Painting Motorcycles....

[ctandc]

New here...joined and have been searching the forum all morning.

Thought I'd throw this out there in case someone here has gone down this road and can help me out.

Looking to paint my motorcycle parts. Actually the plan is to acquire an entire spare tank, fairings etc...and work on paint those while the other set is still on my bike, as it it's my daily driver / commuter.

Anyway...I've been wrenching on project cars and bikes for probably 20 years, and along the way I've painted a few cars / trucks. Once with BC CC and a few times with a single stage. I've done plenty of rattle can stuff and in fact, one of the fairings on my bike now I rattle canned....and it looks really good.

So onto the questions...finally... LOL


1. Go rattle can or Basecoat / Clearcoat with a spray gun?

Before everyone jumps in, please understand I've done a bit of both..and with QUALITY spray can paint, GOOD prep work, and a good spray can clear UPOL, or even now the 2 stage Spraymax you can get GREAT results on small items such as motorcycle parts

That being noted...here are the factors...


If I go the spray gun route....I need to find a HVLP gun that will work with my compressor specs (6.5SCFM @ 40PSI / 5.5SCFM @ 90PSI) that won't break the bank. What about one of the Harbor Freight Detail guns?

Another issue..

I can't spray in my attached garage, unless I can figure out a way to lay out a "booth" and exhaust that can totally keep the fumes out of the house...

Anyone built a portable type of booth for use with small parts such as motorcycle parts?

The truth is, NOT counting the spray booth I would need to 'design' the price of using GOOD spray bombs / clear and using a decent 2 stage BC/CC is probably close...even with needing to buy a HVLP gun.

Any tips / help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aerobb]

A friend of mine and I did just this on my 80 ironhead, I've got some pics, but nothing of the paint booth we set up. Basically we created a area big enough to work with heavy plastic dropped from the ceiling. We used a wall with a window, and in the opposite side, in the plastic we built a box frame with a fan, this allowed us to keep a bit of a cross ventilation and kept the air relatively clear. I know a bunch of people are going to jump on this, but with the bike tins, the spray time was really low. We put a saw horse and 3 or 4 wire hooks hanging from the ceiling. We used a ppg base coat and clear coat, with a good high build primer. The welds from the manufacturer weren't that great, and the high build allowed us to smooth out some of the rough metal with only a couple of thin coats of filler.

 

[mtwaterguy]

First, start with a search on painting and/or building spray booth. Lot's of threads on both subjects.

 

[Hatman52]

I'd second what aerobb suggested. I've done the same for quite a few years and it's worked well. I like to hang canvas painting drop clothes to form the walls of the spray booth -- they're reusable and they don't become charged with static electricity and get covered with dust like plastic does. If you have a window, build the booth around that and then use the fan to ventilate the booth. Naturally, you'll want to wear a good respirator.

I bought a lower-end Devilbiss HVLP gravity fed gun from (IIRC) Northern Tools for around $100 that works well for my needs. I have a 5 hp compressor, but I've run it off my small oilless pancake compressor before with good results. Again, you're using it in such short bursts that it's not a problem for the compressor to keep up.

 

[ctandc]

AEROBB:

Those look great.

 

[ctandc]

First, start with a search on painting and/or building spray booth. Lot's of threads on both subjects.

I searched a good bit. Most of the threads I'm coming up with are dealing with home built booths for cars / trucks etc. Since I'm doing motorcycle parts I don't need anything near that big...

I'd also like to be able to build something inside my attached garage that I could use in the evening. But I definitely don't want the fumes getting the house. And since I'm doing pretty much one piece at a time, I don't need a ton of room to spray in.

I was thinking about using the normal door on the outside of my garage, surrounding that in plastic, and using a box fan opposite of the door to push the air / fumes OUT of the garage....

does that make sense?

 

[mtwaterguy]

I searched a good bit. Most of the threads I'm coming up with are dealing with home built booths for cars / trucks etc. Since I'm doing motorcycle parts I don't need anything near that big...

I'd also like to be able to build something inside my attached garage that I could use in the evening. But I definitely don't want the fumes getting the house. And since I'm doing pretty much one piece at a time, I don't need a ton of room to spray in.

I was thinking about using the normal door on the outside of my garage, surrounding that in plastic, and using a box fan opposite of the door to push the air / fumes OUT of the garage....

does that make sense?

Yes it does. I think a couple of people have constructed small, temp booths using plastic. IIRC they stapled it to wood, to help keep it down, and then just rolled it up when they were through with each project.

 

[redsky49]

Follow this guys thread over at Adv. Rider. He paints all his stuff outside and it looks great. Can't say that I would recommend this for a car, but for a bike it works. Plus, you don't have to deal with the dust that invariably gets past the plastic sheeting.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405688

 

[aerobb]

AEROBB:

Those look great.

Thanks I'm happy with the way it came out.

I'm pouring concrete this spring in my barn, and I plan on picking a small area and using Canvas Tarps, the will just roll up to get them out of the way, rather than the plastic, I think the OP is going to re-using his set up so I'd recommend canvas due to the static issues.

I'd also look at the prevailing wind in your area. putting the exhaust from a fan directly into the wind probably won't due much good.

 

[ctandc]

Follow this guys thread over at Adv. Rider. He paints all his stuff outside and it looks great. Can't say that I would recommend this for a car, but for a bike it works. Plus, you don't have to deal with the dust that invariably gets past the plastic sheeting.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405688

Thanks for the link...

My issue with painting outside is two fold...

I live in VA. So in the Fall / Winter it's too cold to paint outside.

The other issue is that the only time I really have from early Spring to Fall, to work on anything, is in the evening. I get some time on the weekend mornings, but not alot..so most of my work will be done at night, hopefully in the garage.

 

[e-tek]

I built a neat little parts booth out of ridgid foam on my bench and vented it with a duct fan out the wall. It's like a fume hood. The front is mostly open so you can spray hanging parts, but the fumes get sucked out.
I could search it for you.....

 

[redsky49]

I certainly can sympathize with that. Just be prepared for the mess from spraying inside, and don't get too large a gun. A detail type with small reservoir will be easier to handle in confined spaces, and you will be working on mostly small pieces. And good respirator.

 

[ctandc]

About the gun...

I was thinking a decent HVLP "detail" gun should work.

I was talking to a friend and he recommended the TCP Global brand HVLP gun....1.4 tip I think. Said it was less than $50 and he was pleased with his.

 

[ctandc]

What about heat for the garage?

I normally use an electric oil-filled radiator type heater. Will this work for painting? Should I keep it INSIDE the spray booth or outside?