Another pain problem

[AndyR]

The GPZ was a bit of a mess on the fairings when I got it, (it had been dropped by a previous owner and one of the fairings broke), so I took them off, sprayed them back up and they looked great.

The tank however is another matter.

Basically, the tank had to be sealed due to a leak which meant there were one or two patches that were bare metal.

Stupidly, I didn't mask the tank properly so I got loads of over spray. Still, we live and learn.

Anywhoo .... Deciding to do a proper job I rubbed down the whole tank, primed it, re-painted it and it looked great!

I then put 4 coats of lacquer on it and again it looked the part.

Thing is, I've been messing about with the bike trying to get it running which means I've been filling the tank from a petrol can, not the cleanest of jobs and it means I've got a little bit of petrol on the new paint & lacquer of the tank.

Trouble is, no matter how long I leave it the lacquer is reacting with the petrol drips making the tank look a right mess.

Would anyone have a petrol-proof lacquer suggestion as I'm getting bored with rubbing down, re-painting and re-lacquering the tank.

[druidsam]

halfords Halfords Petrol Resistant Lacquer 300ml from Halfords Price £5.49 how long are you leaving it before the petrol gets splashed on ?

..........................Sam

[AndyR]

Despite my wifes protests, I brought the tank into the house so it could dry at room temp.

Primer coats took 3 days in all, coat 1 on day one, leave over night to dry. Rub down, wipe off with a tac cloth, leave for an hour apply the 2nd coat .. Dry over night, rub down, tac cloth off and apply the 3rd coat.

Then I left it for 2 days, another wipe off with a tac cloth and did the same thing with the paint.

With the lacquer, I left the paint to dry for 2 days, gave it a light wipe over with a tac cloth before applying the first coat. Then a day bewteen the other 2 coats. Then I left it alone for a week before putting petrol in.

But even though it's been several weeks since I lacquered it, it's still reacting to any petrol spill

[druidsam]

the only thing i can think of is that you need to use a different kind of lacquer, the halfords link above is for a petrol resistant type and should do the job, but that means another rub down and re spray for you( well for the tank really)



........................Sam

[AndyR]

I've already started it mate and I'm off to Halfords tomorrow to get some.

It's just driving me nuts after all that work being ruined so easily.

As for the rub down, well, if she's brunette, large breasted and a looker I'm game ... Dunno if the wife will be too happy about it though

Oh, thanks for the link, it's appreciated.

[indie]

ive had this problem when i used to buy and sell rg125s always ended up paying a spray shop to spray, lacquer and then bake the tank, did the rest of the paint myself

[AndyR]

I did think of that indie, but the guys I've spoken to say they will only do the whole job because if there's any flaws in the primer/paint work then the lacquer won't take properly and they'll have to re-do it.