Advice please!

The coaters I used are in Basildon, top chaps and happen to know one of the guys. They'll do an express service too if you ask nicely.

Fairings aren't looking bad, if you run into any finish problems I can probably offer some help.

 

Bang-on, thanks! Newington is just down the road from me, so I'll look them up. How much did you pay for both wheels?

 

I has a load of stuff done to my old Fireblade; swingarm, both wheels, rearsets and levers, engine brackets etc. Paid £100 all in. For wheels I would recommend Lepson's above anyone but at £80 + vat the last time I enquired, it was getting expensive!!

 

Nice one, thanks Dave. I might come to you to find the best way to get a nice flat, shiny finish. In between coats, I've flattened the surface with 2500gt wet & dry, but I want the top coat to be nice and flat before I apply primer. Any suggestions? I don't have any prep tools, so hand-finish only (as the nun said to the priest ).

Basildon's not so far, although I'm not in a rush. I'd just like a good job without any hassles for a reasonable price.

 

Is that £80+vat per wheel? That IS expensive. I'd be ok with £100 all in for both wheels (and I won't need a receipt ).

 

Was nice!!

 

Was £100 for the lot!

 

Bloody hell, lucky bugger! Your Blade looks good, nice work. Are Lepsoms the guys in Newington? Mind you, Gillingham's not far at all either. I'll give them a call in the week (and if you let me have your name, I'll mention you in the call so that you get Brownie points).

 

If you're near Rainham, I'm in Parkwood. I have the proper tools for removing wheel bearings. They don't include screwdrivers or bits of steel that require you to hammer away in hope of getting them out square!!

 

Lepsons are just along from the station in Gillingham. BP Coating are on the industrial estate on the right on the A2 from Rainham to Sittingbourne.

 

PS - your chain looks a little slack

You've got me wondering about getting other bits powder coated now. Rearsets maybe? I'd like to get the frame & swinging arm done, but that'd be too much of job for me to be interested. My bike is after all quite old and not worth much money... so no point going over the top.

 

I had just put the wheel back in and couldn't resist taking a photo 'cos it looked so good! I had a bit of dressing back to after collecting my stuff as the powder had got behind the masking tape. Not a problem though, nothing a Dremel couldn't sort out!

 

I'm up on the Isle of Sheppey, so a couple of miles further on from Newington (and over the bridge). To be honest, I've already bought new bearings, so was intending to beat the old ones out with a drift. I'll use the old piece of wood & a hammer / rubber mallet to get the new ones in (unless you know a better way?). If you're free, maybe I could nip the wheels over to you before I drop them off in Gillingham? It won't be until the end of the month, so no mad rush. Happy to swap help for beers

 

No problemo. Got new seals too? Drop me a line closer to the time and we can sort something out....

 

Yes, they came as a kit. Really good you to offer your help, much appreciated. I'll get in touch once I've spoken with the powder coat guys in Gillingham. Thanks again.

 

Like these?



Paint wise, didn't quite follow you. It sounded like you're painting before priming

2500 is way way way too fine between coats, you don't want any higher than 800, 600 is more likely depening on how heavy handed you are
Keep it wet (with a touch of washing up liquid in the water) light pressure and you'll see the high points showing up easy. Once you get your final coat on then you can start ramping the grit, ending in some merguires ultimate and a good blast with a DA poilsher (have one you can borrow).

Be warned though, the closer to mirror the finish you get the more upkeep it takes to look great. When it's freshly waxed it will be mental, but can look a bit crap when coming up to washing time.

I'm available most of the time (and in the garage more than likely) so can be on hand should you need a coffee or anything.

 

I dunno Dave - you and your fancy gizmos! All very impressive work and waaaaay beyond anything I can do. Thanks for advice regarding the paint. You're right - I used 600 / 800gt paper for the primer coats (of which there were plenty). I'd figured on using 2500gt in between paint coats so as not to score the surface. To be honest, it's worked ok so far... although your tip about washing up liquid sounds great as I've found that the flatter & smoother the surface is, the more the paper 'sticks as there's no air cavity underneath due to the polishing.

What's a DA polisher? One of those mop whats-it-things? That would be ideal. I guess I'd need some kind of compound too? I do tend to be a bit of a clean-freak, so my bikes never get very dirty... so the knowledge of constant polishing is actually quite appealing (yes, sad innit). Maybe I should buy one of those machines... I could do the cars, the windows, the dog... Hmmmmm.....

I'm in Essex now & again during the day, so next time I'm up I'll let you know. I'll bring the biscuits .

 

DA, Dual Action - spins and orbits to eliminate swirl marks and reduces risk of burning the paint.

I'd still be using 6-800 grit on the paint base coats, depending on how smooth you're going on. What you don't want is a real smooth finish on anything but the top coat as without a good key the paint won't stick

 

Couple of past projects. Or reflections of rather.

Vespa (Most annoying colour to paint to date!):


R6 (Hard to mess up black):

 

Dave - thanks for the advice about using 800gt in between paint coats. I tried a bit this eve and it's got the panel nice and smooth (no guesses what I'll now be spending many hours doing ). Got some cutting compound too... so that should finish it up nicely.

I've also decided to use 2K high gloss lacquer as it's more durable.