| Author | Message | ||
     Swordsman |
Okay, so I'm planning all these mods to my bike that involve painting several black plastic pieces. The problem is, I'm not even sure how to start! I know I'll need some plastic primer, but I don't know how or where to get the paint. I'm wanting to change the pieces from the flat black to Sunset Orange to match my body panels, but the body panel color seems to be "built in", and not painted. So how do I go about finding paint that will match? Does Buell offer it, or will it have to be custom matched somewhere? Also, I don't have any equip., so I'll have to take it somewhere to actually have the painting done. Can the Buell dealership do this, or should I take it to a body shop, or where? Thanks for any help! ~SM | ||
| Swordsman |
Let me apologize in advance if this has been covered a million times! The search feature doesn't work here at the office because of IS complications... ~SM | ||
| Firemanjim |
Well if you have never painted anything before just take one of your body parts to a good local body shop and they should be able to match the color no problem. And your stock parts are colored through and through, color is mixed into the plastic. If you like fiddling, paint guns are inexpensive to buy and it's not hard to learn.The ingredients can be somewhat pricey as you usually must buy in larger quantity than you are going to use.Most of the work in painting is in the prep, putting on the color is fast.Cleaning, sanding,priming,sanding again, etc is the time consuming part. If it was just a basic color I would say rattlecan it but with the orange, a shop may be cheaper. | ||
| Deuceman |
If you decide to do it yourself, there is a way to quicken the prep time because Jim is right. When you wash the plastic, take it all the bathtub and wash it with really hot water and S.O.S. pads with the blue detergent. This will take all the dirt and oil off and scuff it up enough for the paint or primer to stick. It will just really look dull. I painted mine without priming it, and it has held up for over a year really well. If you are really lucky, you can find an auto parts store who will mix and sell paint by the quart. This makes it much cheaper. If not, again Jim is right, you will end up with much more than you need. | ||
| Rhun |
The people who do custom paint mixing for body shops will mix your paint and put it in a spray can and it is reasonably priced. Since this is a small job would be a lot cheaper than buying guns compressors, etc. | ||
| Rocketman |
My S1W tank was a real pain to paint. My painter friend is a very clever painter with all the understanding of the chemistry and make-up involved, yet it still took three attempts to stop the primer reacting with the plastic. The correct amount of plasticiser wasn't working so the ratio was finally upped until it did work. The paint's been on for about a month now and it is stable thus far. Yes this is a pretty special custom paint though I'd say a professional needs to apply paint if you want the best finish possible. Rocket | ||
| Brewtus |
Someone here has actually dyed their plastics to their color and taste (Try the KV or search), but going from black to orange would probably be pretty hard. Maybe buy some new plastics and dye them? Maybe someone willing to trade? | ||
| Diablobrian |
I'd bet someone would be willing to trade a white, yellow, or even orange plastics for your black. Any of the lighter colors can be dyed with Rit dye pretty easily to whatever color you choose. |
