Plastics Repaint (Pic Heavy)

4247 Views 21 Replies 12 Participants Last post by bod, Apr 8, 2015

tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · Mar 12, 2015

16

I purchased my bike with aftermarket china fairings, OEM tank, and OEM tank faring. The china fairings have always been a bit off color from the OEM stuff and I've finally decided to fix it. The paint/clear also bubbled on the china fairings.

Here is my bike with china fairing. You can see that the algae green fairings don't match the lime green tank.

Here is what I was originally wanting to do but decided it was a.) too much work b.) more than I feel like spending after powder coating and c.) a part of me wanted to keep the stock oem green style.

Removed Fairings

Polished exhaust and removed plate bracket. Will be relocating it underneath with LED flashers.

Paint Bubbled

Fairing Paint vs. Tank Paint (Tank Lighter Green)

Maybe someone knows something here but I sure don't. It looks as though the color was once lighter and then it darkened in the sun. Where the sun is blocked by the seat it looks lighter and a closer match to OEM. No idea.. :O

Anyways, I started sanding them down...

The chinamen clear over the decals so it has been fun sanding them off. Used 60 or 80 grit to strip these.

These have been hit with finer grit (600 I think) and are pretty much ready for primer which will be happening tomorrow. Nose and tail pieces are still work in progress on the sanding.

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tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · #2 · Mar 12, 2015

I have been stuck on where to source paint for this. Any information would be appreciated. I know I can always count on color-rite but it's quite expensive IMO. If you know of any alternative please let me know. Thanks.

Mikezx6

· #3 · Mar 12, 2015

This might sound stupid but do your aftermarket fairings have the heat absorbing foam on the back of them? If not you'll probably run into the same fate that the original paint did from the plastics becoming too hot and moving/flexing. If you don't have it, get it, they're fairly cheap, even from the dealer.

Reactions: 5

Sandman

· #4 · Mar 12, 2015

Colorite is the only "supplier" of Kawasaki OEM colors I'm aware of.

Sorry, I don't know of any others besides maybe a dealership.

tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 12, 2015

Mikezx6 said:
This might sound stupid but do your aftermarket fairings have the heat absorbing foam on the back of them? If not you'll probably run into the same fate that the original paint did from the plastics becoming too hot and moving/flexing. If you don't have it, get it, they're fairly cheap, even from the dealer.

Never thought of that until now! Not sure why because everything else I've ever owned has had that foam stuff and this one doesn't.

You sir, may have saved me a lot of money and frustration. I will make sure to get the foam on these fairings. Thank you!

Flash636

· #6 · Mar 12, 2015

Mikezx6 said:
This might sound stupid but do your aftermarket fairings have the heat absorbing foam on the back of them? If not you'll probably run into the same fate that the original paint did from the plastics becoming too hot and moving/flexing. If you don't have it, get it, they're fairly cheap, even from the dealer.

That's what I call a GREAT piece of advice!!!
Never thought of that too LOL

And I'm sure this will help a lot of us to save a lot of money and extra work.... :bigthumb:

Paul2357

· #7 · Mar 12, 2015

Looks like quite the project! If you need the OEM fairings versus the Chinese, I have a set for sale. Just a thought!

Keep up the pics, would love to see this throughout the whole process!

zx6ixxer

· #8 · Mar 12, 2015

tHeCrAzYoNe said:
Never thought of that until now! Not sure why because everything else I've ever owned has had that foam stuff and this one doesn't.

You sir, may have saved me a lot of money and frustration. I will make sure to get the foam on these fairings. Thank you!

AS mentioned...Foam and you can use some of that heat shield wrap on your exhaust

also for paint...ColorRite or straight from Kawi (Even more pricey)
You can always look around for the closest match but that will be a fun treasure hunt for you...

NitrusReigns

· #9 · Mar 12, 2015

I've just gone to a local automotive paint place in the past and they were able to sell me just about any standard paint color ever used by any maufacturer...and it wasn't that expensive. I've rarely actually purchased it except for a couple things here and there for cars, but they did have it available for all my bikes I've repainted so far as well.

However, have you considered just taking the tank off too and painting that as well? That would make it so that everything is exactly the same color and it's not that much extra work - that's what I would do if it were me.

Matching paint almost never works out perfectly unless you are really good and have someone really good mixing paint specifically for you to match. Even if you get the exact paint from Kawi, you're laying it fairings that are supposed to match a tank that was painted 10 years ago...they are likely not to turn out looking the same due to 10 years of wear and sun even if the raw paint is exactly perfect (which it probably won't be) :O

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TheSloMoShow

· #10 · Mar 14, 2015

As mentioned above, I would repaint everything including the tank to ensure all match. The paint from NAPA is very good quality BTW (Martin Senour).

tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 21, 2015

4

Took my GoPro mount off the tail and wow do these things stick! Anyways, you can see that the paint did not fade but that the clear coat darkened.

Sanded down with 400 and started the primer process. Used $6 rattle cans from AutoZone for the primer. No need to get fancy, it will be sanded anyways. 1 can will get a good coat on all 4 plastics.

Ordered this stuff for the areas that bubbled before so that does not happen again. I also have the stock foam heat shield pieces but they are small and don't seem to provide the best protection.

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tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 21, 2015

Decided that I do not want to pay for colorrite's expensive paint so I set out to find an alternative. After some searching I found a single stage paint that might do the trick! Here is the spray out card compared to the OEM tank fairing that I am looking to match. Looks pretty good to me! Now time for wet sand and paint!

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NitrusReigns

· #13 · Mar 21, 2015

tHeCrAzYoNe said:
Decided that I do not want to pay for colorrite's expensive paint so I set out to find an alternative. After some searching I found a single stage paint that might do the trick! Here is the spray out card compared to the OEM tank fairing that I am looking to match. Looks pretty good to me! Now time for wet sand and paint!

Two questions:

1) What color was that card before you painted over it?
2) Does that card have clear coat on it?

The answers to both of those questions WILL affect the final color of the paint and could VERY easily make it not match after you're done.

Otherwise, looks pretty good - hopefully it'll turn out looking as good as that card :bigthumb:

tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 23, 2015

NitrusReigns said:
Two questions:

1) What color was that card before you painted over it?
2) Does that card have clear coat on it?

The answers to both of those questions WILL affect the final color of the paint and could VERY easily make it not match after you're done.

Otherwise, looks pretty good - hopefully it'll turn out looking as good as that card :bigthumb:

Thanks for the heads up. It is single stage paint so there is no clear coat.

Project is near complete! The painting is done and bike is put together. Brake level pulls to the handlebar so I need to bleed brakes before I can get it out for some photos.

NitrusReigns

· #15 · Mar 23, 2015

tHeCrAzYoNe said:
Thanks for the heads up. It is single stage paint so there is no clear coat.

Project is near complete! The painting is done and bike is put together. Brake level pulls to the handlebar so I need to bleed brakes before I can get it out for some photos.

Will be looking forward to some pictures :bigthumb:

fwiw, lots of people still clear coat over a single stage paint (especially if trying to match something that has a clear coat on it...like your tank) and it does still matter what color you're painting over :O

97grnrs

· #16 · Mar 23, 2015

just one thing to keep aware of. using spray can primer under 2k type paint will sometimes bubble and will almost always lead to shrinking and paint cracks a few months down the road. ive done a few whole bikes that way and learned the hard way. you might be ok if its very light coating but just something to keep in mind. i always use 2k primer under 2k paint now. its cheap on ebay

tHeCrAzYoNe

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 8, 2015

8

Painting complete!

Did a brake bleed too because there was zero pressure but I'm having trouble with it. The lever is still not very firm after bleeding and pulses a bit when braking. Are there any tricks to this bleeding, am I doing something wrong probably?

Photos...

Wet sanded and washed

Painting

Completed finish

Match to OEM tank plastic in direct sun and shade

New plastics installed! Will get some nicer photos (with before and after comparison) when I have the time and get some decals on.

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CMSRacing

· #18 · Apr 8, 2015

Paint looks great! Nice job.

Mikezx6

· #19 · Apr 8, 2015 (Edited)

Paint does look really good, and it's a damn good match.

Only thing I see that might cause an issue is that it looks like you left some of the well nuts in the plastics when you painted and just painted over them? You might run into an issue with the well nuts moving around a bit(they are rubber so they do move) and the paint cracking in those areas and then progressing

I can't really tell if they are the well nuts or if those holes are different for a push rivet instead of a bolt. Hard to tell from the photos

Strider

· #20 · Apr 8, 2015

tHeCrAzYoNe said:
Painting complete!

Did a brake bleed too because there was zero pressure but I'm having trouble with it. The lever is still not very firm after bleeding and pulses a bit when braking. Are there any tricks to this bleeding, am I doing something wrong probably?

Here is the brake bleeding procedure: Brake Line Bleeding | 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R

The bike looks great!

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