I am in the process of painting my 2001 f4i right now. I have it sanded down and one coat of primer on it, but i have a few questions....do i only need one coat of primer? and a friend of mine ( the guy helping me do all this) is telling me im going to have to wait until summer when its like 90 degrees outside to actually paint it. I REALLY REALLY dont want to wait that long and i dont want to pay a butt load to have someone do it. Do i need to wait until its that hot outside? what is a good temp. to paint in? and how many coats of color and clear coat do i need? i want a good look in the end so im willing to do what ever it takes for me to do the best i can myself. is there a way i can keep the dust out of the paint while im painting? i can already see the dust in the primer. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanxs

 

I did the painting on my seat cowl and I followed the steps in this link
http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spr...directions.htm

I DID wet sand the clear coat because once it dries you will see an orange peel effect. I started with 1000 grit then 1500 then finished with 2000 grit. After that was done I used rubbing compound by turtle wax then wax doctor by Nu Finish and finished up with a couple coats of wax and it now looks better than my bike!

 

I just got done painting mine and it was about 45 out when I did. Granted, I was in a heated garage, but it doesn't have to be 90 out. If you look at the paint your using, it will tell you in the spec sheet. There are different types of reducers that you use that will allow you to paint in different temps.

As far as dust, unless you have a professional spray booth, your gonna get some in your paint. A tack cloth will be your best friend. I used it between every color coat I put on. And whatever falls in your clear you should be able to sand out when you wetsand/ buff it.

I put 2 coats of a thick build primer on. Sanded with 400 to knock off the bumps. Then put 4 coats of color. Then put 3 coats of clear. It all depends really on the type your using, and the way you spray. Some people prefer to put more coats on, but use lighter coverage. I found I could do that with my color, but the clear was better when I sprayed heavier. It was a cheap clear, and just went on rough when I tried using lighter coats. Good luck with everything!

btw, are you planning on painting from a can? If so, I would say it's best to wait till you have atleast 60 degree temps, if not closer to 70. Cans don't atomize as well as a gun can, and will be more effected by a colder surface I believe.

 

everything i've seen requires temps above ~70 degrees or so. also, be aware of the humidity. high humidity will cause problems also.

 

It is suppose to be in the mid to high 70's here (eastTN) so i might do it this weekend. I think im going to use a gun. a buddy of mine has one and he "says" he has painted a bike before, but i dont always trust what he is saying....full of BS just likes to talk like he knows what he is doing ya know? So i wanted to get some opinions on it so that maybe i could just do it myself to make sure that im atleast doing it right. How much does paint usually cost or is that something im going to have to find out from the paint place?

 

brand, type, color....all will matter for price, some paints are cheap and some are hella expensive.

 

I dont want a cheap paint but i dont want to spend a ton since ive never really painted before. Any suggestions?

 

not sure, i use Martin Senour, its made by Sherwin Williams. my dad is a wholesale manager for napa. napa is the only company that sells this paint, so i get the hookup.

http://www.martinsenour-autopaint.com/

http://www.napaonline.com

you said you dont want expensive, and i wont know what you consider expensive, but alsa corp has badass paints for custom jobs.

http://www.alsacorp.com

 

I was expecting maybe 200 max on all the paint and clear coat and stuff is that reasonable? Or should i be looking to spend a little more?

 

you should be fine with 200. I think i spent 360 on everything and thats when i painted my CAR! haha. Couple tips: You can sand out the dust after each step, i.e after primer is dry, sand out the dust,runs, inperfections, then again after you have sprayed the color. If you go to far into the color you can always shoot that spot again real quick and wait for it to dry. Then once you have the clear on you can sand out the dust and orange peel and then buff it out. I would say 2 coats of primer so you get good coverage, The first coat to lay down a good base and the second coat to cover any areas you missed.

Make sure you can turn the pieces upside down and get in all the little spots with the second coat. Then for the basecoat i would shoot at least two coats so that you have good even color and no primer is showing through. It depends on what color you are spraying because different colors will give you different coverage. White doesnt cover well and usually takes a couple coats before you get a nice white even look. But a dark red or black will cover very well. If this is your first time i would say 2 coats of basecoat and then a third coat just to make sure you didnt miss any spots. be patient it will save you time later on so you dont have to go back and mix more paint and shoot spots you missed. Use a tack rag between each step but not between each coat for example before primer before basecoat before clearing. But dont use it between the diferent coats of paint. this will help keep the dust to a minimum but unless you use a paint booth ( and even when you do) you will get some dust.

Just make sure everything is smooth between each different step and you will be fine. I would shoot alot of clear just so you have alot to work with, that way you can sand the orange peel and stuff and not have to worry about going through the clear into the color. We use PPG DMB paint system at my job and it works out great. I would say one of the lower lines of PPG paint will be good for your needs as long as like i said before you just make sure everything is sanded smooth between the primer basecoat and then after the clear. Any other questions just let me know, sorry for the long post haha