Newly painted shock coil

[Gsxxx600]

So as some may know, I recently painted my coil.

here are some pics...
3 coats of primer, 5 coats of cherry red, and 10 coats of enamel

What do u all think!?

[WildKat]

Nice job!! that really sets it off!!

[ZukiFred]

Sweet. Looks great!!

[soccersteve]

well done!!! looks good. just a suggestion while you have your fairing off, wipe down that frame a little. its kinda dirty

coil looks great though. nice job

[SweetLou]

Very nice!

[Gsxxx600]

will do, unfortunately that swingarm is as good as it gets...i actually cleaned the other side (thats why the fairing is on it)

thanks for everyones input

[Jax]

Ok I was planning on doing that also...repainting the spring...did you remove it from the shock? If so how do you take it apart?

[arsenic]

yeah, did you take the spring off? If not how did you avoid overspray? By the way, it looks great, now it's time to modify a 98+ hugger.

[katana_j]

That looks realy good! Let us know how you did it.

[blacksheep]

Looks great, lot of labor to get it in and out?

[Black_peter]

How did you do it how did you do it???
It's not gonna flake from the flex???


Swing arm took a little battery acid??

I looks really great, please pass on the technique you used.

[Gsxxx600]

Thanks everyone for your awesome feedback.

This was extremely easy to do! I did not take the coil off the absorber either!

Heres what I did:
1) Remove rear wheel so the back of the swing arm is exposed.
2) Remove the mudguard, or cut about 1 inch on the lower portion of the mudguard (the section that covers the battery. NOTE: this is optional as a step, but by cutting a portion out, you will have a better view of the shock once completed
3) By using a 12mm socket on the clutch side, and 14mm wrench on the brake side, remove the nut from the bolt on the bottom of the shock absorber
4) Using the same method, but add an extension to the 12mm socket and use the same 14mm wrench to remove the top bolt.
5) Slide the shock out from under the swingarm and wha-la!
6) To prepare the shock, wetsand with about 220 grit and use a wire wheel attached to a dremel to remove any rust or debris.
7) Use painters tape (the blue kind) and by using tweezers (one in each hand) rip small pieces of tape off and attach it to the chrome rod, make sure u cover this rod, for any amt of paint can damage the motion due to it rubbing.
8) As for the part that sits below the rod (the wide cylinder that the rod slides into) I was unsuccessful it taping that off, couldn’t fit the tweezers in there, so I did my best to sand it and painted right over it
9) Add 3 coats of grey, sandable primer, 5 coats of your color choice, then at least 10 coats of clear enamel.
10) The most important part is letting it cure and dry, bc it’s such a tight fit when placing it back in, your bound to knick paint if u don’t let it cure.

That’s it! I haven’t had any problems with the paint chipping off from flex either!
Good luck and please let me know if I can help

[Black_peter]

Wow detailed account!! Cool!

So you painted the whole shock.. Not just the coil.
Well it looks sweet..

[Jax]

Wow that is impressive...that must have taken quite a while but what an accomplishment...It looks really good...what paint and enamel did you use...just curious...Once again it looks great...

[Mojoe]

9) Add 3 coats of grey, sandable primer, 5 coats of your color choice, then at least 10 coats of clear enamel.

It looks great and you did a good job of explaning how to do it, but......
I am sceptical on how long it will last, depending on the kind of clear you used. Clearcoat can be very unforgiving without a flex agent. I did a set of wheels without adding flex agent and it had a shattered glass effect within a week. I did not realize a wheel flexed that much. I am guessing that is what will happen with your spring. But then again, you might get lucky and it might hold up for a couple of years.

And as a suggestion to anyone who plans on doing the same, I would cut back on the coats of all of the above. Primer should be applied only as thick as needed to cover any sanding marks or blemishes and to cover 100% of the surface to be painted just enough to allow sanding to smooth it out. 3mil is pretty much the max you want to go on any basecoat, which means 2 light coats or one heavier one. As far as the clear....the more coats you put, the more brittle it becomes. 3 coats should be more than enough. Believe it or not, more is not always better...especially on something that flexes.

This is just my opinion, but if I was going to do my shock spring, I would not spray it. I would dip in in a rubber based paint. It goes on thick this way and is extremely flexible. If I was not to do that, I would use chassis paint.

But like I said...it looks great. If it does not hold up, cut back on the coats like I said and use a flex agent in the clear. Impossible to do with a spray can....you need to be able to mix it. So try a chassis paint next time.