Painting over stock paint

[Burton]

Has anyone had problems painting over good stock paint without out any stickers or the stickers removed? I have not but I have heird a couple of horror stories lately and was curious what the standard pratice is for a paint shop. Strip or paint over the top?

 

[BonesFX]

This is a great question, Kinda like the egg or the chicken theroy.

When I first talk with a client I ask them 1st what part(s) am I painting and will they be stripped to bare metal or are we painting over exsisting paint. So of course they want to know which is better, It's always better for me to have them stripped because I can make more money and I also have control of the paint job from the ground up. But I'll also paint over the exsisting paint as long as they know my policy of not guaranteeing the job and that if they pick up a stone chip it will likely be much bigger than if the parts were stripped. If they decide to go the cheap route and there's not that much body work, I just sand it dull with 600 and shoot it with epoxy primer and then start with the base... If you can start from the metal I think thats the best - -- One of the first "cover-up" jobs I did came back on me because of a gas leak that was also covered up before I got it and I ended up stripping the whole thing back to metal - having it sealed then doin it all over again and losing my *** on the job! - Thats why I only guarantee stripped jobs for a year - I know whats under them!!!! -- Good Luck!!! Bones!~ METAL RULES!~

 

[DDG]

I'll paint over existing paint in two instances.
One, it's factory paint. Two, it's allready painted and I'm just doing graphics or airbrushing. But, I WILL NOT be held liable if the paint job fails.
Those are the only two reasons, everything
else gets stripped to bare metal.
Dirt

 

[Burton]

Both great answers! Now for the fun stuff, The actual stripping! Who, what, when and how? I've seen evryone talk about stripping then having to etch and some say to just scuff up the metal after the stripping. I know there's more then one way to skin a cat but how many different ways are there to skin a tank? Keep in mind I'm still out of the house and do not want anything to messy. I've been lucky in the fact that all my jobs so far have been on newer bikes with good paint but I've got a set (all metal) that is thrashed and needs to be stripped.

 

[Stretch]

I was lucky enough to find a local sign company that let me use their sandblaster. They use them to make wooden signs. I can blast a tank in a matter of minutes. May be worth a call to some local shops? If that doesn't work you may be able to pay an actual sandblasting company to do the job for you for an hourly fee. I wouldn't think a set of fenders and a tank would be more than an hours work.

-Stretch

 

[rex]

Be careful blasting tanks!They need to be sealed up extremely well so not one grain of sand gets in there.If you see someone that complains they have to turn their petcock off because the thing is spilling gas ask them if their tank was stripped and repainted,it's common.I chemical strip what I can,use a Scotchbrite wheel where I can and sand and blast the rest off.If you use stripper put a big piece of cardboard under the part and scrape everything onto it.When you're done spread everything out evenly and set it in the sun for a day and it's dried out.A factory finish should be fine to go over unless it's lacquer,but CYA and don't guarantee it just in case the factory job fails-just looking at the cars will prove the factory screws up too.

 

[tcannon]

I picked up some of the best sand paper a few weeks ago. Got it at, of all places, Home Depot. I sanded a Dyna tank down to bare metal, decals and all with a quarter sheet of the 80 grit using an electric jitterbug. You do need to have a small wire brush handy to clean the paper as it gums up. The paper is by 3M called "sandblaster". They make different kinds for different types of finishes. The stuff I used was the green. I don't know how long they have been making this but it worked pretty good on the Dyna tank. Just another alternative to blasting or zipstrip. TC

 

[Envious Interiors]

plastic media blasting is the way to go. my dad use to own a blasting business that did plastic media blasting. just find a shop that does it and have them take care of it. it takes it down to metal really quick, you can have a car back in 2 days or less. and its a lot less messier than sand blasting. it'll even take off aircraft paint. check it out. it works really well, trust me on that.

 

[TWISTED]

I dont like painting on top of someone elses work. If the underlying paint screws up it makes me look bad. If you strip it you know where there is filler or any imperfections in the metal. Here's a few ways to get the paint off.

Chemical stripping- Messy and can affect your paint if you dont get it all cleaned out of the cracks. But it's cheap.

Sand blasting- Have someone else do it after you seal the tank up. Rubber caps for the fuel outlets and an old gas cap usually works for the filler hole. I hav a guy do my stuff and he knows how to blast bike parts the right way. No problems yet.

Plastic media blasting- Quick, clean, less problems with contaminants inside the tank. Can be a bit more expensive and harder to find someone to do it. Also the plastic is easier on the metal than sand.

I have read in auto mags that they do some dipping that will even get the rust off. Also there are guys that use baking soda.
You can also go the cheapes way and hand sand it. Hope you got a good arm.

 

[newbie]

Bones,
Read here where you recommended a 600 grit and then an epoxy primer. I'm preparing to paint a brand new bike, including the plastic side covers.
Is this your recommendation for this as well, even though I'm shooting urethane.
Thanks,
newbie

 

[BonesFX]

I'll use the epoxy primer on harder plastic parts like the harley side plates - on the flimsy stuff you might want to add an additive for flexible plastic - I've never used, but some people swear by it - I think there are also some primers made exclusively for priming plastic --- Bones!~