GL1200 Paint Project

[Rednaxs60]

Good work day in between family requirements. Have primed - 2 coats - the frame and rear brake parts:

Will let cure/harden until Sunday. Have a lot of the smaller bits ready and staged for paint. Will do the front fairing brown tomorrow:

My local vapour blasting guy wants me to CERAKOTE a part/piece as a show piece - mentioned I would when I do the frame/brake parts. All I have to do is spray, he'll have the piece ready to go. Thinking the barter system should work as I do have a couple of other pieces I'd like blasted for paint and coating such as the brake calipers.

When I took the lower side fairing air vents apart, noticed that each vane is numbered. Will look into this and refer to the service manuals to determine if there is a required way to install the vanes after cleaning. Don't believe there is but never know - Honda mystery to be solved.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Moving right along. Temps dropping so painting has to get done. Got the inside brown colour done on the front fairing:

Only issue I have is that the side pockets are black:

and these do contrast with the fairing, but these do have covers. Will think about this a bit. Got the frame and brake parts painted as well:

Might get the CERAKOTE applied tomorrow. Took a go at all the small pieces, vents and such, and these came out clean and not too bad, but I think these can be better. I used my mini spray gun, but think for the size of these pieces an airbrush will be better.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Getting a bit nippy to do painting. 3 deg C feeling like -3 deg C - interested in the initial figure. Have learned that anything starting painting around 12 deg C or better is a good place to paint especially if you don't have a choice. Have to wait a bit longer for the paint to flash, but it is doable. Need to apply CERAKOTE to the frame/brake parts so will look at the weather channel for an appropriate day - next Wednesday or Friday looks good. I think Mother Nature is telling me that painting is over for this year - maybe. Can start assembling the body parts so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and layout the engine parts to finish the rebuild.

 

[pidjones]

Yes, I'd rather deal with cool and dry than warm and humid.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Can add some heat to the garage and get it to a reasonable temp with the small space heater. Makes it comfortable. The paint I use is low VOC, something like house paint, but it is sprayed and the small amount of mist does require some ventilation. The clear coat product and CERAKOTE is when I have to have the garage door open for good ventilation - nasty products these.

Have picked Wednesday for the CERAKOTE spray - Friday will be the alternate, have to allow for unforeseen issues in the schedule like a bike ride for coffee, out with the Mrs and such. Going to take the swingarm off today - hopefully - paint it tomorrow then coat on Wednesday as well.

The vapour blasting fellow was over yesterday and wants me to spray a fishing reel and one other part with CERAKOTE. The fishing reel is for one of his customers, the other part is so he can play with it after being coated. Thinking I have some smaller parts that would be nice to freshen up such as the brake calipers and a media blasting would be good for a fresh start, and use the barter system to get this done. Probably work out to the same price if we were to put dollar values to the items.

Showed him how nothing sticks to the CERAKOTE coating. Took a piece of masking tape and put it on a painted, clear coated surface - stuck very well. Took another piece of tape and put it on the FD that has been coated with CERAKOTE. I could move the tape back and forth just like a cloth. Some hypoid came out of the final drive when I was removing the tape and such. Made a bit of a mess but wiped off the FD very nicely.

I am thinking that I should do the front and rear fender undersides as well. These two pieces take a lot of road abuse.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Got ahead of myself today. Have the swingarm off and in for media blasting. CERAKOTE on the frame and brake parts as well as the fishing reel for the vapour blast fellow. Stopping myself from continuing stripping the bike. Time to be putting parts/pieces back together.

Modified my make shift paint booth. Put the sides and tops on with hinges, don't know why I didn't do this before:

Used some 1/16" ABS to keep the nuts from pulling through. Used it this afternoon, worked well - folds up good.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Moving along at great speed. Have the swingarm media blasted and primed:

Have the calipers off and in for media blasting. Doing up all the small bits as well. Had to use my caliper piston remover today - worked great:

Should have the calipers and the two front mounting brackets back tomorrow. Using a lot of 1K epoxy primer. Next paint project going to look into primer for the paint guns, has to be a lot less expensive, won't be for a while.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Have a set of frame and brake parts ready for final protective coat application:

Going to coat the underside/backside of the front and rear fenders as a trial to determine the effectiveness of the CERAKOTE product in a very hostile environment. Planning on Sunday to do this work. This will conclude the major painting requirement. There are a few small pieces in the storage bins that I will take care of when I find them. Considering using the CERAKOTE on the polished aluminum pieces such as the timing belt covers, and injector holders - can't hurt.

Cleaned up the cornering lights to determine the next step regarding these:

You will notice that the left cornering light lens trim is missing and there is a huge blob of silicone on the lens. This is another indication that this old girl had a hard life before I got it. Have sourced (not inexpensive little bits - seems nothing is) and replacing - can't have this after all the work that has been done. Can get the lens unit for the left cornering light but can only get the entire right cornering light unit. There is a difference of approximately $65.00 CDN between the two. Went out to the garage and looked at the left/right lights and it appears that the difference is orientation that has the lens oriented correctly. Since these are cornering lights used only when signaling, the orientation of the lens should not be an issue - any comments? Thinking the less expensive units may be the way to go.

Edit - Have tried the cornering lights in the opposite lower fairings. The lights fit right side up or not. Good info to know.

More to consider.

 

[Rednaxs60]

More progress. Did a CERAKOTE application on the frame and brake parts/pieces. Coated the front and rear fenders as well:

Verdict on test will be a while coming. Removed the tape and paper from the front fender and some of the finish was removed:

There are only three spots and all along the edge of the front fender. Will be able to give a light sand, spray some gold metal flake and then clear coat the entire fender, then it'll be right as rain.

Have been scouring the internet for information that will assist me in getting the emblems close to factory condition. Have the emblems cleaned and are now a chrome type colour. My search has now broadened into the world of "candy" colours, what these are, how these work and what is available. Found a video that uses CREATEX candy colours to change automotive chrome handles to a gold finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5UL9JzUbio More to follow.

 

[saganaga]

That looks nice.

Did you use the special painter's tape? Forget what it's called - it's the green stuff, but it sticks less than regular masking tape.

 

[D-50Dave]

The green painter's tape is called "Frog Tape".

 

[Rednaxs60]

Unfortunately, I used the blue painters tape. Didn't do the pant thing to reduce the stiction. This piece has been done for over four weeks so I did not think it was necessary. Would have used the Finixa green tape that I get at my paint store, but was down to the last of the paint requirements so I was using what I had left/available. Not a big issue, 600 grit sand of the affected areas, grey scrubby for the rest of the gold metal flake for overspray and blending, grey scrubby or 1200 grit wet sanding on the whole fender then clear coat the entire fender. Will pick up some of the tape I prefer to use, by Finixa: https://www.finixa.com/en/products/masking This tape is a bit transparent and is great for taping and trimming as you can see through it. Will be using green Fineline tape to start then the Finixa and paper to protect the non-affected area. Bit of a bummer, but not a huge setback.

 

[Rednaxs60]

The second wave is upon me, the first wave of prepping and painting, and initial engine rebuild has slowed to a crawl meaning that I have caught up and tamed the first half of my 1200 project(s) - time to ramp up for the next onslaught of work. Going to start assembling the body parts and pieces this week, installing the frame parts, and taking care of the small bits that have been hiding in the storage bins.

Have been scouring the internet as I mentioned in the above post, and have settled on a strategy for the emblems. Have ordered the Createx paint products for the emblem refurb. The products that I will be using are:

5039 - Bloodline Blood Red
Gloss black
Candy O Tequila Yellow
4011 Reducer
4050 Createx UVLS Gloss Clear

Getting the 4 ounce bottles, will have enough to do test/trial, and final product. Intend to use an airbrush and start by applying the Tequila Yellow first followed by black then red. Have been looking into applying the black/red colours with a needle or applicator bottle as well. Have to decide how to protect the gold finish as I do the black/red paint application. There is a product on the market called a paint mask. Looking into whether it will work.

The cost for the Createx products and shipping is significantly less than purchasing new emblems on line. The drawback with the emblems is I cannot find a complete set of new, so it's on with the airbrush scenario. I'm optimistic about this phase of the project. will also look into using the Finixa tape to protect the initial paint finish.

Talking with the owner of Maple Airbrush Supplies out of Edmonton, recommended by my paint guy as the most reasonable he has found in Canada, indicates that when the gold, black and red paints are applied and allowed to cure/harden I can clear coat over top without affecting the colour of the emblem. I can use the Createx Gloss Clear, or the automotive clear that I use on the bike body parts.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Been working on repairing the Oops that I had on the front fender when I applied CERAKOTE to the underside:

Had three of these Oops on the fender, so yesterday went at it, but did not achieve the results I wanted. Discussed the reason for this with my paint guy and he informed me that there is not a lot of paint or clear coating at a rounded edge such as where the Oops are. He mentioned that this is probably the reason the paint lifted - had the tape in just the right location for this to happen.

This afternoon I decided to sand and prime the affected areas:

Will let it sit overnight, light sanding then apply more colour and clear. Hopefully all will be well. The most drastic solution would be to redo the gold metal flake (have run out of thee brown metal flake) and new pinstripe lines. Should be able to save the brown metal flake.

 

[mcgovern61]

Here is to hoping it goes well! (What a pain.)

 

[Rednaxs60]

Always something to test the creative juices of us DIY fellows. Learning something new every time I take a few steps forward. Had a quick look at the fender this morning, should be good to go. Hopefully have it done today.

Paint for the emblems arrived yesterday. Will be doing my homework on how the emblems will be done. Will definitely use an airbrush to spray the gold colour. Probably have to lay the black and red paint in with a syringe - lines/spaces too small otherwise. Tried taping and cutting around the gold colour areas, not easy and would be very time consuming.

Have been asked by friends and Sonya's family about this project. It's nice to hear Sonya mention the issues I found during the take apart phase such as two different, but close, paint colours, and the different pinstripe schemes. She also mentions that it will look very good when back together. Great support and patience.

 

[mcgovern61]

Paint for the emblems arrived yesterday. Will be doing my homework on how the emblems will be done. Will definitely use an airbrush to spray the gold colour. Probably have to lay the black and red paint in with a syringe - lines/spaces too small otherwise. Tried taping and cutting around the gold colour areas, not easy and would be very time consuming.

Once you have these procedures figured out and are happy with the results (with pictures), we can add a section to the Tips and Tricks page for folks that want to do this in the future. Emblems are getting harder and harder to come by.

 

[Rednaxs60]

mcgovern61 » Today, 8:38 am[/url]"Once you have these procedures figured out and are happy with the results (with pictures), we can add a section to the Tips and Tricks page for folks that want to do this in the future. Emblems are getting harder and harder to come by.

New emblems are scarce. Found new emblems for the side covers and front fairing. The others are used, and still command a good dollar.

Have finished the front fender repaint. Good recovery I think:

Got the 95% solution. If I have an occasion down the road to have to repaint the front fender, I'll get closer to the 100% solution.

Going to start putting the paint tools away, and get on to the next phase, whatever that is.

 

[julimike54]

Good recovery....

 

[Rednaxs60]

Thanks, it does look good. Had also redone the front brake MC cover. A PO had painted it gold, but not the clutch MC. Put the cover back on the front brake MC and it is clean and shiny, but the MC is not. The proverbial snowball effect has risen its ugly head. Going to remove the clutch/brake MC, clean, paint (using an airbrush), reinstall. Talked to my brother about the nice to do items and he agrees that most of what I want to clean up now is cosmetic and can be done after the bike is together; however, he agrees that the MCs should be done now because I have the brake caliper and clutch slave cylinder off and would have to drain/bleed lines twice - not a big issue but unnecessary.