Touch-up Paint

Howdy folks. I am in San Francisco now and I will try to catch up on my posts and put the last 2-4 hours in on the Vespa and have it done. I have already gone in to First kick scooters to introduce myself to David and to discuss parts I need. I don't need much. Before I left Pennsylvania, I had the final touch-up work done to the scoot.Ralph at K & K painted my wife's SS180 and also handled the touch-up. Besides all the areas I identified for touch-up he told me he found about another 100-150 spots he did touch-up work to to ensure the bike looked awesome. For all areas that the paint was chipped he filled it with multiple layers of black epoxy and once it was flush, he used touch-up paint. Then he wet-sanded it with extremely fine paper/ I over tightened some hardware and caused the paint to flex too much and he bridged those areas.

Make sure when you pick up your bike from the painter that you bring an empty 35mm film canister and have them fill it up for you. It is air tight and you can keep paint in there for a very long time. Use tooth picks to create several tiny dots when doing touch-up work and use the layering technique. It may take 2-3 layers for your paint to be even where you did touch-up. Be patient and take your time.Regarding wax, I won't use it. My paint job is two-stage, meaning there is a clear coat on top; therefore, no water can get in and it's best to just use polish. Ralph uses Imperial Hand Glaze polish (pic above) and said a bottle like this will last me for life. I can use it as often as I like and heck, painters can even paint over it as opposed to wax, which much be thoroughly stripped off before any paint is applied.


Note: yup the Vespa dripped tranny oil out the breather. I emptied the excess oil and no more leak.

Heading for paint touch up

Note: before reading this, please remember to NOT over tighten anything against your new paint job or you will cause a chip. Just snug it up. I overtightened the seat bolt pin and shipped the paint. I also over tightened the trim piece on my front fender and it caused a micro dent. Go easy on your paint!
On Monday evening, after the test drive, I prepped the scoot for paint touch-up. I used painters tape and a Sharpie to draw arrows to every possible nick I could find. I did this outside in the natural light to ensure I didn't miss anything at all. Florescent lights will lie to you.We threw a tarp over the scoot to protect it from the pebbles while traveling and rain. I always use Canyon Dancers to strap the bike down and also throw out all your ratchet style motorcycle straps -- they suck! Ted has pull straps that are so strong and hassle free to use.  I will be buying two sets of these shortly and will no longer strap down the back of my bike like I use too.We delivered the bike back to K & K and I walked the painter through everything in detail, but I miscommunicated with the painter when discussing the rivets. He agreed to put a epoxy prep paint beneath the tuck in my rivets to help avoid any future rust. He thought I meant to paint over my rivets too and he did on the right side of my leg shield. I visited him today, thursday, to point out two areas I forgot to label with painter's tape and explained that the rivets are to remain bare alumimun. He understood and said he would scrape off the epoxy.There are a couple points at which you can tell if your painter is the real McCoy or not and one of those times is touch-up. My painter knows his shit. For all the small nicks he will fill with a black epoxy (use black for darker colors, like British Racing Green) in several thin layers until it is flush, then he will paint with a mix of matching green he will create. With 2000+ grit wet sandpaper he will sand it and no one will unless (1) they are a professional painter themselves or (2) you knew exactly where the nick was.

Protect your paint during reassembly

Just a thought . . .

Use painter's tape on your freshly painted scoot on all areas where metal will touch metal before assembling to avoid chipping or scratching the paint. My bike will require some very very minor touch-up, but could have avoided it all together had we use painter's tape.

Well, time to slow down a bit

My weekend plans are kinda screwed. Well, not terribly.

I was supposed to have the frame and a few of the body pieces media blasted this morning and then spend the rest of the weekend prepping the body so that I could spend the week priming/sanding and paint next weekend.

I showed up to the paint strippers this morning at 10 as I was told to. A guy helped me unload all of the pieces and place them into the facility. Then the guy tells me that he will try to get it done by the end of this next week. A few days ago, I was told it would be done when I brought them and the parts would be in and out in about an hour.

I was kinda pissed, but I wasn't about to try to take my parts somewhere else. I just kinda brushed it off and kept my mouth shut.

So it looks like the weekend will be entirely spent on engine work. Which I suppose isn't a bad thing, but I just don't have all of the gaskets here to put it all back together when I'm done. So I was kinda hoping to do all of that throughout the week in between primer coats.

Oh well, tomorrow will begin with a little bit of (actual) work. I have to go to a customer's house at 10am cause I gotta make that money when I can! Then after that, it's time to get down to business with that piston. Wish me luck.

Ciao.

Reference: Paint Considerations

There are a few ways to go with paint . . . but the most common two are (1) one-stage and (2) two-stage.

I have heard that one-stage is tougher for the daily rider and two-stage is higher quality for custom work or museum restoration.

We have a two-stage paint job on the SS.

I called my paint shop today, because I never asked for "touch-up paint." He explained to me that because each stage of paint is "activated" that any traditional touch-up would prove less than satisfactory. He told me of a local paint supplier shop near my house and told me to bring in a painted piece, which they will scan on their computer to make a color match. I am to ask them to match that color as an "acrylic enamel" and for small stone chips from the road and such I may be okay, but for larger scratches and dents it won't help.