Any motorcycle painters? Seeking advice

[BigMike62]

My plan in retirement has always been to restore cars and bikes. I've done a few over the years but have never done paint work other than single stage. My buddy lives about two hours away and has painted twenty or so of his projects. He is going to help me when I get everything ready for paint. I've read a few threads here and the interwebz about temporary paint booths. I want to setup one in the single side of my three car garage to paint the frame and tins, as wells as some misc parts.

I've looked at the blow up booths and ones that people make other ways from plastic. Seems pretty straight forward. The downside in reading these threads and watching some YouTubes is keeping the booth clear of overspray. Looking for ideas on positive airflow in the booth.

I'm in NE Florida but my garage has a 24k BTU mini split, so I think I'm good to paint at any time of the year. (?)

This is my project. An original Harley-Davidson Fatboy. The 1990 Grey Ghost. For those that don't know the story, click here. I bought it from the original owner's estate. The title shows 8 miles on it. The dealer added the blue paint before it was put on the showroom floor. The guy that bought it installed so many chrome accessories and even a Baker 6sp OD. I want to get it as original as possible but will probably keep the Baker in it as well as the chrome fork sliders. I was able to get a full decal set from a guy in New Zealand including the VIN decal reproduced.

I'm going to start tearing it down next week. I need to source some parts but they shouldn't be hard to come by. I've been a Harley guy for thirty years and have given and thrown away parts I'm going to need, UGH! There is a huge HD parts recycler in Chatt, TN and I'll be in Atlanta the first week in June. I'm going to head up there to look for things I need. FleaBay, FB, and other places are avenues as well.

 

[1982fxr]

8 miles? How many were made? I'd seriously consider selling it and getting a different one for a first paint project.

No ody seems to want evos right now but that's probably an exception...

 

[BigMike62]

8 miles? How many were made? I'd seriously consider selling it and getting a different one for a first paint project.

No ody seems to want evos right now but that's probably an exception...

The bike has 17k miles. The title shows 8mi when purchased in 1990.

Good timing for me since they just released the new HD Icon bike which is a nod to the original Grey Ghost. Of course, being Harley, they didn't do it right and it's all chrome.

 

[dcg9381]

I did paint work years ago. Having a spray booth of some type is pretty required if you want it to turn out right.
The vast majority of the cost in paint is prep. If that was my project, I'd strip it down to the frame, have the frame media blasted, then take it to a powder coat shop. I'd expect < $500.

Last car I painted, I did all the body and prep work, had it disassembled and painted with a single stage. Color sanded it, then took it to a "real" paint shop and they shot it in clear. With the prep work already done, it wasn't that much money. Turned out great. But I had everything off the car.. A motorcycle would be a lot easier.

 

[BigMike62]

I did paint work years ago. Having a spray booth of some type is pretty required if you want it to turn out right.
The vast majority of the cost in paint is prep. If that was my project, I'd strip it down to the frame, have the frame media blasted, then take it to a powder coat shop. I'd expect < $500.

Last car I painted, I did all the body and prep work, had it disassembled and painted with a single stage. Color sanded it, then took it to a "real" paint shop and they shot it in clear. With the prep work already done, it wasn't that much money. Turned out great. But I had everything off the car.. A motorcycle would be a lot easier.

I'm on a Grey Ghost site and nobody can seem to match the color with powder, so frames get painted. Seems all of those guys have a shop do the paint work.

I'm mainly looking for paint booth ideas here if anyone has a proven method. Thanks.

 

[dcg9381]

I'm on a Grey Ghost site and nobody can seem to match the color with powder, so frames get painted.

I get it. You can absolutely get powder custom mixed/matched, but it doesn't look like it's worth it for a one-off project.

I'm mainly looking for paint booth ideas here if anyone has a proven method. Thanks.

DIY, I've seen it done with plastic sheets and some bare 2x4 framing all the way up to the ceiling. Big trick is to provide positive (well filtered) air pressure, so you need an outside air source. Assume that *anything* inside that "booth" will get overspray. It's kinda like dust. I used a "whole garage" once and spent the next 2 years getting overspray off of everything in the garage.

You'll still get a lot of paint in the air, so a high quality face-filter is critical. I got myself sick once painting zinc-chromate. Maybe even a mask that has an outside air source.

Single stage paint is easier as you can buff some imperfection, but clear (IMHO) looks better.

 

[niget2002]

I use this paint booth:

https://a.co/d/0vkIleE

With this exhaust attachment:

Amazon.com: Sewinfla Inflatable Paint Booth Side Window Air Draft Device Small Size for Indoor (Elephant Trunk，NOT Suitable for Any Other Brand Paint Booth)

Shop Sewinfla at the Amazon Arts, Crafts & Sewing store. Free Shipping on eligible items. Save on everyday low prices.

a.co

With this exhaust fan to get the fumes out of the shop through the garage door:

https://a.co/d/iieWf2w

The entire setup 'just' fit in the middle of my shop. There was just enough room for the tank and both fenders to be sprayed at the same time and for me to move around in it. The frames I built out of 2x4's mounted on lazy susans so I could spin the parts around to spray both sides from the middle of the booth.

I use 1.5" PVC pipe to make a skeleton inside the paint booth. I hung lights from the PVC pipes on the inside. The skeleton allows me to turn off the big fans and let the paint booth air down when I'm done spraying to allow the paint to fully cure overnight before having to touch them. The PVC junctions are all numbered and slip fit, so I can remove the skeleton and reuse it the next time I set the booth up. I've also used it outside a few times without the PVC to do one-day sprays of various things. I wish I had bought a longer booth that my kayak could have fit in when I sprayed it.

The blue 'pipe' you see in the back of the paint booth provides a positive pressure for air entering... until I turn the big exhaust fan on. Then it ***** all the air out. There's a foam inlet opposite the exhaust that provides kind of a cross-ventilation to the booth.

 

[bwringer]

,,,You'll still get a lot of paint in the air, so a high quality face-filter is critical. I got myself sick once painting zinc-chromate. Maybe even a mask that has an outside air source....

The eedgits on TV sanding and painting with no PPE absolutely astound me. I've seen lots of those stupid "fix up" shows where they're painting in a t-shirt with nothing in the way of PPE but a backward ball cap. If I were a customer I'd be livid that grubby t-shirt guy is getting lint and dirt in my paint. not to mention he destroyed several million brain cells for a stupid paint job. Guess the producers just gotta see the faces or something.

I use this paint booth:

https://a.co/d/0vkIleE

With this exhaust attachment:

Amazon.com: Sewinfla Inflatable Paint Booth Side Window Air Draft Device Small Size for Indoor (Elephant Trunk，NOT Suitable for Any Other Brand Paint Booth)

Shop Sewinfla at the Amazon Arts, Crafts & Sewing store. Free Shipping on eligible items. Save on everyday low prices.

a.co

With this exhaust fan to get the fumes out of the shop through the garage door:

https://a.co/d/iieWf2w

That paint booth looks like just the ticket; seriously, you're going to have a ton of time and money into building something similar out of sticks and plastic, and it's going to look like poop, leak, and fall apart. The inflatable booths come in many different sizes, too.

 

[niget2002]

That paint booth looks like just the ticket; seriously, you're going to have a ton of time and money into building something similar out of sticks and plastic, and it's going to look like poop, leak, and fall apart. The inflatable booths come in many different sizes, too.

The first time I tried painting a bike, I built the booth out of 2x4's and plastic. It was horrible. The week after I took down the 2x4 booth, I ordered the inflatable one. It's significantly better.

 

[BigMike62]

I use this paint booth:

https://a.co/d/0vkIleE

With this exhaust attachment:

Amazon.com: Sewinfla Inflatable Paint Booth Side Window Air Draft Device Small Size for Indoor (Elephant Trunk，NOT Suitable for Any Other Brand Paint Booth)

Shop Sewinfla at the Amazon Arts, Crafts & Sewing store. Free Shipping on eligible items. Save on everyday low prices.

a.co

With this exhaust fan to get the fumes out of the shop through the garage door:

https://a.co/d/iieWf2w

The entire setup 'just' fit in the middle of my shop. There was just enough room for the tank and both fenders to be sprayed at the same time and for me to move around in it. The frames I built out of 2x4's mounted on lazy susans so I could spin the parts around to spray both sides from the middle of the booth.

I use 1.5" PVC pipe to make a skeleton inside the paint booth. I hung lights from the PVC pipes on the inside. The skeleton allows me to turn off the big fans and let the paint booth air down when I'm done spraying to allow the paint to fully cure overnight before having to touch them. The PVC junctions are all numbered and slip fit, so I can remove the skeleton and reuse it the next time I set the booth up. I've also used it outside a few times without the PVC to do one-day sprays of various things. I wish I had bought a longer booth that my kayak could have fit in when I sprayed it.

The blue 'pipe' you see in the back of the paint booth provides a positive pressure for air entering... until I turn the big exhaust fan on. Then it ***** all the air out. There's a foam inlet opposite the exhaust that provides kind of a cross-ventilation to the booth.

Thank you, this is what I'm looking for. I like this system with the two fans. The only issue is that my garage ceiling is 10'8". I'll see what other sizes that they have. I guess I'll have to do the frame and parts then the tins on different days.

Do you have any more pictures showing the big exhaust fan?

 

[dnschmidt]

Have you considered making a deal with a local bodyshop to rent an appropriate spray booth on a weekend. It takes a maximum of 60 minutes to apply basecoat and about 30 minutes to apply clearcoat to a bike after all of the prep work has been done. All of these bouncy house spray booths sort of **** (see Paint Society's spray booth disaster videos).

 

[niget2002]

Thank you, this is what I'm looking for. I like this system with the two fans. The only issue is that my garage ceiling is 10'8". I'll see what other sizes that they have. I guess I'll have to do the frame and parts then the tins on different days.

Do you have any more pictures showing the big exhaust fan?

This was the smallest paint booth I could find when I was searching. Not sure you'll find something shorter.

I never took any pictures from that side of the paint booth. Where I'm standing in this picture is where I mixed my paint, so I did a lot of standing and waiting there.

If you just want pictures of the fan, let me know. It's easy to get to and I can take some more.

 

[mreisner]

I wouldn't overthink it too much for bike tins. You're going to have a bit of overspray but the vertical surfaces will have very little in the way of nibs Etc basically just the horizontal ones. Color sand your first base,, lay down some more base coat color sand that lightly lay down a couple coats of clear color sand and buff and it will look perfect. A lot less places for dust and **** to hide on bike tins then a car. Biggest thing for air flow you want is fresh air for you don't worry about makeup hair for the booth for just tins like that. Now a car that's an entirely different story..

 

[rharman]

Have you considered making a deal with a local bodyshop to rent an appropriate spray booth on a weekend. It takes a maximum of 60 minutes to apply basecoat and about 30 minutes to apply clearcoat to a bike after all of the prep work has been done. All of these bouncy house spray booths sort of **** (see Paint Society's spray booth disaster videos).

Or Google Paint booth rentals. You don't have a location in your profile but there are quite a few in my area.