the new - what have you done to your ped today thread.

Doubt you'll have any issues with them mate


Just stripped the plastics off the zip, in horrible condition, going to repairs the crack in the back panel and hopefully fill in the big scratches along the front panel. No idea what to do with the grey panels on the zip, will these even hold paint good? Right now there badly scratched up and such after 13 long years of use, they need some life back in them(Will upload some pics of the grey panels shortly)

 

Billy
All plastic needs a plastic primer. Paint won't stick to it. But the grey stuff is an even bigger bitch. I would just use some plastic restorer on it.

 

GF broke down tonight. She pushed it the last mile. What a trooper. I went down and had a very quick look. Kicked it. No compression at all and it makes a delicate scraping noise. I think she bust the ring. Full strip down this weekend - we shall see!
No big deal. I have a strret race waiting in the wings. But I hope the sport pro cylinder survived. Photos to follow.
Probably need a new crank if the thing is full if iron filings, but I have a spare one of those too. Hey ho.
At leat I can finish the motor tutorial!

 

If the scratches are that bad and deep, then you'll have to fill them. Use a plastic padding filler, or bumper fill paste. Its quite flexible filler and ideal for plastics.
Then TAKE YOUR TIME PREPPING THE PANELS!!!!!!
Any spray job is all about the prep work. The better the prep the better the finish.
Hi build primer is good for filling in small sanding lines,
Do a coat of primer, rub down, another coat primer, rub down, and each time using finer grade wet and dry paper.
If you try and rush it to get the finish coat on, you WILL see the sanding lines through the paint. And it ruins all the work you've done.

 

bodywork prep is a bitch. You need patience and technique. Complete bastard job.

 

Managed to play with the Katana for the last 2 nights now, YIPPEE!!!!
Just while i'm waiting for parts for everything else in the workshop.....................

 

Na not really, yes you do need patience, but you also need to be left alone to get on with it! And the only technique you need, is to know when the skin is coming off your fingertips from sanding

 

Thanks for the advice guys, will help me out

Got a bit misled today so didn't get pictures of the plastics up, anyhow as for the grey plastics they look like someone tried to clean them with a wire brush, so has scratches and such, not very deep, foot panel and such is just really dirty.

As for the back panel, going to fix the crack at weekend then see how bad the scratches are, the front needs some molding or such done to one side.

I will 'hopefully' do a decent job, not really done a lot of spray painting, i'd hate to ruin it though

 

Just removed the bearings from the spare crank in preparation for this weekend's job. Not fun. They come off a Doppler crank easy. A lesser crank is not so easy. Tolerances. Gave the surfaces a tush with 800 grade wet and dry. All done now. In the freezer with it!
No idea why the engine failed. It was put together with the utmost care. We will see when we have it to bits. Got to be a ring failure. Grrrrrr.

 

I'd like to know this too, looks like my grey panels have some kind of oil marks or such on, I've tried scrubbing them down real hard but it only came off slightly, and the weather hasn't been all that great today to try clean them up more.

 

Wipe over with thinners, if it doesn't disappear dont worry too much as the thinners will de-grease it, but spray some paint over it and see if it blooms. If it does, more sanding and thinners to clean it.

 

bugger all to my own again, but was expecting that this weekend. Put the new piston and barrel on the nrg, thought i'd check the oil pump before firing up, good job i did, he's using the thicker green mineral stuff that wont come through the lines properly. It's way too thick for these small oil pumps, ok for premix, but not for anything else.
Also done a quick repair on an exhaust that was broke in two halves, cut up an old spray can out the bin and fixed it in place with two jubilee clips for now. Proper bodge job but the kid aint got no money til end of next week so.........

 

What did you do to your grey plastics on the zip Steve? They look really nice, amusing they wasn't new

 

they started red as you know, rub down by hand with 180 grit wet and dry, plenty of soapy water to assist, when dry, first coat of primer. Sand over again with 240 grit, another coat primer, 400 grit, another coat. If you have to fill any places, like deep scratches, then you'll have to use 80 grit to fetch it down, and use a sanding block with the paper. As you get to the finer grades of paper, you'll see the scratches start to disappear. Use your finger tips to run over the surface and feel how smooth it is. This prep is the basis for a good finish.
When you're happy with the primer, you can start on the top coat. But you sand between coats on that as well, start with 800 grit, another coat, 1200 grit, another coat, 2000 grit then final coat.
I use two pack (2K) paint primer and laquer, i find it gives a great finish. But you need a compressor and air fed full face mask as the paint is poisonous in the long term.