don't be afraid to sandblast....

[Mojoe]

About 4-5 years ago when I redid the paintjob on my 92 kat, I felt I jumped into a nightmare. If you look at the pic below, everything from the red pinstrip below my flasher, down, that is not silver, is a sticker. You think your kats are a pita to remove stckers...pfft! Try mine.



Anyway, after about 2 hours on one lower fairing, my patience were shot. I knew there had to be a better way, but was not sure what. Then sandblasting came to mind. So I checked with every place I could find that did sandblasting. I got the same answer from each. "That's plastic....you can't sandblast plastic". I'm like. "why not....it's pretty tough. just turn the pressure down". Nope...no go. No one wanted to take the chance. So fuck it....I went and bought my own sandblaster.

End result......worked perfect. Just keep the nozzel moving so as not to "burn a hole" in the plastic, and you are golden. I did my whole bike in less time than it would have taken me to remove the stickers on one lower fairing. In all, I would not be afraid to say that I probably save 20 hours of stripping and prep work by sandblasting.

My point.....if you have a pile of stickers to remove, or the bike has been painted 2-3 times already, start from scratch and blast it all. DO NOT let anyone tell you that you can not sandblast plastic.
Here's proof you can.

[suzukisportrider2004]

did you use sand or other media?? like the plastic bead??

[Mojoe]

on my 92 I used Black Beauty, which is primarily coal slag. I used 12-40, which is a fine grit.

on the fairing in the pic, I used glass bead, which was quite course. I did find a difference in the two. The black beauty took a little longer to do than the glass bead, but left a lower profile (roughness). The glass bead was super quick, but you had to be more careful with it. Stopping in the same stop for even a second will deform the plastic in that spot. It left it a little rougher, but that was taken care of with an extra coat of primer and a little more sanding.

I use only glass bead now because I bought a half ton of it. It was cheap. $5 per 50lb bag by buying 20 bags.

[suzukisportrider2004]

thats alot of glass bead!!

[KatanaSoldier]

How much did the blaster run you?

[Mojoe]

How much did the blaster run you?

$110 delivered. it is like this:



It is too messy to use in my shop, obviously, and I was going to build an enclosure to use it in. In the summer I use it outside. But now instead of wasting space for an enclosure in my shop, I am going to get a cabinet model. Not sure which one yet. Ebay has a couple of decent ones for a good price.

This one is $135 with free shipping (shipping alone must be enough for something this size)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sand-Blaster-Sandblasting-Cabinet-Sandblaster-Blast_W0QQitemZ270087301335QQihZ017QQcategoryZ63700QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And then there is this one for $225 with free shipping (even better deal considering the size). The pic is of the one he owns. The ones he sells are brand new.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sand-blaster-sandblasting-cabinet-sandblaster-blast_W0QQitemZ200076329119QQihZ010QQcategoryZ43986QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[philwecksr]

What kind of pressures were you using?

Is it going to be worth it on the original paint? I'm going to end up blasting the tank, but it still has the original paint and I'll bet that will be easy enough to take off with simple paint remover.

[Black_peter]

Good tip Mojoe!

About stripping the tank, Personally I have found stripping small parts that fit in a bag easy, but large parts a PIA. I just couldn't get the stripper to stay put for the time needed to get through all the paint. I would bead blast a tank...

[philwecksr]

I just reread my post and realized how unintelligible it can be.

I was more concerned with the original paint on my plastics. Lou's guide just uses paint stripper, but I have access to a sandblaster and if thats a better way to go then I'd like to do that.

So, is it worth the risk to sandblast the original paint on the plastics?

Thanks for the info on tank stripping as well.

[koncsolt]

If you are going to be blasting outdoors anyway, you can build a very cheap enclosure from some materials at Loews or Home Depot. Get some 2x4s, some plastic sheeting and a few door hinges. Assemble (4) four foot square frames from the 2x4s and staple the plastic sheeting to each of the finished squares. Use the door hinges to connect two of them together so they swing like a door. Do this to the other two. Now lay some plastic sheeting onto the ground and stand up the two square frames to make a portable room. Blast away! The "room" will contain 99% of the media and it can be picked up with the plastic sheeting and re-used. When you are not using the "room", it can be folded flat and stored in a corner of the garage taking up very little space. Obviously you can make your "room" to smaller dimensions but 16 square feet will give you a very comfortable working space.

[Black_peter]

So, is it worth the risk to sandblast the original paint on the plastics?

Thanks for the info on tank stripping as well.

I think Mojoe technique is great for sticker removal but of you have good original paint you should only need to rough it up. Even if you are using a lighter color you are going to prime the parts..

[philwecksr]

So, I wouldn't need to even strip the old paint? I can just scuff prime paint? Lou seemed to imply that was true, and he only stripped cuz he's a perfectionist. I'd be happier not having to strip it. lol

[KatanaSoldier]

Nice stuff Mojoe. Had no idea how affordable those were.

[Mojoe]

So, I wouldn't need to even strip the old paint? I can just scuff prime paint? Lou seemed to imply that was true, and he only stripped cuz he's a perfectionist. I'd be happier not having to strip it. lol

In the case of the fairing you see sandblasted, I chose to take it down to the bare plastic because it had like 4-5 coats of paint on it. The last two coats were not even automotive paint....at least I doubt they were. The second to last paintjob was some horrible stuff. The whole lower fairing was the rock guard stuff. So obviously I did not want to put a nice paintjob over that mess.

on my 92, I used the blaster mostly because of the stickers.

If your bike only has the original paint, or even if it has been painyed one, there is no real need to sandblast it. Also, unless the part has been repaired with bondo or some other material, you don't even have to prime it. Paint over paint does not need to be primed. You are wasting time and money if you do prime. Actually, I think I will post that tip as well to help alot of you DYIers save some $.

[chinto]

So, I wouldn't need to even strip the old paint? I can just scuff prime paint? Lou seemed to imply that was true, and he only stripped cuz he's a perfectionist. I'd be happier not having to strip it. lol

In the case of the fairing you see sandblasted, I chose to take it down to the bare plastic because it had like 4-5 coats of paint on it. The last two coats were not even automotive paint....at least I doubt they were. The second to last paintjob was some horrible stuff. The whole lower fairing was the rock guard stuff. So obviously I did not want to put a nice paintjob over that mess.

on my 92, I used the blaster mostly because of the stickers.

If your bike only has the original paint, or even if it has been painyed one, there is no real need to sandblast it. Also, unless the part has been repaired with bondo or some other material, you don't even have to prime it. Paint over paint does not need to be primed. You are wasting time and money if you do prime. Actually, I think I will post that tip as well to help alot of you DYIers save some $.

I agree....no need to prime over a good paint job. The only benefit would be if you have a few pits and chips. A good filler primer will take care of them, but if you have good plastics with a nice finish already and you just want to change colors, simply scuff and paint.