Cheap Painting Alternatives

[diesel]

Hi all. ok. im skinter than a skint thing thats skint with no money. i wanna tart up the Zxr ( black mostly ) and was trying to think of a cheap way to paint the bike. its all in bits as ive re-built the engine and had the panels sprayed by a mate. i did the frame couple yrs ago just in matt black spray lol. it chipped but was easy enough to spray over. was thinking maybe hammerite for torque rod, caliper hangers etc.

what you all say. any other methods out there?

[masterofinsanity]

personally mate i'd use hard hat industrial coating, as good as hammerite but a much better finish. you should be able to get it from any distributor, or car accessory place.

[andyvanderpandy]

i got one of those jobbies that make the pillion seat disappear, and i covered with a sheet of vinyl, it was 12 quid for 3 x 1 meters (from ebay) its the stuf used for sign wiriting and has a 7 year out door guarantee. its a nightmare to get used to, but if you buy a load to practice with and get a hairdryer and a few other bits it looks like a perfect spray job. i find a link for you with a guide on...

[jake]

how do you get rid of air bubbles mate? i use sheets of this for my race numbers, but can never get it on bubble free! have to pin prick it! is there a trick?

[andyvanderpandy]

how do you get rid of air bubbles mate? i use sheets of this for my race numbers, but can never get it on bubble free! have to pin prick it! is there a trick?

im no expert yet, but after a few days messing around with it i found you can be quite rough with the stuff, especially if stretch it while using a hair dryer, but i only used one colour, i dont know how stretching would effect your numbers. if you can use a squeegie to get all the little bubbles in one or two big bubbles then use a pin. ive tried lacquering over with a spray can and it seems to stick ok. i found a good guide, ill post a link when i get home tomorrow.

[diesel]

have you tried spraying soapy water on the panel first then squeegy the water out? just a thought.

[masterofinsanity]

have you tried spraying soapy water on the panel first then squeegy the water out? just a thought.

ever tinted car windows before?

[diesel]

no why. hate all that car custom bullocks lol.

[masterofinsanity]

thats how you apply window tint with warm sopay water then squeegy em.

[andyvanderpandy]

http://www.the-image-works.net/fittingguide.htm

thats a pretty comprehensive guide

[diesel]

i used to be in charge of applying stickers to our fleet of rental vans a cpl yrs ago and it worked for me

[zimm]

i'd steer clear of hammerite if you want a decent finish, i did my clock bracket with it and it came out utter shite..

ended up leaving it a week, rubbing it down and re-doing in plasti-kote spray enamel.. was far better.

[diesel]

i took baz's advice and got Hard Hat. its doing a pukka job atm. goes a long way too.

[masterofinsanity]

that hard hat is cracking stuff, steer clear of hammerite unless your painted wrought iron fences, cosmetic finish on hammerite is crap and the smoothrite aint much better.Plasticote is good stuff, used their woodstove paint on my headers!