New to the Hobby/Business

[Motorhead]

It doesn't have to be ultra -sophisticated. As far as compressors, Just strong enough to keep steady pressure at the gun. even 1and 1/2 horse is plenty, A harbor freight "19.99 special" gun is good enough for something this small. I have a $300 Sata mini-jet, and I cant feel any difference shooting a project this small. In fact the cheap gun has been used on my last two or three small projects. I just wouldn't shoot a showcar with it. Make sure you have a good water separater at the compressor, and a regulator/guage at the gun. There are no different tip sizes to deal with, and the gun will lay a much more controlled pattern than a latex type gun. Follow the recommended pressure at the gun, and recommended mix ratios. Lastly, Get yourself something to practice on and even if its spraying cheap primer, get a feel for the gun and its pattern and adjustments. Even the most experienced painters screw up once in a while, so don't get discouraged if you do. Just get more paint and give it another go.

 

[jdgmbi1]

It doesn't have to be ultra -sophisticated. As far as compressors, Just strong enough to keep steady pressure at the gun. even 1and 1/2 horse is plenty, A harbor freight "19.99 special" gun is good enough for something this small. I have a $300 Sata mini-jet, and I cant feel any difference shooting a project this small. In fact the cheap gun has been used on my last two or three small projects. I just wouldn't shoot a showcar with it. Make sure you have a good water separater at the compressor, and a regulator/guage at the gun. There are no different tip sizes to deal with, and the gun will lay a much more controlled pattern than a latex type gun. Follow the recommended pressure at the gun, and recommended mix ratios. Lastly, Get yourself something to practice on and even if its spraying cheap primer, get a feel for the gun and its pattern and adjustments. Even the most experienced painters screw up once in a while, so don't get discouraged if you do. Just get more paint and give it another go.

MH-

Thanks for the detailed and thought out description to my question. Very informative. I do have a few clarifying points:

1. What would be a good water seperator. Frankly, they all look the same to me.
2. Cup gun or gravity feed. How big of holding container
3. I assume you hold the pressure at the gun and compressor the same?
4. The recommended pressure comes from?

Again, thanks.:77:

 

[Backinthedays]

MH-

Thanks for the detailed and thought out description to my question. Very informative. I do have a few clarifying points:

1. What would be a good water seperator. Frankly, they all look the same to me.
2. Cup gun or gravity feed. How big of holding container
3. I assume you hold the pressure at the gun and compressor the same?
4. The recommended pressure comes from?

Again, thanks.:77:

To all who want to paint their on bikes and are a little apprehensive, just do it.
Take if from someone who a few weeks ago wouldn’t have known the difference between fluid control knob and air pressure knob, you can do it. The paint job I just finished looks amazing, it's not perfect but for the most part it looks show quality. Listen to what the other people on this forum are saying; both Motorhead and Karen have been dead on with their advice. I think the biggest things I learned on my first paint job was; have a test piece in the booth with you to see how the applied coats will look before you actually shoot the bike and don't be afraid to apply plenty of liquid, also make sure all your pieces are positioned so that you can get to all sides and they are stable. I had some issues with pieces moving and not getting enough coverage in some of the hard to see spots. All my paint tools came from Harbor Freight, soda blaster, moister separators, guns etc... And they all worked fine. Of course I wouldn't know the difference, but they were cheap and got the job done.
I will try to post some pictures as soon as I get some that show the quality of the job. I did a little too much celebrating tonight on the completed paint job with too many Shinner Bocks!

 

[Motorhead]

MH-

Thanks for the detailed and thought out description to my question. Very informative. I do have a few clarifying points:

1. What would be a good water seperator. Frankly, they all look the same to me.
2. Cup gun or gravity feed. How big of holding container
3. I assume you hold the pressure at the gun and compressor the same?
4. The recommended pressure comes from?

Again, thanks.:77:

Just as long as you have a water separater, you should be OK. Brand names are considerably more expensive and I'm not sure there's that much difference. I prefer an 8 oz. gravity feed for these small bikes, its easier to work further into the frame cavity and will hold enough for near two coats of material. you should keep the compressor at 60 psi or better, and adjust spray pressure at the gun regulator. I'm thinking the ready made paint kits call for 15 to 28 psi. , but my gun is much happier at 40 (gun mnfgr recommendation)

Motorhead

 

[jdgmbi1]

Just as long as you have a water separater, you should be OK. Brand names are considerably more expensive and I'm not sure there's that much difference. I prefer an 8 oz. gravity feed for these small bikes, its easier to work further into the frame cavity and will hold enough for near two coats of material. you should keep the compressor at 60 psi or better, and adjust spray pressure at the gun regulator. I'm thinking the ready made paint kits call for 15 to 28 psi. , but my gun is much happier at 40 (gun mnfgr recommendation)

Motorhead

Again, thanks for your advice.

And thanks BNTD for the encourgement. Actually sounds like it could be fun.

 

[69ST]

I'll second motorhead's recommended pressure settings, at least for the larger sections. Going slightly beyond manufacturer's pressure recommendations tends to atomize the paint better, but it only works well with catalyzed material that stays wet. Just how you got clearcoat results that dry & granular looking from what is, ostensibly, a catalyzed urethane is the $64K question. Forced to make an educated guess, it's probably Transtar or some other cheap paint. Gotta wonder just what's in that kit.
"Apply within 15 days?!!! WTF??!! :13:

I doubt that it's even possible to apply HOK sparsely enough to get that same surface texture. Cheap clearcoats tend to flowout more easily than the better materials, such as HOK. Some can go on surprisingly dry. I've seen "catalyzed urethane" paints & primers that could be removed easily with lacquer thinner; that shouldn't be possible. That comes with tradeoffs such as how it goes on, brittleness, UV resistance and how it can be sanded & polished. Like anything, else it's buyer beware. With smaller, curved, pieces a smooth, a texture-free final surface can be achieved. Over larger, flatter, pieces the final surface will always have a certain amount of orange peel - like new cars - straight from the gun.

Deciding whether a botched application of clear can be wet-sanded & salvaged with another application of clear is straightforward. Hit it with 600 grit & water. If the clear is solid enough to rescue, the surface will look even, almost as if polished, while it's still wet. If it still looks pockmarked, then there are too many voids to fill-in with more paint.


A small, gravity-feed gun detail gun is what you want to use when painting a CT70 frameset. It's essentially an oversized airbrushing project and you'll have to vary pressure, feed, spray pattern, distance and technique to accomodate different areas of the frameset. With so many odd-shaped parts, there's a lot of seat-of-the-pants flying involved. It's tricky getting perfectly even coverage in concave & recessed areas. Mind you, not all colors are as easy to apply as the topaz. EG is especially prone to tiger-striping, for example.

 

[kmcrab]

If you can find a pot style gun reasonable and plan on doing several of these, it is in my opinion it is the easiest to use and get up in the frame and into all the small areas. This style, for those who don't know is a locking pressurized pot that sits on the floor of the booth and the hoses run up to a small gun. My next choice is a gravity feed and like was mentioned,it does not have to be huge or expensive. The cup style guns are a lot harder to get up in the frame. The pot style comes in several sizes and you can put your paint in a disposable bucket that you set in the pot...You can get the buckets from a paint shop.... after you are done, just throw the bucket away. I would not suggest getting a pot style unless you either find one at a really good price or plan on doing a lot of painting...

There is no comparison between a latex, house painting set up and one that is designed for automotive use. I can't imagine painting a car or bike with a house painting gun.

The moisture seperators are very important to a good paint job. Oily water in the paint is very bad. I don't think that you would have to get a real high priced unit either unless you are planning to do a lot of painting. As far as pressure...Start at the suggested setting on a test piece and go from there, not every gun is going to shoot the same and like Motohead said, his gun is happier at a different setting. Also what setting worked great one day might not work well another day so always test on something before spraying your bike.

I think the idea that was mentioned about practice sprayng cheap paint or primer is a good idea just to get a feel for your gun and to play around with the pattern and spray settings. Spray painting is not hard, prep is harder. Take your time,learn your gun and you will have a paint job you can be proud of.

 

[jdgmbi1]

I'll second motorhead's recommended pressure settings, at least for the larger sections. Going slightly beyond manufacturer's pressure recommendations tends to atomize the paint better, but it only works well with catalyzed material that stays wet. Just how you got clearcoat results that dry & granular looking from what is, ostensibly, a catalyzed urethane is the $64K question. Forced to make an educated guess, it's probably Transtar or some other cheap paint. Gotta wonder just what's in that kit.
"Apply within 15 days?!!! WTF??!! :13:

I doubt that it's even possible to apply HOK sparsely enough to get that same surface texture. Cheap clearcoats tend to flowout more easily than the better materials, such as HOK. Some can go on surprisingly dry. I've seen "catalyzed urethane" paints & primers that could be removed easily with lacquer thinner; that shouldn't be possible. That comes with tradeoffs such as how it goes on, brittleness, UV resistance and how it can be sanded & polished. Like anything, else it's buyer beware. With smaller, curved, pieces a smooth, a texture-free final surface can be achieved. Over larger, flatter, pieces the final surface will always have a certain amount of orange peel - like new cars - straight from the gun.

Deciding whether a botched application of clear can be wet-sanded & salvaged with another application of clear is straightforward. Hit it with 600 grit & water. If the clear is solid enough to rescue, the surface will look even, almost as if polished, while it's still wet. If it still looks pockmarked, then there are too many voids to fill-in with more paint.


A small, gravity-feed gun detail gun is what you want to use when painting a CT70 frameset. It's essentially an oversized airbrushing project and you'll have to vary pressure, feed, spray pattern, distance and technique to accomodate different areas of the frameset. With so many odd-shaped parts, there's a lot of seat-of-the-pants flying involved. It's tricky getting perfectly even coverage in concave & recessed areas. Mind you, not all colors are as easy to apply as the topaz. EG is especially prone to tiger-striping, for example.

Karen,

I assume a better comparison would have been "Is it similiar" to an HVLP set up in which stains, lacquers, ...are sprayed on wood work?

A full paint guy and compressor would be a lot of power behind a small subject.

 

[kmcrab]

I would say similar...I have never used anything like that on wood work...Just the house painting sprayer and I didn't use it for long...HA! In my short experience with it, the controls were not nearly as precise as they are on automotive sprayers...I guess because they are designed to cover very large areas and throw a large pattern.

I saw a very neat and small HVLP set up at Parts America that to me looked perfect for CT painting...I think it was around $89. I have seen them advertised cheaper at HF though, I have never used one of those but I have heard a lot of people say they work well.

 

[jdgmbi1]

I would say similar...I have never used anything like that on wood work...Just the house painting sprayer and I didn't use it for long...HA! In my short experience with it, the controls were not nearly as precise as they are on automotive sprayers...I guess because they are designed to cover very large areas and throw a large pattern.

I saw a very neat and small HVLP set up at Parts America that to me looked perfect for CT painting...I think it was around $89. I have seen them advertised cheaper at HF though, I have never used one of those but I have heard a lot of people say they work well.

Yea, the more I thought about the more I thought the HVLP route would probably do a good job since it pushes a lot of product out at a low and controlled pressure.

Might have give that a shot since I have one at my disposal. :39:

Thanks.

 

[69ST]

I think the idea that was mentioned about practice sprayng cheap paint or primer is a good idea just to get a feel for your gun and to play around with the pattern and spray settings. Spray painting is not hard, prep is harder. Take your time,learn your gun and you will have a paint job you can be proud of.

I've been spraying my own paint since the early `70s and I still do a few test passes to get the gun properly adjusted every time something is changed. Yes, that's for each stage of a candy paint job and after every re-load; gun adjustments must also be tweaked for odd areas, such as the inside of the frame to control blowback.

Generally speaking, I agree that it's all about prep and that's where most of the labor goes. That said, with candy colors, the prep is more enjoyable. All it takes is several dozen 5-hour marathon sessions, wearing a fresh-air supplied mask & non-breathable space suit, in an 85F spray booth before you realize "this isn't as much fun as it looks"...as you're pouring-out your gloves.
:bottled0wl:

With a CT70 frameset, it's all about transfer efficiency and thorough paint atomization. Gravity-feed HVLP is the way to go, such guns tend to apply paint smoothly without 50-80% wasted as overspray. It's amazing how clean the spray booth remains compared with the tech of 25 years ago. Considering the high cost of quality paint these days, the cost savings isn't bad, either...more than enough to pay for a decent gun after a few jobs (unless one uses cheap paint).

 

[Backinthedays]

I tried to take some decent pictures of the finished paint job. Like painting photography is not my expertice. The paint looks great in person. I also attached a few pic's of my latest aqusition. I purchased this little feller last night for $500. The guy through in an original mint condition 1970 CT70 owners manual and shop manual!

 

[Backinthedays]

Well, the candy gold paint for my KO Ct70 just arrived from vintage honda paint. I know were my head will be for the next week or two. They even included a tack cloth this time! Maybe it's because I am a repeat customer! I know next go around I am only tackling one bike at a time, my shop is a wreck!

 

[Jdmonealp]

I also got the paint kit Friday! Same orange as the OP. Primer going on tomorrow, paint next Wednesday/Thursday

awesome kit.

Beautiful bike!

 

[vrodsss]

I also got the paint kit Friday! Same orange as the OP. Primer going on tomorrow, paint next Wednesday/Thursday

awesome kit.

Beautiful bike!

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Have fun . Just make sure you leave yourself plenty of time -- It took me half a day for the base/candy&clear coats . Follow the directions to the T .

 

[Backinthedays]

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Have fun . Just make sure you leave yourself plenty of time -- It took me half a day for the base/candy&clear coats . Follow the directions to the T .

Yes, if you follow the directions you will need to allow about four hours for the base, candy and clear coats.

 

[Backinthedays]

X-Mas in April!

I love the smell of new parts in the morning! I ordered these from Classic Honda Parts yesterday around noon and they showed up this morning! That's service. They did backorder the handle bars and tires though. Well, as you can see the Gold KO is almost ready for paint. I been slowed down by, yard work and the Mavericks in the playoffs :41:. I am hoping to have the Gold KO painted this weekend. I've had to put the Topaz HKO on the backburner. I found trying to do two bikes at one time, with everything else I have to do a little tougher than I thought.

 

[dennis d]

I love the smell of new parts in the morning! I ordered these from Classic Honda Parts yesterday around noon and they showed up this morning! That's service. They did backorder the handle bars and tires though. Well, as you can see the Gold KO is almost ready for paint. I been slowed down by, yard work and the Mavericks in the playoffs :41:. I am hoping to have the Gold KO painted this weekend. I've had to put the Topaz HKO on the backburner. I found trying to do two bikes at one time, with everything else I have to do a little tougher than I thought.

Can't wait to see the freshly painted bike.I'm doing the same one now.No matter how many parts you order there seems to be another big order behind it just when you thought you had everything.
CHP delivers fast to Tx.....I also have placed an order and received it the following day.I like dealing with Dratv also but it's normally a 4-5 day delivery.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Dennis

 

[Motorhead]

Man, that looks like Christmas!!! I think of the Mailman as Santa these days!!

 

[Flash]

...I'm doing the same one now.No matter how many parts you order there seems to be another big order behind it just when you thought you had everything...

Guess I missed your build thread somewhere...? :39::1: