fox889 Posted May 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 Moving on to the forks, there were signs of past chrome on the fork outers so this was flap wheeled off, primed & coated silver (photo not my silver job😜) looked ok, but didn’t jump out & say “that’s nice!”. Reading a comment or two on here plus looking on the ‘net I saw the majority of 349’s had red fork outers & not silver, this convinced me to re-spray them again, this time Montesa red, turned out ok, really pleased with them. If anyone is thinking of painting the same colour, it’s VW Mars red, I chose Hycote paint as it’s readily available on eBay at various prices, goes on a real treat & does come up well. I wet sanded with 2000 grit then a coat of fine compound then 3M finishing glaze, looks ok. The fork stancions........oh lord, they were bad! I tried the old cheapo trick of epoxy resin over the pitts, rubbed down with paper, this worked well......to a degree, and probably would be fine for the odd ‘pitt’ here & there, but as you can clearly see, they were goosed! Chose Philpotts from Luton, not the cheapest, but, their service was unquestionable from organising collection to delivery. Lead time was 8 weeks, but think mine were done inside 6 weeks. They look really good compared to what I sent them, £195 all in, which ain’t bad, is it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted May 3, 2021 Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 On 4/29/2021 at 5:37 PM, fox889 said: yep, painted it myself. I’m no painter but it came out pretty good considering the state it was in. long story short, rub down tank-high build primer x 3 coats-wet sand 1200 grit-white primer x 3 coats (unless your high build was white anyway, mine was grey)-stopper putty if you’ve got any pin holes or imperfections-as many coats of gloss white (or whatever colour you’re using) as you can (I used Autotek gloss white large tin 1k)-wet sand 2000 grit-medium compound-light compound-final polish. as I said, I’m no painter but have done several bike tanks with half decent results, so if you need a heads up, just ping a message over & I’ll do my best to answer it. Autotek is acrylic paint and may not be resistant to petrol - most modern paints don't seem to be. If you spill any whilst filling the tank you could end up with an unsightly blemish if it isn't. Paint something else that doesn't matter and when cured pour / rub some petrol on it, better to find out that way than ruin you tank paint job. Halfords paint for example is acrylic and although gives a really nice finish from a can, when it comes into contact with petrol it virtually dissolves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted May 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 10 hours ago, woody said: Autotek is acrylic paint and may not be resistant to petrol - most modern paints don't seem to be. If you spill any whilst filling the tank you could end up with an unsightly blemish if it isn't. Paint something else that doesn't matter and when cured pour / rub some petrol on it, better to find out that way than ruin you tank paint job. Halfords paint for example is acrylic and although gives a really nice finish from a can, when it comes into contact with petrol it virtually dissolves This is something I must admit I hadn't thought of. Spoke to James Briggs Ltd who make Autotek & Hycote & they say a 'clear coat' or lacquer will solve this problem. I can buy 'clear coat' off the net as well as 'lacquer' but unsure which is the better product. I'm also slightly nervy about applying either on the finished article? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted May 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 11 hours ago, woody said: Autotek is acrylic paint and may not be resistant to petrol - most modern paints don't seem to be. If you spill any whilst filling the tank you could end up with an unsightly blemish if it isn't. Paint something else that doesn't matter and when cured pour / rub some petrol on it, better to find out that way than ruin you tank paint job. Halfords paint for example is acrylic and although gives a really nice finish from a can, when it comes into contact with petrol it virtually dissolves 400ml of Mipa clear coat ordered! 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr nosh Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 Make sure that you 'flat' all the gloss to a matt finish with 1200 grit or the clear coat will not adhere and will eventually lift. Clearcoat is 'thinner' than paint with colour pigments, so don't layer on too thickly, just light coats and a few of them. Dust control is very important with clearcoat - it will show all the inclusions and imperfections. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted May 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 1 hour ago, dr nosh said: Make sure that you 'flat' all the gloss to a matt finish with 1200 grit or the clear coat will not adhere and will eventually lift. Clearcoat is 'thinner' than paint with colour pigments, so don't layer on too thickly, just light coats and a few of them. Dust control is very important with clearcoat - it will show all the inclusions and imperfections. Good luck. I might regret this 😞. What about the decals, just clear coat over them & not 2000 grit them? Think I should have started with 2k, would have saved all this aggro.....learn by experience I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr nosh Posted May 8, 2021 Report Share Posted May 8, 2021 Yep. Try to get a matt finish on the decals as well. Not easy though. Pleanty of soapy water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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