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K75S DIY painting (& polished tank) thread

Zagando

BMW uber alles!
Recently started work on my big summer project---painting my Dakar Yellow K75S a different color and polishing out my aluminum tank.

Thought I'd start a potentially long-running thread here to show the whole process for anyone interested and to solicit comments, questions and advice.:lurk:type

I'll begin by posting some photos of my bike as it was, how it is now and some of the steps of the painting, polishing and preparation process now in progress.

BEFORE:

COINSbiglot106.jpg


Costco--bigload13JuneNewwasherpic09.jpg


NOW
(June 28th):

DISASSEMBLYPARTTWO015.jpg



After reading many different posts on this and other Forums (ADVRider in particular has lots of painting/bodywork experts) I decided to DIY the whole job instead of farming out the work to a paint shop.

I decided to use a Fuji Mini Mite* 4-stage HVLP turbine paint sprayer with a Fuji gravity fed (and pressurized) gun---instead of going with a more conventional big air compressor/conversion gun setup---for a number of reasons:

The powerful turbine's compact size, warm & dry air that won't require moisture filtering, ability to work in tight spaces, very fine paint atomization and far less overspray. The Fuji also has rec'd. excellent reviews and features the same 4-stage Ametek-Lamb turbine found in all of the top tier HVLP turbine systems. Overall cost was about the same or actually less than the good quality big compressors.

I will use 1.0mm and 1.4mm aircaps for paint and primer.

(*I bought mine from a Wisconsin Fuji distributor who had many informative video clips on his website that helped clinch my decision---Google Roger Phelps or Phelps Refinishing for his url---I certainly will recommend him to anyone considering such a system:thumb:thumb)

I also purchased a Breath Cool II fresh-air respirator system (available on ebay) to protect my health during spraying. The PPG polyurethane paint I will be spraying has extremely hazardous isocyantes in it (they can glaze over your lungs and dramatically shorten your lifespan in no time!) so I decided not to take any chances (facemask respirators with paint cartridges don't cut it with this type of paint).

For the polishing of the tank I bought a Makita 7" professional-grade buffer/polisher and got some extra foam pads and polishing compounds. I am still loooking into clearcoating the aluminum once it's polished but I am hearing different things about that subject. I may first try waxing the aluminum to protect it against our highly corrosive atmosphere here in Volcano, Hawaii.

Besides the salty and humid air of the lowlands we have year-round volcanic acid rain here in the highlands. Kilauea's summit is only 4 miles from where we live.

This will be an interesting "polished aluminum experiment." I will probably be asking for further advice on this subject as I go along. I also plan to cover the low Sargeant seat with a black sheepskin or leather look-alike and remove the rubber tank surround completely. I'll build up the saddle to fill in the gap between the tank and seat and also make it a bit higher for the benefit of my long legs (and aging knees:violin) If my results with the tank are worthwhile I'll want to show more of it off, too:p

I will be doing most of the spraying and polishing either outdoors on a (rare) dry and sunny day or in my small bike shed (not pictured) that I will convert to a makeshift spray booth i(f I get too many bugs in the wet paint:laugh).

That's most of the info for now. I'm going to start soaking all the tupperware from the bike in Simple Green for a thorough cleaning before I begin the sanding...:dance

Stay tuned if interested---I will post pictures, questions and comments from time to time and I welcome all of you reading this to feel free to respond as you wish anytime:ear
 
Hope you guys don't run out of popcorn...

Been busy with other stuff and haven't had much time to continue work this week.

I did remove the fuel pump and filter for the first time and posted my findings elsewhere in this forum. Had some varnish crystals in the tank and the fuel filter needed replacing. Inside is all clean now.

Tomorrow I hope to put everything back inside the tank and seal it up before starting to sand off the paint.

Progress here may be slow but that's because I'm getting older and don't seem to get as much done in one fwell swoop like I used to.:gerg

But once I progress to the next significant stage I'll take and post some pictures to keep everyone interested and informed.

Cheers, Jeff :type
 
I'm looking forward to following this. My K75 tank has some scratches and I'm trying to decide how to proceed.
 
Getting started on the tank at last

Good timing on your post, Acejones.

This is how I spent part of my Fourth of July (about two hours of hard work even with the help of my electric detail sander used at the start, with 60, 100 & 150-grit sanding discs).

Here's the back of my tank after reaching the 220-grit stage wet-sanding by hand:

(I decided to do the back first in case this all goes horribly wrong and I decide to paint it instead)

TANKSANDINGPT1002.jpg


TANKSANDINGPT1007.jpg


Still has a couple areas of imperfections that I need to attend to:

TANKSANDINGPT1005.jpg




...but overall I'm getting excited with my results and looking forward to proceeding further (320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000 and then rubbing & polishing compounds with the Makita 7" buffer).

I'm pretty tired today after all the work I did yesterday (also had to fill in for my wife at her housekeeping job while she's out of the country for two weeks) otherwise I'd be back out there again today working on the tank more. I also have my regular bartending job tonight and tomorrow night so I'll probably continue with this fun project on Tuesday or Wednesday when I have some free time. (stay tuned; I'll post more photos soon after completing the next stages)

I plan to go through all the grits on just this small section and polish it to see how it turns out before doing the rest of the tank.

Meanwhile I put a post over on the ADVRider Garage Forum wondering about protective coatings for bare aluminum.

Any ideas here on wax or Eastwood's Diamondclear? I've heard clearcoat doesn't usually stick to bare aluminum well.

A couple of ADVers suggested anodizing (clear anodizing will dull the color a bit, I think) or clear powdercoating. Hmm, am giving these a thought but am hoping to hear other ideas, too. What about a good paste wax?

I might still end up just leaving it bare except for weekly polishings with Mother's Mag Polish---that stuff is great!
 
Followup to my previous post

I've been informed that my sanding may be both too aggressive (esp. the 60 to 320 grits) and labor intensive by an ADVer. Am now looking into aircraft coating removers or other types of paint strippers that I can brush or spray on and let sit overnight.

Hope I can find something suitable that doesn't have to be FedX'd over here with a Hazmat fee.

Apparently much easier on the user as well as not removing so much aluminum in the process.

Anyone know the thickness of the K tank aluminum?:scratch
 
I would guess that it's "not all that thick." I'd think twice about attacking it with a power sander of any type.

I've always taken my stuff, plastic, aluminum and otherwise, to my friendly neighborhood soda blaster. But even soda can be too hard on aluminum. There was the time I tried to strip some plastic side panels with some orange goop. It took six months for them to re-harden.

I think for aluminum, any non-methanol type finish remover would work.
 
Thanks, JH---I plan on hitting the auto/paint store tomorrow and find a paint stripper.

I reached inside the tank today and felt the middle seam in the back. Yeah, I bet the wall thickness it's not very thick at all---I'll be treading lightly from here on out.
 
Got the back of the tank partially polished; DIDN'T sand through the aluminum!

July 10th update:

Went ahead and light wet-sanded up through the grits all the way to 2000, then tried Mother's Mag polish by hand. Beautiful with only minor flaws.

Here's some pix---but it actually looks much better firsthand, believe me. I was worried I might sand through the thin aluminum but fortunately that didn't happen (I had only used my power detail sander to sand off the paint and primer and was careful once I got to bare metal).

So far, so good. I ordered a 1 pound tin of Blackfire Aluminum Polish (supposedly the best alum. pol. on earth according to an aircraft owner I know of) that should arrive in a few days. I will use it for the final buffing with the Makita.

Will soon strip the rest of the tank with methylene chloride (and wear nitrile gloves and my fresh-air respirator---very nasty stuff from what I've read) and then go through the rest of the sanding process with 600 grit thereafter.

Been plagued with rainy weather continually which is slowing my process down a lot. I am hoping for the dry season to arrive any day now and will get back to work as soon as I can. Even though I have a covered shed to work in, I hate having to deal with the soggy swamp our back lawn has become and using power tools on long extension cords when it's this wet.

Will just have to wait for some elusive sunny days that are so overdue...


Looking through my clear vinly shed:
TRESGATOSPOLTANK012.jpg


TRESGATOSPOLTANK006.jpg


TRESGATOSPOLTANK009.jpg


I think this tank is really going to shine like a mirror once I'm all done. Can't wait to do the rest now!:dance
 
Started stripping the tank

July 16th update:

Got some aircraft stripper (methylene chloride) last week and as the rain stopped for a couple of days I finally got around to stripping the tank. I'm not completely done as there's a little bit of paint left here and there but that will be completed next chance I get.

Meanwhile, here's the before/during and after photos to illustrate what I've done:

TANKSTRIPPING027.jpg


Covered the tank with cling-wrap to hinder the evaporation of the stripper:
TANKSTRIPPING031.jpg


TANKSTRIPPING035.jpg


It was a fair amount of work but overall much easier than sanding all the paint by hand (or with power tools). I had to apply the stripper a couple of times to some areas of the tank and let sit under the plastic wrap. I used an 86-cent two-inch wide paint brush to apply the thick, gooey stripper to the clean and ready tank.

Was nice to not have to worry about thinning the aluminum further by sanding with coarse grits, too. I wore my fresh-air fed respirator for the first time and it was great---no problems. Methyene chloride is very nasty stuff and highly carcinogenic---if you are thinking of using it, do so with the proper protective gear and/or plenty of fresh air. The fumes are heavier than air so will drift down from your work but it pays to be safe in the first place. Also an extreme eye irritant so wear eye protection.

Stay tuned for the fun part---fine sanding and polishing---once I finish getting the last bits of paint off.:whistle
 
Next photos will be smaller (600X800) for easier viewing

Just rec'd a PM from another forum member asking me to resize my pix a bit smaller---so will do so from here on out.

Didn't realize my 1028 pixel-wide photos were making my thread dificult to read on laptops and smaller screens, sorry!:violin
 
Size does matter

Yeah, I know; mine is a 22."

I just joined Netflix and have also discovered the joy of watching movies on the computer (and hooked up to Sennheiser headphones)---what a difference the bigger screen makes:thumb:thumb

Needless to say, my current desktop wallpaper is one of those super-customized and chromed RK75S jobs recently posted on the K-bikes photo thread:laugh
 
What is your color scheme for the rest of the bike? Or are you going to surprise us?

I'm :lurk waitng for your review of the Fuji HVLP system you're using. Been thinking about putting together the same set-up in my shop.
 
Color scheme/ Fuji HVLP

What is your color scheme for the rest of the bike? Or are you going to surprise us?

I'm :lurk waitng for your review of the Fuji HVLP system you're using. Been thinking about putting together the same set-up in my shop.

Yes, I'm probably going to be surprising everyone with the color scheme as I still haven't made up my mind.

I have it narrowed down to the final three but occasionally keep reconsidering a fourth and fifth choice as well. I'm usually not this indecisive but the choice I make is something I will to have to live with for the long term. I spend a lot of time daydreaming about what the bike will look like with this color or that color, though in the end, I don't think I can go wrong any choice as long as I do a good prep and paint job (and anything is better than Dakar Scrambled Egg Yellow:laugh! )

Ideally, I should have several Beemers in my stable with each a different color, but that thought is only another pipe dream of mine.:violin

FWIW, I guarantee that my color I end up choosing is going to look pretty cool, especially with the polished tank and rear rack (just learned that the rack is also aluminum so that is next to be stripped and buffed).:dance

As for the Fuji Mini Mite 4 I'm excited about using it and look forward to the day I get all the sanding and prep work done on the tupperware at hand. It looks like the weather might turn sunny for a change so perhaps I'll get my chance to paint sooner than I've been expecting. I plan to spray outdoors or semi-outdoors just inside the doorway of my bike shed out back.

I don't know if you saw my other thread in the Campfire Forum in which I listed Roger Phelps's website: www.hvlpsales.com (Thread: HVLP turbine for painting bike)---you may wish to read that, too, if you have the time (sorry I'm always so long-winded:blah:blah)

I did a lot of searching and googling about HVLP turbine sprayers and found a lot of info that related to mostly furniture/woodworking usage. I did run accross a custom car builder or two that swore by the Citation/Accuspray w/ the 10G gun and built-in fresh air respirator. I was about to go that route when I stumbled upon Phelps's website...

It was all the great info given there, his informative how-to videos, a dozen or so assorted package deals with the MM4 plus different spray guns and accessories (at good prices, too) and free/low shipping cost that sold me on the Fuji.

Roger also offers the MM4 with a gravity feed (and pressurized!) Fuji spray gun instead of the usual siphon feed gun that accompanies the Fuji on all the other sites (including Amazon, where I first learned of the MM4). That may have well been the deciding factor for me---the gravity gun offered in lieu of the siphon gun at the same basic price.

Check out his website and you'll see what I mean. (No, I have no affiliation with him other than being a 100% satisfied customer). I called him up on a Thursday and the whole package arrived Monday in Hawaii. Everything was well-packed and looks very well-made. I got the stock 1.4mm air cap as well as a 1.0mm for the finest atomization possible.

Since I wouldn't have a built-in fresh air feed with the Fuji I went with the Breath Cool II with a 50-foot air hose and bump cap/hood. Available from an outfit in CT on ebay for around $350; another good deal IMO.

The hood is a tad cumbersome to put on; what with the ear cups and chin strap going over my eyeglasses but I've managed to get the hang of it. The fresh-air turbine is well-made and delivers plenty of filtered fresh air---I'ved used it several times while stripping the tank with methylene chloride. It's pretty loud, though. The neighbors around me for about a mile must think I have a jet parked in my back yard:laugh.

I will be posting a review of sorts on the HVLP setup and how I did with my first moto-paint job as soon as I get to that stage of my project, so please stay tuned and be patient.

I work slowly in my spare time AND when it's not raining here in Hawaii's high-altitude rain forest, which is not very often:laugh. Actually the sunshine was out earlier but now it's beginning to cloud up---so I better run outside and get some fine sanding done on the tank while I can.

Thanks again for your interest and let me know if you decide on the Fuji. Btw, I almost forgot to mention something important---the MM4 uses the exact same 4-stage Ametek-Lamb turbine that the Citation and Apollo and all the other top brands use in their 4 stage units---but at almost half the price---so this was another strong point made for the Fuji that absolutely clinched my deal.
 
Buffed out the tank but I don't think I fine-sanded enough.

Well, the sun did come back out the other day so I got back to work on sanding and polishing the tank.

Continued where I left off (600 grit) with 800, 1000 and finally 2000 grit wet-sanding. The last two grits I used a circular motion until I couldn't see any real scratches in the surface.

Then I got out the Makita, wool pad and Blackfire Fine Cut Aluminum Polish.

My results were unsatisfactory to me.:violin

While I achieved a mirror-like surface on the top and back side (where I'd already done a sanding/polishing by hand with Mother's Mag Polish as a test), the sides still left a lot to be desired. (see photos)

So it's back to the drawing board (or should I say sanding block?) and I will today try out some rubbing compound on a small section of one side followed by more buffing before proceeding further.

I'm determined to acheive a near mirror-like surface and was surprised my buffing didn't work out as I'd hoped. :scratch

If the rubbing compound doesn't improve my pre-polish stage then I'll just sand and resand until it's bound to shine the way it should when I hit it with the Blackfire.



This is after what I thought would be the final sanding:
ITO16JULYTANKPOL21JULYGARI047.jpg



First buffing results:
ITO16JULYTANKPOL21JULYGARI057.jpg


ITO16JULYTANKPOL21JULYGARI055.jpg


ITO16JULYTANKPOL21JULYGARI058.jpg
 
Not much improvement, if any...

I tried buffing with 3M liquid rubbing compound followed by 3M swirl remover (both on two kinds of foam buffing pads) and then another go with the Blackfire and a fine wool pad.



No significant difference so it's time to get out the sandpaper again and start over.

I believe my problem lies in the fact (or at least this is what I suspect) that the tank was media blasted at the factory prior to its original primer and paint application. There are gazillions of very tiny pits on the surface (especially the sides) that prevent it from accepting a totally glossy polish.

Will get out the 400, 800, 1000 and 2000 grit papers and give it another go. Hope my above premise is correct;)
 
If you are anywhere near a place that does Chrome Plating, ask what they would
do. I was once trying to polish out some stainless steel fenders on an old Triumph
and was getting nowhere. I took them to a plating shop and was quoted a
price that I couldn't afford to have them plated. He took one to the back and polished a small area on a polishing wheel, The 1 minute he spent
on it was 99% better than what I could do at home. They have compounds that
you can't buy at the local auto parts store.
 
Thanks but that's not an option where I am.

Unfortunately, there's only one place in the whole state that does chrome plating---and they're on Oahu and I'm on Hawaii, 250 miles away. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

I just took a lunch break and am now heading back outside to sand the sides again. I really think this is what I need to do to remedy my "partial polish situation" as the original test section I did on the back of the tank was well sanded before I polished it by hand with Mother's---and it came out fine as you can see in some of my photos. So I just need to sand it more than I did the first session.

Once I get to where I can see my reflection clearly anywhere in the tank I know I will have reached my goal.
 
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