Paint job on my Chetak (two tone)

In response to questions about how I did the paint job on my O6, I am going to attempt to go through the steps I took to do the job. here is a view.

As you see this is a two tone job, actually the scooter was all silver, I decided to paint the cowls, glove box, horn cast and brake hubs. I chose a charcoal graphite kinda color at an automotive paint shop. I wanted something that was just the right darkness, without being totally black, that would go with the silver. The paint I chose was a urethane base color with a clear top coat. This is pretty much the standard way cars are painted and repainted today. Urethane paint is sort of like rubber in that it will flex with the substrate and bonds well to it, This is important with all the plastic body parts on cars, the old enamels and laquers of years past just wont work well on plastic. ( the horn cast is plastic)
Let me say at the beginning, If you don't have the proper equipment, and the ability to use it, you are really better off to take these parts off your scooter and take them to a auto body and paint shop. For them this is a pie job! So they shouldn't expect an arm and a leg. If however, you decide you want to tackle it, I in no way am telling you it is easy, or you will be successful. I am only telling how I did it. I am not responsible for your paint job's success or failure. I am not telling you to do it this way or that.
All the parts I found easy to remove, the hardest was the drums. The drums I completely removed the paint from, using a commercial grade walnut shell blaster. At first I thought I might like to just clear coat them since they are made from cast aluminum alloy. After polishing the alloy I found that for "show " it is poor grade with pits and surface porosity, so I decided to paint them too, after resanding the surface of the drums with 220 grit. ( I did not prime the drums, nor any other surface, I rationalized that the aluminum clean and sanded would not react with the paint chemically and would adhere to the paint.)
All the body parts I disassembled as best as I could, removing the rubber seal from the cowls with a razor knife where it is cemented to the cowl. Anything that would come off the body parts I took off. Using 400 grit wet sanding, I lightly went over all body parts to be painted. The paint on this scooter is very very thin, you can sand through it if you over sand. The reason for sanding is only to create a"tooth" for the new paint to grab. The whole sanding process only takes a few minutes.
After sanding I cleaned all parts with a mild detergent and water, and mask anything I could not remove (the bajaj emblem) The last step prior to painting was to go over the parts with a tack cloth and then alcohol to remove any oils from my skin etc.
The gun I used it really good for small work, It is available from Harbor Freight: item #46719. It is a great little hvlp gun, perfect for this type work. Little over spray, and no orange peel. It operates at 43 psi, with a gauge at the head. I have a good quality compressor able to maintain at least 3.7 cfm of clean dry air.
I mixed the base with the reducer and using standard technique covered the parts. After that dried, only a few minutes, I mixed the clear coat and the activator and covered them again, allowing the paint to dry a little as I covered to the an acceptable gloss. In only a few hours the paint was dry and parts ready to be put back on the scoot.
I did not have a controlled environment in which to paint, I did it on my lighted carport in the evening hours ( yea, I had a few small bugs get in the paint nothing serious though.) The evening was warm about 75 degrees maybe 50% humidity.
When I painted I covered the floor with a clean polyethylene drop cloth and used a table covered with newspaper as a support for the parts. I was quite pleased with the outcome. I hope this helps you if you are considering painting.

Wink

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SCOOTERPOOTIN: eeezee on the gazzz.

Thanks for the write up scooterpooter. Always looking to improve my painting skills. This is a much better setup than my rattle cans and 1200 grit wet sand in between each coat to get rid of the orange peel.

Could you explain the mixing process a bit more in detail, specifically the clear coat and activator...

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The "X" stands for ex-Chetak owner.

Matt, What I have found works better for orange peel is to shoot your color coats, then about 3-4 coats of clear, and then wetsand at 1000, then 2000, then polish with coarse and then fine compound. Finish with a cleaner wax (it also polishes).

Personally Im a fan of rattle can laquer. Nothing to mix, and you dont need a paint gun and good 'nuff compressor. Downside is that it isnt as durable.

Here is my writeup on painting with laquer:
http://madtoto.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=34

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-Paul O.

75 Vespa Primavera "Parmakit 130", P200E,