Progress Post

I pretty much stopped photographing the step by painstaking step process as it is very time consuming and who even looks at it besides me? Well, the whole blog thing started off as a way for me to photo document my project for myself anyway...

I don't think I ever posted my first engine paint job, well now I'm almost done with my second engine paint job. Wow, that set me back a couple of months. From researching and testing clearcoats over raw metal, to sanding down the entire engine block and cases, taking everything back apart, taking the engine back out of the bike and restripping it. Yuck. I have to keep my perfectionist streak in check or the project will never get finished.

The only thing left over from the first paint job that I DON'T like is the damn valve covers, but they are just way too complicated to perform my latest process on.

Here's a little view inside my new three car garage/shop:
Bike progress:
New engine paint job:
I ran out of ideas and went all black block and jugs. I stripped all the cases and augmented the stock brushed aluminum look by painstaking hours using scotchbrite on the end of a drill, then clearcoated the raw aluminum. Still having problems with the clearcoat cracking. Weird.
I did the stuff in the photo above using a product called Everbrite, which I'm kinda less than happy with. Maybe I did too many layers? Or my heat curing then the cold weather caused shrinkage that made a bunch of little cracks all over the paint... The clutch cover and beauty cover on this side are getting the Permalac treatment instead of the Everbrite.

My tank has reached satisfactory levels and got the acid etch coats in the last 2 days:
It sat for a couple of months after my electrolysis rust removal treatment. I washed using a metal wash product that was supposed to prevent rusting. I even left the residue on the metal to dry, but a couple of months in semi-damp and cold conditions made a slight rust haze and little rust spots all over the exterior. So of course, being a perfectionist, I spent 3 hours sanding out the stainless steel tank, every dang mm of it, before I super cleaned it with PPG DX320 and did my etch coats. I need to re-up on high build primer tomorrow morning, then I'll do 4 coats of the high build tomorrow afternoon.

I decided to go semi-pro and created my own positive pressure downdraft paint booth with all the space in my new garage! I framed in a old box fan, taped up a .69 cent air filter, and wow it works so amazing. Looks like crap, but I used a lot of recycled materials to make the booth:


-S