BIKE PAINT TOUCHUP

[gshep]

For pin head size chips. I would use a tooth pick and slowly fill the chipped area with paint, but you got to get the rust out first.
Dan, as requested, here is a photo of the 29 roadster pickup

An AACA Senior First place
Shep

[gshep]

Also, if the scratches are only into the clear coat, the use 1500-2000 wet paper and slowly sand the scratches out, then see if you need to spray more clearcoat. Many times with shallow scratches, not into the paint, you can 2000 sand and then polish them out.

[flightdoc]

Shep,

I'll give that a try and see what happens. Ok, here's how dumb I am.....how exactly should I do the sanding? circles, back and forth etc? When you wet sand do I pour water on the scratched area or dip the paper ......or stand in a tub of water while I sand???? If somehow I don't mess up what do I polish it with?

thanks. send the bill to me for all this advice. It's well worth it.

vin

[macmac]

When wet sanding if possible have warm water so you don't freeze yer finger running over where you are sanding. A rubber block holding the paper is nice and will prevent you from digging finger trenches. That is IF the sanding will be so wide as the block.

You can make smaller blocks in soft wood just about the same way as the rubber store bought blocks are made.

There are smaller blocks you can buy as well and cut up to be smaller.

The key is keeping the grit paper clean, and the surface as clean, so you may dip as well, but dip often. Use the blue paper towles as these are supposed to be lint free. You don't want to drag lint all over what you are sanding.

You can see if you are clean, as water will bead up and pool where you are sanding.

I am not trying to be a know it all, as i am not, but if you go here you can se my first efforts.

Cadd restored this yesterday for me as all these were lost. All of these pics are no longer captioned or in order, but they might help just the same.

http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/l...c_Muz/Liberty/


The questions you ask are partly a judgement call, and we can't see.

IF these cuts are just in clear coat, and not deep into the paint, you don't want to sand into the paint.

Base coat (bc) is dull and nasty looking paint with no gloss what so ever. It might be a real good idea to get a good looking glass and look a lot harder.

You don't want to sand thru the bc.

You do want to level any ridges raised up in clear coat (cc) , but maybe not sand to bc.

I can't say how thick or thin rattle can cc is, but real cc is thicker than paint and can hide sins.

If it were me and I thought the bc was ok, I would sand the cc to level it. I might then try to fill the scratches with that method above, misting from the can into a container and with a fine brush add to the cuts to bring up the level more.

Allow 'flash' and then shoot a medium light coat and see what the cc looks like as to level getting the light on the work from an angel.

Let that flash if things look good, and after drying to sand, sand light. Check that wet, in a side lit view as water will show any flaws.

If that looks good it is time to buff.

Allow flash as solvents will look like fogg under the cc if you don't. Flash is when the time to dry hasn't been met, and so while you can feel the masking tape and it seems dry, it isn't ....yet

Some rattle cans flash faster than others.. Some rattle cans can take 6 months to be really dry.. Most rattle cans have more solvents added as you can't controll what is in a rattle can.

[gshep]

Doc, I agree with macmac. However I use rubber blocks as I can cut them down to size. Also balsa wood is nice and soft and makes good blocks and as I also build model airplanes, I have a lot of that laying around.
He's right about the fingers if at all possible, always use some form of sanding block and keep the area wet. The initial idea behind wet sanding is to keep the fine grit paper from filling up and removing the sanding dust from the area. Water does a good job of this. A secondary bonus is it controls dust so when you spray you don't blow the sanding dust into your fresh paint. As far as the sanding motion goes, I try to level the surface and most of the time it is a back and forth motion. If a large area then you may want circular motion depends upon the area being sanded. Just keep it wet and clean. Wipe the area with Prep-sol or alcohol before painting and use rubber gloves to keep your finger prints off the area. You can't be too clean here.
Again I hate Spray (rattle) cans. I would much rather transfer the paint to an airbrush. My small airbrush can paint a line down to about 3/16 of an inch including overspray. Ever watch the guys at the mall painting license plates or T shirts. See how small of a line they can paint. That's what you want.
One thing about repairing a scratch, it will make you a lot more carefull of the finish on your bike, once you know how much work is envolved .
Good luck

Shep

[gshep]

Sorry Doc, I forgot to answer your last question.
I use 3M fine cut polishing compound, followed by Craftsman "Clear-Pro" for the final polish.
It works good for me but there are several others out there that I'm sure are as good

Shep

[beezer]

Shep, that truck would look good with a chromed 427 and a Mustang II frontend with nice wheels tubbed out and monster Mickey Thompsons in the tubs.

[flightdoc]

thanks guys. Hey Shep...that is an awesome looking truck.

[gshep]

Thanks Beezer and Doc.
I have several friends that do the modified thing with their antique cars but for me the allure centers around putting it in exactly the same condition it was when it rolled off the dealer floor. Finding parts is a hobby in itself.

Shep

[flightdoc]

Shep,

A man I grew up next door to as a kid built from the ground up a model A. He aquired parts from everywhere. It took him about 20 years to complete. It was nice but not a show stopper but he didn't care about that. He enjoyed the challenge of finding/making parts and actually driving it the past few years before passing away. I know what you mean.

[macmac]

Dings and chip to bare metal:

As soon as you see these add a drop of finger nail polish to prevent rust!

If it gets to rust before you find them, use a dental pick to scrape out rust, and pulloff any loose paint, no longer adheard to the metal, so moisture won't be trapped under the paint/nail polish.
The nail polish will buy you time there after do do as you please.

Clear Coat repairs: When sanding these out wet, the water will show you when you can no longer see a scratch. When the water dries you still might see flaws, but the clear coat is like the water, and will hide certain flaws.

Real clear coat is thicker than paint. I can't say how ratle can clear is though. I would assume rattle can clear has a lot more solvent in it that real clear coat has.

The real cc will flash much faster than rattle cans, if this is true.

This was a problem.

[ridemslow]

I DRILLED MY BAGS TO ADD TOP RAILS FOR PROTECTING FROM SCRATCHES. WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS REMOVE RAILS, FILL HOLES, AND REPAINT BOTH BAGS. THEN GET CLEARCOAT PEEL AND STICK THING I SAW ON EBAY TO COVER AND PROTECT. ANY IDEAS ON PLUGGING THE HOLES FROM THE DRILLED SPOTS? THEY ARE LIKE 13/32" 4 IN EACH BAG.