Modern Vespa

These are brilliant and show the struggles of the home DIY'er perfectly 👍 I definitely learnt something from them.

It's not my thread, it's by a forum guy named Lynnb who was unbodging a bodge. He'd never done body work or used a spray gun before. He asked a lot of the same questions you're asking. Got a great result.

What detergent did you use ? Regular all in 1 tablet ? I'm afraid to turn the aluminum black because of phosphates

No, that was pre-tablet. Probably the gel/squeeze Cascade, if I had to guess.

I just realized I forgot to include the forum threads that go with those videos...

Time to Go Plaid...the VBB resto-mod project and 63 GL: M1XL motor rebuild adventure

And this is a general discussion of paint and bodywork: paint how to thread

So lots of good tribal knowledge all around here.

Thanks for these.

Did another 6 hours of sanding today. What a pain in the ass that is! I'd say I'm 70% done. My wrists and forearms are like pop eye 😂 I can see why professionals charge over £1000. If fact, I'm not sure how any one can do that full time at all!

Best not to count the hours…or the money spent.

The trouble is, other people remind you

Bit of light bulb moment this morning while letting my son customise some cars in GTA.

They have a sort of Vespa/Lambretta model which you can infinitely custom with colours, lights, seats, livery etc.

For anyone trying to decide the above, this is a great tool.

Going to have a play around this morning to help me finally make a decision 😀

So did you decide to go with or without the guy following you everywhere holding a shotgun?

There was a chandlerman engine mod I added so managed to give him the slip

Started working on the cowls today. Didn't think I needed to do any more welding for a bit. Wishful thinking 😤

I'd try heating it up and hitting it good w/ PB Blaster or Kroil, then wiggle pivoting it free before I would attempt that.

Was thinking it could be a pain to mask up to Epoxy primer though so wanted to remove it completely. That little bend at the end will stop that.

Wow. I just figured out why my cowls are so hard to get on and off…

The other side just about moves but is very close to seized as well.

Well, cowls are not fun to prep! Took flipping ages! But decided it's best to shoot the cowls first to get some practice before the frame. Got one fully prepped now ready for some paint tomorrow, hopefully.

Got some nice colours ready to go

If you want to practice, I'd suggest practicing on something like the gas tank.

Or the underside of the frame.

Backsides of cowls. Underside of mudguard. But, wow…look at you go!

Good tips, thanks. Will start on the back side first 👍

So, first stupid mistake, I'm sure of many. Forgot to add the thinners 🙈 and didn't twig that while trying to figure out why I was spraying/spitting a mixture of paint and cobwebs. I spent some time adjusting air, fluid etc and thought I had it dialled in enough so shot the back of the cowl. Actually came out similar to the factory finish. Very textured! 😂

Obviously no good at all for the other side so with the addition of the required thinners I'm hoping for a lot better results!

(Also, glad I went with the non-iso 2K paint as my beard does interfere with even the best fitting mask I can find)

Well after yesterdays cock up, I'm pretty pleased with the results on my second attempt for an amateur spray! The thinners made all the difference. Nice and glossy all over and not too much orange peel.

I have got a few runs to sort and some dust nibs. How successful can one be fixing these things after it's all cured?

And that's why you start there first.

Often, that's where I put down the best coat…or the garage wall, a garbage can. Like my welding, it goes to shite when I point it at the machine itself.

Does this mean I can sand any drips and nibs 4 hours from the last coat and then re-coat anytime within the next 7 days?

I'd assume you're right.

But I'd check to make sure what touch dry and hard dry mean.

I doubt anyone is touching any paint after 15mins.

I usually wait for 24hrs before sanding drips/orange peel/dust nibs.

But I imagine it totally depends on the paint product.

Yeah will have to give them a call.

Seems odd that I can recoat up to 7 days as well, is that normal? I would have thought any chemical adhesion would be gone within hours?

Maybe that's just the full cure time?

The topcoat TDS should mention something like 1-2 coats, @1-3mins flash time between coats.

As far as I know there's no chemical adhesion needed for a clear coat (that's if you're using clear coat).

So, found that most people wait 24 hours before sanding so that's what I did. Still need a definitive answer on the reshoot time.

Got rid of most the dust nibs with 2500 grit. Worked out really well.

Had to use 1500 on the runs but managed to nearly burn through in one area so will need to reshoot that soon.

Did a quick DA Polish after the sanding and I'll do some further orange peel correcting when I have time but for now I'm happy and proved to my self I can do it 😀👍

I tested with an ecological tablet (no phosphate and no phosphatine), it works GREAT ! The aluminium is not corroded, doesn't change color. Just degreased and clean as f ! I' now confident to wash the engine block.

Just my 2 cents, could be helpful for others

That looks great. Probably less peel than the factory. If you flat back a whole painted part, you don't really have to worry about chemical adhesion. Just make sure the grit is coarse enough for another coat if it's not early in the recoat window. That window can vary a lot depending on temp, humidity etc.

Thanks, I'm well happy with the results and the ease of which the nibs came out.

Managed to speak to the paint manufacturer and I can re-shoot up to 7 days without flattening so that's good news for the little area I need to sort.

Next is getting the frame properly ready for paint. Much more challenging for sure!

I'd be happy if my paint came out that well, for sure.

Painting the frame is daunting…all those angles and curves. Fortunately, it's always possible to flat down runs or nibs, or do touch ups.

Before re shooting, make sure you scratch the surface with a 400 grit in order to make the new paint adhere well to the old one.

The frame looks so great! This will turn out nice.

Thanks all, I'm hoping so!

I'm nearly ready to stone chip the rear arch and floor but the inside of the supports still bother me that they are unprotected.

I'm contemplating making a hole in each and feeding the gun attachment down there to coat it all. The only thing holding me back is that they coated the new floor with oil to stop it rusting while being stored and shipped. I'm also presuming the oil is inside the supports but can't confirm. I, of course, can't prep the surface under there so not sure how well stone chip would hold. I don't want to make it worse but pumping a load of stone chip down there for it to flake off and trap water. What do you reckon?

If the chip coating doesn't stick to the inside of the channels (because of oil or what not), then that could leave a possible pathway for water to seep into and not let escape. Did you not clean that area before you primered the frame? I'd be more tempted to fog inside the channel with just primer and paint. The reason being is that the thicker chip coating would probably seal off small drain holes, and you want any sort of water that gets in there to be able to get back out very easily.

Honestly, I wouldn't use stone chip at all, especially not inside the frame or floor supports. Paint should protect the underside and wheel arch well enough.

I would just spray some waxoyl or WD40 in the supports every so often…after you paint it, of course.

Yeah this was my concern as well. Didn't want to make it worse by trapping water in there. Those supports are pre welded on so no way to clean inside.

For cleaning, i'd squirt lacquer thinner in them and swish the frame around a bit. Then do that a few times.

It's very common to do the stonechip in the UK as our roads are generally pretty rubbish, full of stones, salt and rain a lot of the year. This will be mainly used in fair weather but you can never be 100% sure it won't pee it down at any moment over here 😂 I'll have a think about the floor and rear arch.

I like your idea of spraying WD or similar down the supports every so often so will do that instead of any spraying paint or stone chip down there.

I'd spray some Ospho/Phosphoric Acid inside the supports before doing the paint prep. That's what I did on both of the scoots I've painted and

That'll galvanize it, which will probably protect it better than trying to squirt paint in there. Of course, you could shoot paint in there after you galvanize it, too. Nothing wrong with that.