Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

this fell through the cracks and no not the ones that seem to be illegal in some states. lol anyway it was asked if the rubber undercoating worked on the floor board. the answer is no it doesnt. i put it on mine and it just comes off on the bottom of your shoes and and little thing that scrape or bangs it, it acts like it doesnt dry and adhere to the plastic, and the more humidity you have the worse it is. if you want something so that your feet dont slip try grip tape i found some at my local hardware store that i think will work nice if you say spray down some contact cement then place tape down. thats what im going to do when i finish painting my spree.

Clivester wrote:Do all your sanding with water to prevent the wet-or-dry from clogging.

I didn't comprehend what this means fully. So I should wipe a wet cloth on before sanding with sandpaper?
What would be clogging on plastics?

One additional question...What's the difference between wet and dry sandpaper?

These are the things I'm picking up to do my work:
ABS pipe cement
2 sheets of glass fiber matt/carbon cloth
Acetone
Sandpaper (200 grit for primer work and 600 grit for before painting)
2 cans sandable primer
3 cans color

Am I leaving anything out?

Greetings:

Find the black sandpaper by 3M. It's designed to work with a generous layer of water - minimizes the fine scratches and produces a nicer surface for a given grit. You just sprinkle or spray water as you work. When the sandpaper gets caked with plastic dust, just dunk or hose it off and continue. A couple of sheets lasts a long time.

Got everything I need except the actual color. I got the 220 grit and went with 400 grit instead of 600 for the final sand down per suggestion of several people in the various stores I went to today.

Aparently ABS cement is just fine in Oregon, they had it at my Home Depot.

With the color, I couldn't find a color I really liked. I will probably have to order online.

What kind of color paint should I use? Regular rattle can paint that's made for auto's or what?

I would prefer not to dive into the world of paint guns if it can look equally professional with rattle cans.

PVC cement seems to bond fine if you cant find the ABS stuff, I repaired a cracked graywater pipe in my moms camper using A few coats of PVC cement applied every day for a few days, the pipe made it to Canada and back just fine.

Anybody?

To rattle can or not to rattle can...that is the question.
Whether tis nobler to use yon paint gun
to take arms against a sea of hideously colored plastics.



I would prefer not to dive into the world of paint guns, if a rattle can look professional.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations on adding the clear coat after color painting?

LocoParaHonda wrote:Anybody?

To rattle can or not to rattle can...that is the question.
Whether tis nobler to use yon paint gun
to take arms against a sea of hideously colored plastics.



I would prefer not to dive into the world of paint guns, if a rattle can look professional.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations on adding the clear coat after color painting?

by the time you buy all the crap you could have a bodyshop do it for you but still you may find some useful info in here:

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forum ... p?t=284428

What we have been using for the past few years is West Epoxy and various reinforcements.

The reinforcement can come from Carbonfiber, fiberglass or from cotton fibers stirred into the epoxy. Instead of bondo we use some lightweight fillers in the epoxy and spread it on. It is quite sandable. Epoxy by itself isn't that strong. It takes some sort of media to make it strong.

To apply it to the fairing plastic I usually use either 36 grit sand paper or my angle grinder and roughen the surface up. Most of the time I put a layer of rip stop nylon over the wet epoxy to help shape it. The nylon is peeled off and can be added to. Most of the time it takes 2 or more coats if the surface is to be painted. Usually we use some generic latex spot putty to fill the smallest imperfections but don't use it for structural stuff.

You don't want to add too much that it takes a lot of sanding. Once cured, I shape with 36, if it rough. Wet sand with 100-150 before painting with primer then sand the primer with 200-300. Reprime then resand with the 3-400. Then use finish paint and clear coat. Sand the paint with 600 before the clear coat.

I think that some of the solvents are banned because of the kids that are huffing it. Local cop told me that kids are huffing gasoline now.

mookie wrote:by the time you buy all the crap you could have a bodyshop do it for you but still you may find some useful info in here:

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forum ... p?t=284428

The problem with bayareariders is they deal more with metal than plastic. To do proper with plastic you need Adhesion promoter for a primer, or Fusion which was developed specifically for plastic.

The problem with these Honda plastics is they are flexable. A paint with a flex agent must be used or spider cracking will occur. If you decide not to use a flex agent in your paint, it will look great at first . But one true constant is you will have to take the panels off again for maintenance and when you do flex usually occurs screwing up your nice paint job.

novs86 wrote:The problem with these Honda plastics is they are flexable. A paint with a flex agent must be used or spider cracking will occur. If you decide not to use a flex agent in your paint, it will look great at first . But one true constant is you will have to take the panels off again for maintenance and when you do flex usually occurs screwing up your nice paint job.

So is this the key to Fusion?

for the guy's in michigan go to your local hobby shop and get the glue that they use to glue the tires to the rim's it's cheap like 1.50 and works great just dont get it on your hand's. it holds great i tried hard as i could to rip the panel again and couldn't.

Lunytune wrote:

novs86 wrote:The problem with these Honda plastics is they are flexable. A paint with a flex agent must be used or spider cracking will occur. If you decide not to use a flex agent in your paint, it will look great at first . But one true constant is you will have to take the panels off again for maintenance and when you do flex usually occurs screwing up your nice paint job.

So is this the key to Fusion?

No, fusion means it will adhere to plastic, thats all. It will not stop spider cracks. A fusion type paint with a flex agent added is what you want. Most people on here are looking to spend $3 to $5 a can. A paint job with this cheap paint like I said "wiil look great at first" but in the long run it will not.

My recipe for the cheapest GOOD paint job.

1. Buy a Preval refillable sprayer for about $6. I found the Preval actually sprays better than most cans.
http://store.fastcommerce.com/prod_Pain ... a6bf5.html
Many auto specialty paint stores sell these - even my local Home Depot had them.
Since you fill it yourself, it has the advantage that it can be used with 2-part epoxy or urethane paints.

2. Hunt down a local store that mixes and distributes paint for professional auto paint shops. Some NAPA stores do this. Ask them if they have any mis-matched urethane paints that on clearance. I sometimes find quarts for $10-20 of professional (e.g. PPG, Dupont, etc.) paints. If you find a color you like purchase the correct flex agent and reducer for that paint. For a REALLY good finish, purchase the clear coat too, but you will be paying full price.

3. Take your time prepping the panels with careful wet-or-dry sanding.

4. Buy some adhesion promoter in a spray can to use prior to the color coat for a longer-lasting finish.

5. Mix the paint and apply with the Preval sprayer. Practice first on the inside of a larger panel so you can get the spraying technique down.

Its as close as you'll get to a professional finish without buying the compressor and sprayers.

Preval looks interesting. I've also been toying with the idea of air brush. My son's girlfriend loaned me hers to experiment and learn on.