RS Warrior Forum banner

Rattle can paint.

6K views 31 replies 20 participants last post by  Midnyte 
#1 ·
Well guys, I've been planning my paint job for a couple of months now but money is very tight and I can't afford it right now. Based on the fact that my tins are Onyx/Indigo and my wheels are Lime Green, I just can't ride the bike like that until I accummulate the money to get a good paint job. I've decided to do a "rattle-can" paint job to tide me over until I can do it right. It's still going to be Black, Lime Green, with some Silver accents but the black is going to be Satin Black. When it is finished I will clearcoat it with a Satin Clear.

I hope to get started sometime next week and will post my progress. I could probably afford a paint job if I sold my custom Big Radius 2-1 pipes but that isn't going to happen . . . . . . . . at least not yet.
 
#4 ·
If you are going to paint it professionally later and don't like it now, go for it. It can't be any worse than lime green and Indigo. LOL, kidding

In fact, I've been thinking of painting my bike too, except I've decided to get a HVLP Gun and spray it myself. If you've already got a compressor a gun is not that expensive. You can find a decent gun for around $100. Sure you could spend less, but it will be more headache than it's worth. And before everyone tells me, I can't do it, I have helped paint my bike before and I know a thing or two about prep.

It's a learning experience, knock yourself out. It's only paint, you can always sand and re-paint.



Here's a good beginners site for painting and prep I found recently.

http://69camaro.20m.com/painting101.html
 
#6 ·
Pep, good luck with this project and post lots of pictures. I have a feeling it will turn out pretty good, you seem to have an eye for detail. Have you thought about going with a flat finish on the black since that is easier to apply and is probably moreforgiving than a high gloss paint?
 
#8 ·
I have a little "rattle can" paint experience. Back when I was 16 I had my first car. A 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. At the time I thought the car was a hot rod and loved it more than anything. Only problem was all four fenders were rusting out, and the bottoms of the doors were rusting. I bought an instructionalvideo at the auto parts store that taught how to do body work.


I watched the video then went back to the parts store and spent all kinds of money on bondo, fiberglass, sandpaper, paint, etc.... Long story short, my body work was kind of crappy, but the paint job I did on the fenders wasn't half bad. I found that several layers of thin paint allowed to dry inbetween coats worked the best. I also found that wetsanding with really high grit sandpaper made the paint shine. It didn't match the factory paint but it was pretty close. It wasn't bad for a spray can job at all.


I can't believe I put so much effort into an 88 Pontiac though. What was I thinking
 
#9 ·
Scoper50 said:
I found that several layers of thin paint allowed to dry inbetween coats worked the best.




#1 - slow and really patient!! - like nearly no paint on [one or two passes[ - wait - dries real fast - nearly no paint on - wait - etcetecetc - it's mind numbing,and please don't rush the last coats, just when it's nearly done ....it will run! - hopefully you'll have enough bits out to paint, to go round them with little waiting inbetween - go for it [good stuff from scoper]
 
#13 ·
Pep said:
I'm Definitely going to do it. I just need to find a rattle can paint that matched the "lime green" wheels.

I don't know the specific graphics you have in mind, but you can get away with more of a mismatch if the green highlights on the bodywork aren't going to be "close" to the wheels.I didn't want to buy the exact colorfor my blue 2006 just topaint mychin spoiler, so I founda Duplicolor rattle can (GM Dark Blue Metallic) that was areasonably close match. The spoiler isshadowed by the engine/frame and isn't next toany other blue pieces. If you were to hold the spoiler next to the tank, it is possible to see a slight difference, but when it's mounted on the bike it isn't noticeable.





Good luck Pep, I'm very interested to see how this turns out. I'm pondering something similar with some spare bodywork I have accumulated here.
 
#20 ·
Well guys, I may have changed my plans. I found an article on painting enamel with a roller.

Let me say that again. I found an article on painting enamel with a roller!

Apparently a lot of guys have done "economy" paint jobs on their cars using Rustoleum Professional Enamel and thinning it with mineral spirits. I'm going with gloss black. I'll worry about the green accents or graphics later. This may actually turn out to be less expensive than the rattle can method.

I'm heading to Home Depot today to pick up some supplies, paint, sandpaper, mineral spirits, 4" foam rollers, foam brushes, etc.

I'll take pics as I proceed so if it's successful, you guys can do it.
 
#24 ·
Pep said:
Well guys, I may have changed my plans. I found an article on painting enamel with a roller.

Let me say that again. I found an article on painting enamel with a roller!

Apparently a lot of guys have done "economy" paint jobs on their cars using Rustoleum Professional Enamel and thinning it with mineral spirits. I'm going with gloss black. I'll worry about the green accents or graphics later. This may actually turn out to be less expensive than the rattle can method.

I'm heading to Home Depot today to pick up some supplies, paint, sandpaper, mineral spirits, 4" foam rollers, foam brushes, etc. 

I'll take pics as I proceed so if it's successful, you guys can do it.
I have a friend who painted his whole car that way and it looked great. but, for as small as a bike it I don't see any difference between spraying and rolling. In the end it is going to come down to two things: How much wet sanding you do and how many coats. The method of application won't matter as much.
 
#25 ·
NJWarrior said:
What's up with the last pic? You don't have pink highlights do you?
No. Just something wrong with my POS digital camera. I don't know WTF is wrong with it. I can say though that those pics don't do the paint job justice. If I ever get a new digital camera I'll post some better pics. Not high on my list of things right now.
 
#26 ·
last year I bought my g/f an '81 Suzuki GS450 and I tore the whole thing down and rattle can'd it all. Flat black with satin clear coat. And gloss black trim and even the rims. Turned out great. Just have to be careful to not get gasoline on the paint. Will melt right through it due to rattle can paint not having a hardening agent.



 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top