Touching up Harley parts, air brush. Materials Q&A

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:07 pm
I have been touching up my Harley's with factory paint bottle and brushes (suck except chips). I've also tried pens that suck-****. I'm looking to obtain a better result, less noticeable. A lot of these things are pearl colors, 3 coat stuff. So, I grabbed an air brush and compressor, a good set.

I used to paint bathtubs, counters, and other items professionally with HVLP. I used hardeners, resins, reducers (usually MEK or Lacquer thinner) but it has been many years. So I have some knowledge of chemically hardened paints. Memory is just gone.

I have painted a whole bike years ago with a compressor, condensate filter, and gravity feed.

I want to take the codes and get PPG base, top, and clears and thin the crap out of them to come out of the airbrush and not clog, I suspect many coats. I am looking to minimize repair areas, or prevent painting the WHOLE parts by blending. I always remember from my teen years 30 years ago, NAPA made aerosol paint matches and clear. It ALWAYS left a haze around the edges. Whats EXACTLY do I need to do to prevent/fix this? I have buffers, foam pads, cut, compounds, grit varieties up to 3000, you name it. Do I need to pick up a certain formulation (lacquer, epoxy, urethane, enamel etc.) that will lay down, and can actually blend with wet sand and buffing uniformly? Just looking for the proper way to go about my fairly direct objective. Gloss clear should fill in and shine topcoats that aren't maybe perfect in shine or texture?

Thanks guys. I know there is a pretty simple answer to this. There has to be.



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PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 11:13 pm
I heard there was/is some stuff for Blending clear coat, I have never used it but they say its possible to blend clear with the stuff.

Personally I just do my small repairs, filler primer etc then base coat to a good blend and then respray whole part in clear. Or at least to an area I can live with a tape line.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:18 am
Doright wrote:I heard there was/is some stuff for Blending clear coat, I have never used it but they say its possible to blend clear with the stuff.

Personally I just do my small repairs, filler primer etc then base coat to a good blend and then respray whole part in clear. Or at least to an area I can live with a tape line.


That is a good idea too. I could probably make edges the end of the clear. I have been successful with clear pens filling clearcoat chip damage and buffing out. Its that darn overspray at the edges when spraying.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 6:28 am
There are indeed blenders for doing this.....my favorite has always been Upol Fadeaway 20. I just noticed there is also a Upol #9 blender now as well although I've never used it. The old 20 could literally give you invisible burn-in. It does take some practice though. I'll try and PM you some old instructions I have from a previous member on the forum.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 12:49 pm
DarrelK wrote:There are indeed blenders for doing this.....my favorite has always been Upol Fadeaway 20. I just noticed there is also a Upol #9 blender now as well although I've never used it. The old 20 could literally give you invisible burn-in. It does take some practice though. I'll try and PM you some old instructions I have from a previous member on the forum.


Thank you Darrell for the PM btw!



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 1:20 pm
Can you guys enlighten me, any idea what type of paint Harley Davidson uses? Not brand, but actual chemical structure? Urethane, enamel, laquer etc. Will getting the paint codes and taking to PPG actually end up matching? I have heard it is a waste of money doing that because it does not match, and to use Harley OEM. But if it is just propaganda to buy OEM, I would rather save.



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:03 pm
I would order colors directly from Harley, It's expensive but you have a better chance at a correct color match depending on Paints age and sun fading.
PPG is good, but a perfect match for blends is iffy, It will help the guy mixing the paint if you bring them a sample of the color that you need when its being mixed such as an old fender, Tank, or side cover etc.


The age of the Paint and Sun fading is the real problem when doing spot repairs and Blends.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 5:22 pm
Doright wrote:I would order colors directly from Harley, It's expensive but you have a better chance at a correct color match depending on Paints age and sun fading.
PPG is good, but a perfect match for blends is iffy, It will help the guy mixing the paint if you bring them a sample of the color that you need when its being mixed such as an old fender, Tank, or side cover etc.


The age of the Paint and Sun fading is the real problem when doing spot repairs and Blends.


Yep I kind of figured that. You can work around that to some extent by covering flat areas and stopping at edges I would think. That'd be my initial plan.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 9:56 pm
What year is your Harley?

I painted my 2000 Ultra Classic with urethane base and clear. There were no incompatibility issues as I scuffed and painted over the OEM paint.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=23767

I wasn't trying to match colors though. Your best bet would be to have a local jobber match the paint you have on there now (sun fade and all).
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:56 am
'68 Coronet R/T wrote:What year is your Harley?

I painted my 2000 Ultra Classic with urethane base and clear. There were no incompatibility issues as I scuffed and painted over the OEM paint.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=23767

I wasn't trying to match colors though. Your best bet would be to have a local jobber match the paint you have on there now (sun fade and all).


I have a handful of bikes and parts. Current focus is a White Pearl 2003 Ultra Classic Shrine. White with a pinkish topcoat in the sun. Dude dropped the bike and it flipped. Saddlebags, tour pack, batwing corners by the grips need work.

I also have a 2003 gunmetal pearl tour pack I need to fix ASAP. NAPA tried to match it, and failed miserably. Think the problems was, it is a base and topcoat color, and they were trying to make it into a single color.
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