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Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:48 am
by abs929cbrrr
How do i go about this. i am not going to powder coat the 400 frame i got but i want do make it a nice black. what prep work do i gotta do.

i know i need primer and paint...just advise me if i need to prep the aluminum before it gets primer.

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:52 am
by haunter
I did some light sanding with some 220 grit sanding foam already, basically I did a light job everywhere I could get the foam

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:56 am
by abs929cbrrr
so its all ready to do then or should i scratch her all up some more? then just add primer....its that simple? sorry i dont have any experance painting metal parts.

i do have experance painting walls in houses though!

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:01 pm
by haunter
abs600fzrr wrote:so its all ready to do then or should i scratch her all up some more? then just add primer....its that simple? sorry i dont have any experance painting metal parts.

i do have experance painting walls in houses though!
ha me either.....

maybe do some more sanding with a finer grit....using the foam I couldnt quite get all the nooks and crannys...........so it could use a lil more work, but I took care of about 3 hrs of the prep for ya :duh:

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:38 pm
by abs929cbrrr
i got tons of sand paper. currently finished right now redoing the house so i got mad time to sand her down. id love to go polished but i would need the swingarm chromed out then...and well i dont know if i want to spend that much time sanding a frame haha.

i do love the look of gloss black on these 400 frames.

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 1:38 pm
by joeyraines
abs600fzrr wrote:i got tons of sand paper. currently finished right now redoing the house so i got mad time to sand her down. id love to go polished but i would need the swingarm chromed out then...and well i dont know if i want to spend that much time sanding a frame haha.

i do love the look of gloss black on these 400 frames.
If your looking to get a NICE glossy finish with the black, use really high grit sand paper and sand it all the way to bear metal.. THOROUGHLY, Whipe down the frame with a Cotton towel( it removes paint dust and removes the remaining stock paint from the grooves) after you get done there you should have an ALMOST glassy/polished effect on the frame.
FOR THE GLOSSY LOOK- Use White Primer(i wouldnt recommend going cheap with the primer)
FOR THE POWDERED lOOK- Use a Black Primer
When you get it powder coated check for any runs or hairs that may have flew onto your paint(if your not in a paint room) if anything has gotten on it, sand it and paint it again.. I would use High Temp Paint( I live in Texas and Ive seen non professional paint jobs rub off in extreme heat).. after you get it painted clear coat it at least 3 times(unless your lookin for the powdered look)

The transparent paint also looks really good on a sanded frame with no primer...almost a metallic effect..

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:44 pm
by Modified96
Make sure to use an Etch primer before you use the urethane primer. Any bare metal must get a VERY light coat of Etch. Where gloves when you spray it, it's a bit acidic and will bite into the metal.

After that you can prime it. Must color builder primers will tell you not to use just white or black. Use a mixture of white and black to make a light gray. The binders in each primer need to mix together to make proper adhesion. This is only for professional primers that will be sprayed out of a gun, not rattle can. If you are going the Rattle can route you should try RustOleums professional series, pretty good stuff.

Once the primer has dried, usually for 3 hours, you have to sand it. Not sanding the primer will cause the base coat to have "crows feet" and will peel up in a short period of time. Sand it with 320 and above. Any fine scratches will show up when you lay down the black because of shrinkage :thumbsdown Use the 320 to get out any runs, dirt or other larger items. Then hit it with 500 - 1000 for a really clean look.

Now you can clean it very good with a low VOC cleaner and start laying down some black! Do three medium wet coats for a good shine! Make sure to use Single Stage if you are not going to use a Clear Coat. Before you know it you will have one badass looking frame!

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:19 am
by abs929cbrrr
sounds like a ton of work.

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:39 am
by Modified96
It's really not to bad at all. Make it a weekend project.

Do you have a DA? That would make things 1000000x faster.

IT may seem like a lot of work, but you love the results in the end.

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 11:33 am
by abs929cbrrr
whats a DA?

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 11:41 am
by BILTIT
DA=dual action sander

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 11:50 am
by abs929cbrrr
sounds expensive? whats it do really?

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:44 pm
by BILTIT

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:48 pm
by Modified96
Dual Action Sander.

You can buy a pneumatic or electric DA. It will cut your sanding times in half. If you buy the type that takes Velcro backed sanding paper you can use a "Soft Pad" for rounded or curved areas. The soft pad is just a pad that goes in between the sand paper and the DA that will keep you from cutting through on edges.

Re: Painting aluminum?

Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 1:03 pm
by abs929cbrrr
ill pass. i dont need to be buying tools i will only use once. ill sand it by hand