Triumphrat

RexxyPup · 08-17-2009, 04:29 PM

So having worked through the process of making some decent panels out of crash-damaged cheapies, here is the write-up for the second half of the job. I’ve decided to keep the creation of the Union Flag fairings as a separate thread, which is why the panel worked on changes half way through the photos.

So materials, tools etc

Wet n Dry Paper, 240, 400, 800, 1000 and 1200 or 1500
Sanding block
1 Paint supplier that sells over the counter, to provide…
1 Can each of Plastic Primer, Gloss Black, White, Caspian Blue and clear lacquer
Professional body filler for plastic panels
T-cut or G3 rubbing compound
1 box of tack rags and 1 box of orange wipes
1 extra large tub of patience

So the panel has had the decals removed, the crack fixed and the missing tab replaced.

The first step in preparation is to get rid of all the high points. The panel had the usual amount of gravel rash on all the expected places; Front and rear lip of opening, decal area etc. Most of these would require filler to sort, but all had raised areas that needed hand sanding with 240 Grit Wet and Dry. One or two of the minor abrasions were removed completely at this stage, but this is the exception rather than the rule.

In addition the gaping hole where I had removed the decal was rough edged and the repaired split’s edges weren’t quite aligned, so these also benefited from a rub down with 240 grit wet and dry.

I had second thoughts about removing the decal. The experts at the paint suppliers said that most body shops would have orbital sanded over the top of the decal to bring it down to the same level as the lacquer. In the main I would agree with this, especially in light of the trouble it gave me later, however, my decals were so baldy damaged that I was more concerned about them lifting after paint had been laid over them, so the choice is yours.

A couple of tips for this stage…. Firstly keep the wet and dry well lubricated with water, otherwise it fills up with debris, stops removing evenly and starts scouring gouges into the panel.

Work on a bench or panel support that keeps the panel relatively high up. You are going to end up with arm ache for sure, but try not to add backache to it

RexxyPup · 08-17-2009, 04:29 PM

I used panel filler bought from the paint supplier to minimise the chances of chemical reaction when I came to spray. This was a two part filler with a 100:1 padding to activator ratio. I spread this across all the areas needing filling. Where possible, drag a steel straight edge across areas of wet filler to remove the excess, but this can be difficult on bike panels with compound curves

Having let the filler dry, I hand sanded back with the 240 grit again to get to what felt like a smooth finish.

I then sprayed a coat of etch prime over the panel to give the paint something to key to, and then a light coat of gloss black to do two things. Firstly it highlights the areas needing more work, and secondly where you do have to sand, it will help show progress later on (more of that next).

Having dealt with the areas highlighted by the black coat (there are several other pictures in the album showing the range of faults from ripples to reaction), I applied the first coat of the white that is needed under the colour coat to get the right hue. The Caspian Blue base colour is not supposed to be translucent, but it is, so the colour of the paint beneath it makes a difference to its final shade. White is what is needed here.

The white showed up a wealth of flaws here. Now is the time to crack open the tub of patience! Most of my problems were ripples around the decal area again, which only showed up at very shallow viewing angles under fluorescent! It’s worth noting that fluorescent light is a far harsher judge of flaws and ripples than sunlight. So if you can’t see it under fluorescent then you won’t see them on the bike. At this point I realised that part of the reason I was still seeing ripples was because I was hand sanding so rather than taking the tops off the ripples, I was, in the main, following the contours.

At this point I bought a professional sanding block from eBay. One face is rigid plastic, and the other is slightly flexible to follow large curves without deforming to ripples. Once I started using this things became much easier, and the black under coat came in to play.

If you use the sanding block, you should be removing the tops of the ripples, which gives a contour line effect of white, black and primer as you remove more of the bump. The closer you get to smooth, the more feathered the change between the colours. If you have a pit, the reverse colour change occurs, but the same feathered result is what you are aiming for. This can be seen on the next picture.

RexxyPup · 08-17-2009, 04:30 PM

I then lay a final coat of white prepares the panel for base colour, which I treat as follows

Lightly rub it back with 800 grit
Wipe over with a tack cloth to remove any bits
Finish off with an orange wipe to remove any grease

So the panel is ready for the base colour. All the cans I bought from the paint suppliers (as opposed to cheap stuff from Auto stores) had a nozzle that allowed you to alter the paint fan to be either a vertical or horizontal bar, that is to say that if you didn’t move your arm, you would get a narrow strip either horizontally or vertically, not the traditional round coverage of cheap cans). I use mine with the nozzle set to give a vertical bar. This gives a cover that is closer to a proper spray gun with one important exception. A professional spray gun gives a much better coverage on panel edges, so before laying the cover across the main part of the panel, I give the edges, sharp raised areas and awkward recesses (including the fairing cut out) two reasonable coats.

Having let that dry, I now spray the panel evenly back and forth across the panel about 6-8” away. I’m aiming for 3 or 4 lights coats, not one thick one. I start the spray before the nozzle reaches the beginning of the panel, and stop spraying when I’ve has gone off the other side. I repeat this coming back the other way, overlapping the paths slightly each time. I soon build a rhythm up and work round the corners as I go. I let the paint to dry for the recommended time and repeat the process running at 90deg to the last pass. The drying time between coats can actually be quite short (usually on the can), so the time to get four coats (usually sufficient to cover evenly) on can be quite short.

I seem to break all the painting rules when I spray. My garage is carpeted (well it gets cold!) I don’t have a full booth, I have two old curtains hanging from the ceiling, forming a rectangular box about 4ft by 6ft and reaching about 3ft from the floor. These stop the dry spray spreading too far and help prevent drafts blowing dust up. I vacuum them before each colour or clear spraying session. Depending upon how curved the panel is, I either lay it on a tall but small table and spray down as in the case of the main panel below, or I suspend it from the ceiling and spray horizontally on to it as in the case of the belly pans. The one thing I do for all my spraying is wear a facemask!

The picture below shows a main panel that has two coats, one in each direction, and you can see the coverage I have attained at this stage.

RexxyPup · 08-17-2009, 04:31 PM

At this point, the panel I have been working on is having a union flag design added to it (part 3 of this ramble), so I have carried on using a bellypan I worked on...

Okay, so I now have a nice evenly covered panel that I have left for 24 hours. Now comes something that seems counter intuitive. So long as I have a good even colour, I don’t get too hung up about tiny blemishes. I will nib (apparently a technical term!) off any hairs or things that have got into the colour with 1000 grit and then lightly blow over with colour to bring it back to an even finish, but I am not worried about the paint being smooth and glossy and peel free. I don’t seem to get too much peel or any runs, probably due to the four light coats approach. It is the final lacquer coat that gives the finish.

So here are two pictures of a belly pan. On the left is the base colour, and on the right is the lacquer coat. I prep the panel with the same 3 steps as for the base colour, and spray the lacquer in exactly the same way, including doing the edges with extra coats before the main finish. I then leave it to dry for another 24 hours.

My lacquer is usually shinier than the paint, but I certainly wouldn’t call it a mirror finish. Now it gets tedious. I now give the panel a rub all over with 1200 Grit Wet and Dry used very wet. I am looking for is an even matt finish from the rubbing. I have to go easy around the edges and seams, as even with the extra coats, it is very easy to go right through the lacquer.

I use the tack cloth after drying the panel to remove the remains of the rubbing to see how I am progressing. If you get shiny areas of lacquer in the middle of an area of matt sanding, it indicates that you have a slight dip and there are three of them on the raised scoop in the picture above. Carry on with the 1200 until you have the even matt. You should have almost used up your large pot of patience at this point. I have, so now I rest!

Okay this is my final stage. I used to use a T-cut product, but I now use something called G3 from the paint supplier. It is a fine polishing compound used on a wet panel. It is usually used on mop (a bit like a grinder but with a soft sponge or lamb’s wool type cover) but I find these things to fierce for the sort of paint cover I get at the edges of panels, so I use the stuff by hand on a wet panel applying sparingly with a wet cloth in a circular motion. This will gradually bring the whole panel up to the mirror finish that you can see in the last picture. This took about 45 minutes.

RexxyPup · 08-17-2009, 04:47 PM

So there you have it.

It sounds hard work and time consuming, and frankly it is, but when you consider that new fairing panel costs £400 +VAT it is not so bad.

I reckon that if I was taking this back to standard I would have bought a decal and laid it under the clear coat, so adding £50 for that, another £60 for all the paint, £30 for tack clothes, orange wipes and Wet n Dry and the original £40 for the panel, I can have a nearly complete (have to put the foam on the back of the panels - £30 from Triumph; £10 from upholsterers for fire retardant) indistinguishable from the factory, panel for £200.

I did ask a local bodyshop how much they would charge to do everything I have done, and bring it to the same finish, and the price they quoted gave me a panel for £300.

So I’ve saved £200 on new, or £100 on a professional’s job. Yes it’s tedious and time consuming, but the final panel is well worth the effort, particularly if, like me, you are hanging on to an older model and panels are no longer produced, or just tight!

Hope you find this helpful. My next experiments are to try touch up areas of panel rather than complete re-spray, and more importantly I’m trying my hand at putting a rippling union flag on the fairing!

Happy Spraying

Rexx

iceman · 08-17-2009, 05:06 PM

Great post Rexx.

I have done similar stuff on cars but using a proper pressure spray gun. Patience is the key - you cant short cut any of the steps that you covered there.

Its impressive what you've achieved with cans.

Is the final colour lighter than original?

Grant

RexxyPup · 08-17-2009, 05:13 PM

Thanks. It's been a long learning process, finding out by trial and error, or by surfing the web.

The colour match is pretty good, in fact it is better than the match between the original nose fairing and the factory replacement to repair the throttle side. A little bit of luck, and some careful spraying.

Rexx

DaveM · 08-17-2009, 05:16 PM

Rex,

excellent as thread usual

Let me know when you want it moved over to the MT&T sub forum.

cheers
DaveM

KitNYC · 08-17-2009, 06:23 PM

Wow!

All that work really makes the new part seem worth the price!

Cheers,
-Kit

Coroja · 08-17-2009, 07:21 PM

RexxyPup, what a great post! It's absolutely filled with top-notch information.

I have a couple of comments relative to leveling body filler. You can typically find semi-rigid plastic "knives" or "spatulas" for applying and leveling filler. They are a little easier to use than a steel straightedge because you are less likely to damage the surrounding area of the panel. In some cases, I have bought a plastic drywall taping knife and shaped the edge to fit the curve I needed. Finally, you can let the filler partially set and then remove the excess with a cheese-grater-type file (you really have to be careful of the surrounding areas though).

Also, to those who might think the factory-painted panel is more cost-effective, RexxyPup's hard work produces a much better surface than the factory plastic. Prep work is what makes a great paint job and the results show when it has been well done.