair with what he described as a Stage 3 engine. He claimed to have fitted a strut brace but the bonnet/wing gap was right in my eye line and I could see it opening up in every corner. He rammed a gatepost hard enough to put me through the windscreen as the seatbelt mounts tore out. Luckily I was wearing a helmet as my head left a dent in his bonnet. Looking at the wreck afterwards, he'd fitted a strut brace but had just filled the rust holes in the inner wings!
Pete

 

[Andy T]

Wow!
I think the scrutineers are a bit more keen these days. Thankfully.

This one almost failed for the RAC as a flimsy metal panel behind the seats was missing. It had been cut out to fit the 40mm steel tube of the roll cage, significantly stronger, but we still had to beg & plead for them to let us though.

That's another job on the welding list - trying to fit the panel back in for next time.

 

[Jim R]

Some skilled work there Andy and some challenges. That hail damage is horrendous.

 

[PaulTRose]

Other bikes I'm in the middle of are an old RD250

Reference picture

View attachment 1281424

Mathewson had a blue one in the auction last month...... Went for 4,500 and that was under the estimate

 

[yak face]

That roof repair is shocking andy , i know its got a roll cage but every bit of extra strength is always good . Hopefully the same guy that repaired the roof didn't also fit the roll cage !

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Jim. The customer was very happy with the hail damaged one when he got it back. So much so that he's given me this to refresh




You have me worried now Tony
I'd better give that the once over as well!