Kinda embarrassing after reading James’es / Julie’s restorations (& all the smart stuff everyone here does)... but recently gave new life to a rather tired little SS50 tank. Got it off eBay, complete with minor dents and little bit of internal rust. Took delivery whilst in LHR - it stank of oil, making me fret wrt ‘dangerous goods’ as carry-on for the flight home. So; rinsed it out in the hotel bath (vinegar, shampoo, everything), which only gave me a whole new problem in that I gave the hotel plumbing a run for its money & made the room smell (horribly) like a breakers yard.
Once back home (Brunei) put the tank into a reverse electrolysis bath for 24 hrs which got virtually all of the rust out. Very tidy inside now.
Next up hrs of bloody sanding... and a first in popping the major dent out with a garden hose... simply controlling the pressure inside the tank by varying my fist seal. Dead chuffed with that. For the remaining minor dents - filler of course.
Next up the base layer / rust protection..
And followed by a good few light coats of Kawasaki Green... I’ve read this is pretty darned close to the original Honda Mighty Green... which my local paint shop simply couldn’t mix up. (I sprayed this via an old compressor / paint gun / 30psi or so)
Then a rub back with 2400 wet & dry.... decals / preserve nature sticker and a good few coats of automotive lacquer. Saddened at the end of all this to have a couple of small areas of orange peel... but bingo, with more light wet & dry + polishing paste these totally disappeared.
Finally - new badges.
The tank, honestly is beautiful, and has a deep rich gloss finish to it. I of course accept it was simple versus the intricate spraying / two tone / flecked / decalling the professionals do, but hey, a continuing learning curve, and something I’d happily (will) tackle again.
(a couple of years back I did a Parakeet 400F2 tank... came out nicely but with a couple of minor dreaded orange peel areas. Will go back & see if I can buff them out..)