Body work on motorcycle tank

[Ben]

I am a bit off topic but could use some help. I have recently fabricated and welded an intricate motorcycle gas tank, but I will need to do some body work to level out some low spots. I do not have much to fill, but I want to do a complete skimcoat to make it smooth as glass. Does anyone know of a good filler to use. Also, can anyone give me a basic idea of how to prep, prime and seal with a filler - I am not as well versed on the paint prep end and would appreciate any suggestions. I will be sandblasting the tank to start with, but I am a little unsure a to what to do after that. Thanks in advance.

Ben

[Arbo]

Go to a Napa store and get a can of their light weight auto body filler and some cream hardener to go with it. Skin the tank with that and sand smooth. After that, prime with a laquer based primer, wet sand, skin coat with Nitrostan, and wet sand again. Then you're ready for paint.

[pontiac]

I'm a Dupont fan myself..

A PPG light weight filler should do..

snad any areas that recieve filler with 80 grit on a DA so it has something to bie into.

Get your filler shaping done. sand everything with 220.

hit it with a coat of Veraprime..
It's a self etching epoxy sealer primer.

top that with URO filler primer..

block it out

hit any low spots and pinholes with a glazing putty ( also called Icing)

do a 2nd coat of primer..

wet sand with 600 and you should be ready to shoot.

Use whatever brand of products you like.. I prefer to stick with one brand from start to finish to avoid any strange reactions.

[Scott V]

I would probably try to find some sikens two part autobody glazing putty for that.It has a very long working time,and sands easy.Dupont like pontiac said is good.So are lots of others.

[Ben]

Pontiac,
Thanks for the advice on the body work, and thanks to the other folks as well. Just one question: If I block through the filler primer down to the epoxy, do I want to keep coating with the filler until I have one continuous coat without the epoxy peeking through, or can I basecoat with a little expoxy showing through? Thanks again for the info, and suggestions from anyone are always appreciated.

Ben

[pontiac]

I think as long as you don't cut through the epoxy coat you should be good..

The only issue I could see is it may take a little more base to cover the different shades of primers.

With an opaque color I wouldn't worry.
With a transparent color I'd prefer to have a solid base color.
In that case you may even want to tint your primer to match the final color.

[pontiac]

This photo shows My 70 Firebird ready for paint.. you can see little spots of the Veriprime showing in some places.. It didn't hurt the final product at all.

Also if possible try to get all your filler and glazing putty work done before the seler primer step.. It's better to have all the plastic fillers under the epoxy sealer.

[HackAsaw]

what metal is the tank?

if nobody ever hands me a fuel or oil tank that has been sand blasted........ ever again....... it won't be too soon
________
Ducati 860GT

[Ben]

Scott,
I appreciate your advice, and I will certainly heed it when I prep my gas tank and fenders. I have used PPG, and I have found it to work well with my painting applications. I have just not had the practice doing what is underneath the paint. Good tip on sealing in the polyesters. I once used icing over my primer without sealing it in (oops), and it took me quite a few coats before my base covered the icing. It seemed to almost suck up the paint. I will know better this time. Nice pic of the prep work on the car, and a cool website as well.

Ben