Triumphrat

Grae_ST · 11-05-2012, 03:40 AM

Hi All,

Hoping someone with way more knowledge about paints/painting can point me in the right direction.

I'm planning on re-painting the Sprint, so can anyone tell me the best way of stripping the old paint from the plastics? and more importantly, the fuel tank! as it's an 2007 and has the 'Nylon' tank. Is there any special prep. needed for stripping the old paint and equally any special prep. needed before applying the new coating?

I won't be doing the work myself, just trying to educate myself a little so that i'm asking the paint shop guys the 'right' questions!

Any other suggestions/ideas are welcome.

Paint will be 'slightly' custom... keeping the basic 'Black' but going with a different colour metallic flake.

Seeing as I can't buy a 'New' ST and there's nothing else on the market currently, that fires my blood, going to turn the ST into a long term project. No clue how long... but should be good for a few laughs along the way!!! Stay tuned....

lol

Cheers, G

DaveM · 11-05-2012, 04:01 AM

Long time no see and looking forward to seeing your new paint job mate

cheers
Dave

Grae_ST · 11-05-2012, 04:38 AM

G'day Dave,

Yup, been a while.... Life has been intruding... slowly gotten on top of it... still a few hurdles to get over in the next 9mths or so... but if all goes well... should be back to (relatively) plain sailing soon after!!

I'll add pics as i go along... should be entertaining... going to throw a complete GSXR front end on (wheel, brakes etc.) as well as a few other mods... as budget permits...

Cheers, G.

IN10SS · 11-05-2012, 07:14 AM

You rarely have to strip the paint off in order to refinish unless it has already had mulitiple paint jobs or there is a problem with the existing finish. Stripping down to bare plastic would require a large amount of extra unneeded work along with treatment with an adhesion promoter. Normally, the paint is sanded, sealed, and repainted with no issues. Proper preparation in any hard to reach areas is needed to make sure adhesion is good and tank should be completely stripped of all hardware and fittings, then rinsed out so no possibility of gas fumes remain. Paint hardener may need adjusted since few shops would be willing to bake or heat cure the tank in their booth. Overall though, painting bike pieces is pretty easy and you can do a large amount of the prep yourself. Good luck, sounds like a fun project!

CharlieS · 11-05-2012, 07:35 AM

I like to sand the previous paint with 220, removing the clear and a lot of the basecoat with a DA sander. I want to leave some so I can get it 320 smooth before I spray with primer/sealer. I use the white dupont stuff, before painting with basecoat/clearcoat. That gave me a really good match on the old 02 red sprint. 320 smooth is what I used to do before paint years ago. It was nice to find out I could still get away with that. Paint now-a-days is so much better and easier to work with....

jvswan · 11-05-2012, 04:29 PM

Most auto parts places around here sell aircraft stripper. Stuff is a liquid that will pull off paint pretty well. That's I'd you do want to strip the paint first.

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KitNYC · 11-05-2012, 07:43 PM

Jvswan, is that aircraft stripper safe for the plastic tank?

Cheers,
-Kit

rustybolt · 11-06-2012, 04:06 AM

Normal paint stripper will melt the plastic on your tank and any other plastics.Their are strippers made to remove paint on plastic surfaces , but even then you must use it with caution as not all plastics are the same and can react differently to different plastics.As mentioned earlier it is unnecessary to strip back all the paint unless it is damaged or cracked and even then you can still sand back the damaged areas to a feather edge than use a Hi-fill primer wich will fill in any imperfections.

jvswan · 11-06-2012, 11:16 PM

You can get some stuff called Klean-Strip (aircraft paint stripper) that is made for plastic parts. They have multiple formulas. The normal stuff is for metal. Make sure to get the plastic version. I haven't used the plastic one, but the regular metal one works great.

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DaveM · 11-07-2012, 02:49 AM

I think I would be contacting Acerbis the tank manufacturer and checking what chemical strippers are safe to use with their product.

http://www.acerbis.it/images/cat/pdf..._fueltanks.pdf

cheers
Dave