honda305.com Forum

It's my understanding that the repros out of the UK from Davis Silver Spares are very good. Can anyone verify this?

Bon wrote:I have my Dream broken down right now and am preparing to clean and seal the gas tank before stripping and painting. Also, of course, I too am buying parts for the restoration. Do you mind saying how bought your worse than expected exhaust parts? Were they from a private seller or a company. eBay? I don't want to crucify anyone but it might help others to avoid the pitfalls of restorations.

Bon I just completed my tank sealing and painting yesterday and it turned out great. If you want to know more about my exhaust problems go to the product Review section of this site or go here
http://www.honda305.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1114

Bon wrote:I have my Dream broken down right now and am preparing to clean and seal the gas tank before stripping and painting. Also, of course, I too am buying parts for the restoration. Do you mind saying how bought your worse than expected exhaust parts? Were they from a private seller or a company. eBay? I don't want to crucify anyone but it might help others to avoid the pitfalls of restorations.

Bon I thought I would show you a few pics of my fuel tank I just completed. As a matter of fact it's so fresh the over spray is still in the air as I snapped the picture. I know the color looks orange but it's a red as you can get. It's the same as violet red. I used base/clear paint. The complete bike is now painted. If anyone is interested I can post complete details on how I do it but most of you might alread know how it's done so It might be a waist of time. Paul

Wow, beautiful job!

Please, go ahead and post the entire process :)

Up until two days ago I was planning on painting my bike red, then I decided on black... now I'm being tempted by red again!

I would also like to see the process Paul. I know a little, but not enough. More info would be valuable to me. I know others would also appreciate your knowledge and experience.
-Ryan

How I went about painting my Dream!
OK folks here's how I went about to paint my Dream. To start off I'm not a professional painter but that being said I've done allot of painting as a hobby and always get exceptional results. If you do it the way I've done it you should come out of it with a flawless paint job that will be admired by many.

Here's a list of items I always use:
-High build primer
-Spot putty
-Thinners
-Clear coat
-Clear coat hardener
-HVLP spray gun
-sand paper
-3-M rubbing compound
and lots of patience!

#1. To start off your going to need a good starting point. After you remove all the components from your bike I always sand blast or bead blast each part that has to be painted. Not to do this is a big mistake in my opinion. starting off with a fresh new looking metal is so nice to work with.

#2. After you have the sand blasted completed your going to look for any spot welds that may have cracked or even any frame damage that may need to be repaired and this is a good time to tackle that. On my bike I had a small crack up inside the rear fender that I Tig welded and it was as good as new.

#3. Once you have the above completed you'll want to prime the parts you want to paint. In my case I always use High build primer and I apply two or three coats every twenty minutes building the primer up. I do this because if there's an imperfection in the parts I will use 600 grit sand paper and had sand each and every part while looking for any deep scratches or even small dents. If I see any I then can use body filler or even spot putty. After that's all sanded down and taken care of I'll spry those areas again with the high build primer and had sand ones more to make sure everything if looking perfect . Note: If your going to paint any aluminum parts you'll want to spray them with etching primer first and then top coat with high build primer.

#4. Now your ready for the base coat paint. In the picture you'll see me with two guns. There both the same type of HVLP gun but I use on just for paint and one for clear coats. You can start to apply the base coat and if the temp is 65 degrees or above where your spraying it will take about 15 minutes for each coat to dry and then add another coat. I usually add two or three coats depending on the coverage. I like to use base clear paint because you can easily repair any problems you might have after each step.

#5 Now that you have all your parts painted. Leave them for 24 hours and if there's any runs in the clear or even "Orange Peel" not to worry. Take some 2000 grit water sand paper. Soak it in the water for 15 minutes and while keeping the surface wet lightly sand the effected area. You'll just be removing the excess amount of clear. don't take to much off because if you do that's game over "Tilt" and you'll have to do some touch up repairs now. After you get the excess clear off the finish will be very dull. you'll now need to use some 3-M rubbing compound and either a rag or if your lucky enough to have a buffer you can use it. As you buff, wipe the area with a polishing rag and you'll see the full shine return. you can even use this method to get rid of dust. In the case of my gas tank no wet sanding was needed. the paint turned out perfectly. MY tank did have a Hugh dent on the top of it when I got it but I was able to remove the petcock and put a bar up through the petcock hole and push out most of the dent. I just needed a small amount of body work to get it straight.

You'll also notice that some of my aluminum parts were not buffed. I bead blasted them. Etched primed, primed and painted them silver. they look very clean and I know they will last without having the clear peeling off. I know some of you would never do it this way but it sure looks nice. Another tip I'll pass on is when you got to paint. Wet your floor down. this also keeps the dust down

Doing it the way I do it is allot of work but you'll get results you never dreams of (excuse the pun) If anyone has any questions feel free to ask and I'm sure I or someone else will help answer them the best we can. Here's a few pictures to view. Good luck, Paul

Looks great Paul! You must have a bit more time to work on your project than I can find and you also have some great tools. If you don't mind I have a few questions.

As I prepare my gas tank for sealing I've stipped it down completely. When bead blasting I've found (or created) a few pinholes around the bottom of the tank. I'm leaning toward using some JB weld to plug the pin holes and then continuing with the sealing. Is there a better way?

You're using a high-build primer. In the past I have used primer-surfacer as It builds nicely and sands easily. Do you think that these are one in the same?

Is the clear coat resistant to gasoline?

Do you use two HVLP just for conveninece or another reason?