The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Bike tank finally painted

Ok, so I've been lazy all summer and I just finally got around to painting my bike tank. I got a bit overzealous with the clearcoat and I have to fix a couple runs, but here it is:
[img]http://home.comcast.net/~josiahbartlett/pictures/tank.jpg[/img]

The color is an orange pearl, base is custom mixed by my local shop (BASF, forget the exact product) and clearcoat is a 2K Valspar. It sprayed really well but I put the last coat on too thick and got a couple runs. I'll have to work them out and respray that spot, I think. The pic doesn't do it justice, it looks about six inches deep even without buffing. The pic was taken at dusk and my camera is pretty poor.

Oh, and this is my first base/clear project. I've done others with one step products and base/clear is so much more forgiving. The base is really easy to spray without sagging and it dries very quickly. The clear is harder to spray since it dries slowly, but it flows out really well, and if it sags it doesn't take any pigment or mica with it so you can just level it out and buff it or recoat without affecting the color.

The metal straps are what holds the big HONDA emblems to the tank, and the small tabs along the bottom edge are retainers for the chrome trim along the bottom. This is a tank for a 1974 CB750K4. It's a survivor bike in good shape but it really needed a paint job.

Looks Great.... Love the color

Great lookiong tank. I love the old Honda CB's. I never owned one but a couple of guys I went to high school with back in the mid 70's did and those bikes were cool.

Clear coat can be tricky for the DIY painter (such as myself). You kind of get a feel for it the more you do it.

Wow, Looks great. I had a 750 just about that color. This brings back memories. I took my first long ride on that bike. Fort Worth to Glacier National Park, 1979.

Josh cant you wait for the clear to cure/ harden and then wet sand(1000 grit or higher) and polish out the runs? just wondering?

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do, just cut and polish it. I shouldn't have to recoat it. You can hardly tell where the runs are now that it has mostly cured. I'll wait a few more days. I need to get the petcock back on and charge up the battery on the bike. I'd like to take it out this weekend.

I really like the Valspar clear coat, it sprays nicely from my gun.

Will you mount it between the frame rails or behind the seat? :confused:

In front of the seat, on top of the frame rail It only holds 4 gallons.

The bike sometimes rides in the back of the stovebolt, though.

Josiah, Hope yer stovebolt gets 40-50 mpg with that short capacity tank. Seriously tho, nice job.