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Candy Gold Custom Tank paint + Piccies..

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kaceyk2:
Thought I would post these pics up of me tank painting....
First off, I got the old girls tank back to bare metal....
It tried to trick me immediately...paint stripper would not touch it, someone had done the tank in a rock hard synthetic that was impervious to stripper..... So, as the tank had been dry for ages and there was not the slightest smell of fuel....out with the hot air gun.. this took the paint off like I was wiping butter off it so to speak....
I left the cap on at this stage as it was an old cap and I had a new replacement, so it didnt matter if it got scratched  and I left it on so debris and dust would not get inside the tank.
Anyways,
I got it back to bare metal, and it just needed a couple of very small imperfections filling and sanding....
For some reason, at this point I was working on the floor, This is a habit I have had since childhood, and ruins my clothes, In the last "bare metal" photo you can see I have a Cig and a brew to my left; This means that I have either finished one process, Or that I am thinking.
I had a big red jumper on because it was cold when I first went out and I had the garage door open for maximum real daylight.... After loads of flatting I got hot and started to sweat, my hair sticking to my head, but was so involved in the tank, I neglected to take off excessive red jumper...(in case you wondered)
Anyways,
The "bringer of the brew" told me off for scrabbling on the floor again, , So whilst having said brew I devised a plan for the next stage...
A simple plank of wood from the window ledge to a pair of step ladders was erected, and this served two functions; Function (a) It supported the tank so it could be primered from all sides including underneath.
(b) it was just the right height to spray paint at, and, an electric heater could be used underneath, both before, during and after any painting, keeping the job hot and driving any possible humidity away.
The primaring is pretty self explanitory.
Two or three good coats and 600 grade wet and Dry (used Wet) in between plenty of soapy water...DO not, DO NOT, let wife/girlfriend/mother into garage at any point with a polishing cloth or pledge/mr.sheen at any point.... any hint of "silicones" in the vacinity will wreck your work...Tell em to clean out their car another day.
Onwards.
Wife/ girlfriend/ mother will however have been in the garage before you and done "woman polishing things"
SO,
When wet flatting primer., Allways use hot soapy water with washing up liquid in. WITHOUT FAIL.
This will keep the job grease free and reduce the risk of inadvertant silicones...
After wet flatting, allow to dry , and with a TACK cloth in one hand and an airline blow-nozzle in the other, gently blow and tack off the wet flatting white dust thats now dried on the job.
Forgot to mention,
Looking for something that just fit in the tank-filler-hole snug, I found a toilet roll middle was just the job, with a couple of winds of masking tape round it to make it just so, it wedged in there and didn't move any during the whole job.
Heres the piccs up to and including primer.

kaceyk2:
Next , on with the colour.... yum,  the trick here is to keep your eye on the ball as far as the filler neck is concerned, You have to be even all over the tank, but never too heavy, and absolutely precise round the filler neck,  I used the same technique I would on a car, start off at the bottom of tank on one side and work up and over, so you can use your "trigger-finger" well to stop start over the filler neck and not get it uneven......  Did I think How I was going to get "round to the other side" with that Plank in the way???
YES!  ( I had a cig and a brew and a thinkplan before starting!)
I ducked under the plank, spray gun in hand at the relevent moments.....
Anyways, up to seven coats I can buy, anymore is just not needed, I give it four and was happy, so I gave it another "for luck"....THEN... on with three good coats of laquer.......
I went away and let it dry.
(I came back and peeped a few times, but hey its expensive stuff and I was curious)
I went away and let it dry some more...in fact I got hassled into food shopping ( I hate asda and tesco and all those places...)
Somebody cooked the food that we got "food shopping" ( I love eating the food that comes from asda and tesco and all those places)
Anyways today turned into tommorrow.
Heres a thing, gently, very gently go all over your lovely tank with scotchbrite, to make it keyed up some.
It's like "oh no, it was all shiny and lovely and now I have matted it!"
But it has to be done.... DO IT NOW!! ( you will have to do the same to the stripes, but if you dont have to do the tank at the same time it helps you not catch the edges of new stripes...but we arent up to that yet!
Now the stripes......
Those bloody stripes that cost me nearly

kaceyk2:
and the last piccy....

UK Pete:
Great work Kacey, the tank looks fantastic, and the story telling / description of how you done it all is very amusuing i bet your well pleased and that your prep work and attention to detail paid off with a tuley beautiful tank
Pete

kaceyk2:
Thanks Pete..  The only regret I have is that I paid more for my paint than RS charges. !!
But only because the saving could have been spent on parts!
Attention to detail in paint prep is everything, the prep is 99% of the work, the applying of the topcoats is the fun ... (albeit fun with a knot in the stomach as things can go wrong and the paint is dear...)

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