removing many layers of paint

[fourhoofsfarm]

first off i wanna say great forum here, im a new kat owner and this is my first sport bike. i just bought a 1989 gsx750f katana and im in the begining phases of a complete frame off rebuild. i saw the end result of dexters rebuild and was impressed. got everything disassembled, inventoried, inspected and labled. got the frame all stripped down to bare metel to inspect all the welds and its ready for new paint. the price for new fairings is crazy so im gonna reuse the old ones but they have many many layers of paint on them. i wanna strip them back to bare plastic and start fresh. my question is..... is there anything out there to aid in the stripping of the paint on these without harming the plastics or am i just in for hours and hours of hand sanding ? not that im afraid of putting in the time i just wanna be able to spend more time on rebuilding and detailing. i have a few custom mods in mind and would like to be able to get through them without having to rush them.
thanks in advance for any help

[JokerZwild]

Welcome to KR, You'll find alota help and resources here. I guess my first question is what kinda condition are the plastics in now, paint and body wise? If the paint is in decient shape id suggest sanding down what has to go to the bare plastics and making your repairs then putting a good scuff of the rest before ya primer them. You can sit for a few hours and go to the bone but its a bit of overkill if it really doesnt need em. Best of luck with your restore and dont forget to post up some pics of your progress.

[fourhoofsfarm]

thanks for the warm welcome...plastics are in fair shape, have a couple cracks that have to be plastic welded. im more concerned about the bubbles in the paint from the previous paint job. i dont wanna spend money on a sweet paint job only to have it ruined by some unseen bubbles under an old layer that pops up unexpectedly so i dont mind spending the time on paint removal, was just wondering if there was a shortcut. theres brand new main fairings on ebay for $150.00 a side but id rather spend the money on quality paint or other goodies...my 89 is gonna look and run like a 2010 when it rolls out of the garage in the spring...

[ygolohcysp]

Sounds like you have a good project going there. I myself have an 06 that I got as a new leftover a year ago, and so I'm still paying it off. I'm envious of being able to do that much work to the bike.

Unfortunately, I don't have any real suggestions for the bodywork. Just wanted to say good luck on the rebuild, and to second the suggestion of putting up pics of the progress. Welcome to KR.

[yngveny]

Welcome to KR

Sounds like a nice project.
Guess you have to go at that paint with sandpaper and elbow grease.
Have seen somebody who sandblasted(or mediablasted??) their fairings, you could look into that.

[chris216]

You could chemical stip with paint remover it to get down to the plastic. spray on, let sit for 5-10 min, then scrape off with a plastic scraper and rinse with water. Don't let it st longer as you don't want it to attack the plastic too much. You may have to sand the plastic a little to smooth it back out but it will get the job done quickly. Just make sure you use rubber gloves

[Kano1017]

Welcome to KR, post some pictures

[HemiKat]

Mine was the same way when I refinished it. I used 180 on a DA sander, just go slow and be careful around the edges and youll be fine.

[Jbs00]

welcome aboard

[Dexter]

Thanks for the compliments.

An orbital sander will be your best friend. I've never used chemical paint stripper on plastic panels before, so I can't speak to that. What I can tell you is the more time you're willing to put in to it, the better it will come out. If you're concerned about the old paint job, get an orbital sander and take it back to bare plastic. Do your plastic welding and buy a body filler intended for plastic, such as the Evercoat that I used.

I put about 40-50 hours into the prep on my bike... the end result speaks for itself. I did everything with two sanders (orbital and detail) and by hand. Prime with a sealer/etching primer once the filler work is done and top it off with a few coats of high build primer. The high build primer will allow you to block sand the large flat areas and it'll look perfect when you're done.

Any questions you have along the way, I'd be happy to help and provide pictures.

Good luck, and welcome to KR

[JokerZwild]

Im with Dexter on the orbital sander. It will save your arms a TON of aggh! Just go easy on the grits and try to avoid the etching as much as ya can as ya go. (reduce grits) If you do have bubbles and crap to deal with then yeah go ahead and take it down. I wouldnt reccomend chem. stripping tho as it can easily get outta hand and start to break down the material in the plastics.

[Dexter]

I actually started with 80 grit on the orbital. It doesn't matter how much you gouge up the plastic, as long as you finish with lighter grits, seal with an etching primer, and use high build primer to hide all the imperfections.

I did 80 (orbital), 220 (orbital), and 220 (hand) before priming.

[KAT TOY]

Welcome to KR. Hope your build goes smoothly.

[BradsKat]

I did 80 (orbital), 220 (orbital), 220 (hand), 320 (hand), 400 (hand), 600 (hand) before priming.

Hmmmm.... I started wet sanding with 400 (hand) and at this rate I'll still be sanding this time next year. Think I'll give the orbital a shot

Brad

[Mojoe]

I am a bit hesitant to give you any advice because I don't want to appear to be slamming the other suggestions posted here.....

but I gotta tell, I have done my share of paint jobs, so I pretty much have it down to a science...at least for what works for me to cut the time involved and have quality results. 40-50 hours is wayyy more than I want to put into it. give me a complete body set, all the right materials close by, proper tools, etc, etc...and no damage to repair, 15 hours tops.

imho, the absolute WORST method is chemical paint strippers. it's slow, smelly, messy, and well...really bad for the environment.

Dexter's method...not too bad, from my experience. Although Dex, my friend, you did make it hard on yourself. all that hand sanding before priming....well, really kinda pointless. read the specs on your primer. high build is usually good to fill 80 grit...40 even. normal primer is good for at least 120. in fact, and I hate to say it, you may have actually done a "worse" job by doing it this way. primer will have a much better grip on an 80 grit surface than a 600. So my suggestion, would be to not go above 120 before priming. it's just a total waste of time, and the primer will stick better to a rougher surface. save your hand sanding efforts for after the primer is laid.

bestest greatest method in the whole wide world, imho...sandblast. it removes EVERYTHING in no time flat. I can have a 1100 kat complete body sitting bare naked ready to prime, in 90 minutes tops. slowest part of it, stopping to fill the sandblaster with media. I go at it aggressively. glass bead....cuts like a knife. you gotta recycle your media cuz you need a lot of it. you gotta move fast and keep your distance. if you have stickers, and don't stop to recycle your media, plan on about 400lbs of it. yup, that's right.....8 50lb bags. I can do it with 5 now because I use a plasic drop sheet then screen the media. I use 5 bags, but only get about 3.5 back. It would be cutting it close if I only bought 4 bags.

so ya...that's my suggestion. sandblast it all. if you don't have a sandblaster, go find a business that does. imho, even if it cost you $100, it still beats the time/mess it takes the other ways. not everyone is comfortable with plastic, though. I went to 4 or 5 places before I just said F it and bought my own. they all said the same thing....can't sandblast plastic. BS...when I am done, I am sure it is 99.9% just like it is in the zuki factory....all ready for painting.

Here is what it should take you if you work at a steady confident pace:

sandblast = 90 minutes

lay a coat of adhesive before primer (optional, but suggested) = 10 minutes.

lay high build primer = 30 minutes (includes mixing and clean up)

sanding = assuming you use a high quality primer sprayed from a paint gun, and not a rattle can, and spray it with the same attention you would give the paint itself, so as to leave as smooth a surface as possible, it should take you no more than 3 hours or so of sanding. after those 3 hours, you need to inspect all of it. primer does leave little holes in it sometimes, so you fix them with a bit of spot putty. that is fast, but you have to let that stuff dry for a few hours. sands real easy when it is dry. add an hour for that....so 4 hours on sanding.

then add 30 minutes for washing and or tack ragging before spraying paint.

spraying paint: this varies. if you are using regular paint....give it an hour.
if you are going bc/cc, 30 minutes. then you will have to clear....another 30 minutes. so there is an hour. this is according to my choise of reducer. I always paint small parts like this with fast drying reducer. if it is 90 degrees, I am using reducer designed for like 50 degrees. this affords me the opportunity to slap the clear right to it with little fear of run. you can build up fast, and it will look like glass.

so what does that all add up to....umm, 7-8 hours? sounds low, but ya...under the right conditions with everything set up for efficiency, and absolutely no repairs to do, I could see being able to paint a bike in an 8 hour day. personally, I would not want to do it like that, but I could if I had to. That is why I say 15 hours. but this all comes from a bit of experience. I am not intentionally bashing Dex's method, but it does make me think "holy sh*t dude"! he probably could have dropped it down to 25-30 if he didn't do all the sanding before priming.

so...15 hours tops if you sandblast, have all the proper tools, and use quality products. if you sand or chemical strip....double the time at least. F'in stickers....that's the worst. it's my main reason to go sandblast. glass bead rips those stickers off like no one's business.

anyhoo....that's my method. pretty fast with great results, imho. I can't stand taking forever on a project. I finally got it down to speed and efficiency without cutting corners. sandblast is a vital key to my method. after doing it this way, I shudder at the thought of doing it by hand or with paint strippers. so much so that I would probably not even do it, say f it, sell the bike and get something different.