South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

Mmm...2 days ago I touched up some paintwork of mine that was rubbed away by a rolled up set of waterproofs strapped to my grab rail on the epic journey, I sanded the plastics with what was marked as 400 grade paper, it came out super smooth. I thought smaller grading meant smoother paper??

I think it varies alot with who produces it, and how they grade it...

With 3M... 60 is really Corse, 260 is med... and P600 is Fine...

Says on the Packet that it's for "Paint Finish" as well, and even though I tried to take the best piccie I could, I can assure everyone it is Fine like it says it is

Best advice would be to go for the "Finest" paper that a particualr brand does, and let us know of the brand your using + how you get on

PS: The soap I used was imperial Leather... I think if you use fairly up liquid you'd prolly end up with a garage full of bubbles??? hehehe

furry";p="29366 wrote:
PS: The soap I used was imperial Leather... I think if you use fairly up liquid you'd prolly end up with a garage full of bubbles??? hehehe

It's all we used when i used to work in a garage.

Was Trying to be comical there

if your original paint isnt cracking or peeling away from the plastics, i wouldnt take it back to bare plastic, just take the sheen off it, fill any holes and then prime. factory paint is usally very well bonded to the plastics, if you take it back to bare plastic you will need to use a plasticiser before you prime, or at the first flex of the plastic the paint will all crack and peel off.

400 grit, although fine compared to normal sandpaper, still sounds pretty coarse to me, especially for a final finish. sanding the primer for a smooth finish i think i started with p400, but from memory for the final finish i used p1200 before using a finishing compound

scales wise the scales for grit are standard, the p just means its coated abrasive. if you see grit sizes with an F then thats bonded abrasive papers. 3m's scale is the same as everyone elses. 1200 is just an extra fine grade.

you'll get a much better, and harder finish with 2-pack, but on the other hand you cant really do it yourself without the equipment, and wont get a decent job on a tank, mudguard and seat unit done in 2-pack for £200. and if you do i want the sprayers number....

A mate of my Dads has owned a car garage and dealership for ages, and last month just put in a complete spray booth with all the climate control stuff, professional job for spraying cars... gonna see what he can do for me..

thats the kind of mate you need

as already said if you take it back to plastic you'll have to use a special plastic primer first then primer and base coat and laquer i would not do it your self if you've never painted before to be honest
ive just done my tank and panels in my shed turned out very well indeed but i've bin doin it ages and bike have more bends edges than cars so harder to paint if u aint got a clue
2pac paint is a 2/1 mix