Front forks repaint

TAFFTHEMAGICDRAGON · Post by **TAFFTHEMAGICDRAGON** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:06 am

Has anybody sprayed or painted the fork bottoms as mine look shitty and don't do the bike justice as the rest of the beast is in excellent nick Any ideas?

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 9:00 am

Mine are looking pretty crappy Now.
I'd be interested in advice as well
Pete,l
Or shall I just get the hammerite out and have done with it

yellafella · Post by **yellafella** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 9:39 am

Did a link not long ago on this very subject ! Will report back when i find it ! Wont be long !
Got it :
http://www.abercon.co.uk/vtr1000/phpBB2 ... ork+lowers

Post by **sirch345** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:39 am

I rubbed my forks down when I had the front wheel out for a new tyre, already had the mudguard off so all I did then was remove the brake calipiers, tie them up out of the way, mask off the fork leg protector's then start work. I painted them with brush on Japlac silver paint, which leave's very few brush mark's. I did'nt use paint stripper because once you're down to bare metal seeing as its aluminium you really need to use an acid etched primer!

Chris.

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:28 pm

Cheers Boys,
I'd rather paint than polish, so (for the un educated ie me

)
Whats Japlac and where can I find it if I go that route?
Thanks
Pete.l

iggy1966 · Post by **iggy1966** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:01 pm

Japlac is an enamelled based paint, you can get it from any B&Q or similar.

I think you can get it in both spray and brush on

Post by **sirch345** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:30 pm

Pete.L wrote:Cheers Boys,
I'd rather paint than polish, so (for the un educated ie me )
Whats Japlac and where can I find it if I go that route?
Thanks
Pete.l

Sorry Pete I should have said

Well done Iggy

Chris.

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:48 pm

Thanks Guys

RAINMAKER · Post by **RAINMAKER** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 2:38 pm

I've gone the painted route and it looked crap after a while, so now all rubbed down with wire wool, real quick then a couple of nights with the solvol finger then varnish, laquer..........did'nt think I could spell laquer.
now looks good.
Ps paint stripper melts plastic

Post by **sirch345** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 3:37 pm

RAINMAKER wrote:I've gone the painted route and it looked crap after a while, so now all rubbed down with wire wool, real quick then a couple of nights with the solvol finger then varnish, laquer..........did'nt think I could spell laquer.
now looks good.
Ps paint stripper melts plastic

What type or manufacturer of lacquer did you use

I remember doing the same thing on all the side caseings on a previous bike. Got the right lacquer from a motor parts supplier, heat resistant and all that, looked good, until one day, I removed the fuel tank and happened to spill a drop of fuel on the one of the caseing and hey presto it melted the lacquer!
You could say I was not amused

Chris.

RAINMAKER · Post by **RAINMAKER** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 6:25 pm

Ddon't know what make it was, think I'll stick with the polishing..........gets me away from the kids.

yellafella · Post by **yellafella** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:01 pm

Wise choice !

Post by **sirch345** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:10 am

Having just washed my bike recently, remembering this thread, I thought I'd give the Japlac painted forks a closer inspection. On inspection I found the finish has started to go off, so I tried to polish them up a bit, but found that the paint started to come off on the polishing rag, I'm not very impressed! Perhaps using a car engine lacquer might be a better option if you don't want to spray them!

Chris.

Druid · Post by **Druid** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:59 pm

I've used Hammerite silver with some success. Rub down with wire wool first to remove loose flakes and provide a key for the paint. Mix the Hammerite with thinners, 1 part thinners to 4 parts paint, and apply a thin coat. Allow to dry, apply further coat.

Key points are to thin the paint, and only apply a thin coat. Think thin

Post by **sirch345** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:39 pm

The only problem I found with Hammerite is its not petrol resistant (which I suppose is not a real problem when on the forks) where as a car engine lacquer is, only my personal opinion, but I prefer painted things that have a petrol driven engine in them to be resistant to petrol

Chris