As with any bike, getting the paint spot-on for this 2001 Triumph Legend TT project was vital. So much of good paintwork is preparation, and while I understand that many readers won’t have access to poisonous two-pack (2K) paints, the principles are the same, whether you’re in a professional spray booth or tucked away in your shed – with plenty of ventilation!
In a clean environment, a surprisingly good finish can be obtained with simple rattle-cans from your local automotive store, but keep in mind that these single-pack paints and lacquers will not withstand solvents – if you splash petrol on the tank when filling up, you must clean it off immediately.
Needless to say, for the best results use a professional painter – this is how to do it…
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| The Triumph’s tank was already in good condition, with the chrome badges secured by two M4 countersunk screws. They’ll not be refitted so the holes needed filling. |
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| The tank was flatted down with 400 abrasive, then given a thin coat of primer to seal any old paint, eliminating any paint reaction later, especially on a surface of two colours and a painted pinstripe. Next came a liberal coat of high-build primer, but the surface was still quite rough. At this point the surface can be dusted with a bit of matt black paint (a ‘guide coat’), though I use a specific 3M product – a black powder that makes the surface ‘dirty’, to help pick out imperfections that you’d struggle to see with the naked eye. |
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| Rather than conventional sandpaper or sanding discs, I use an Abranet system – an abrasive net that secures by Velcro to a sanding block connected to an extraction device. It’s more expensive than conventional organic abrasives but there’s no dust, and the abrasive surface never clogs up, so it lasts much longer than conventional methods. |
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| The guide coat showed up a couple of low spots that needed additional sanding, but once I’m finished I always panel wipe the surface twice. The first is to remove the bulk of the dust – don’t be tempted to use an airline to do this as it’ll just float around in the atmosphere – wipe it off and throw it in the bin! After the first clean it’s into the booth for a second wipe, then one last wipe over with a tack rag to pick up any remaining grains of dust. |
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| With metallic paints, the process of building colour is as important as the paint in the tin. Each base coat affects the tone and hue of the coat applied above it. For this tank, the first coat was ochre yellow. |
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| Once the base was down, I applied the first of the paint coats that will actually be visible on the finished product – metallic gold. |
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| The gold acts not only as the base coat for the main colour, but also as the finished colour of the pinstriping and badges. The tank is made of two separate halves welded together through the centre. However, Triumph didn’t seem too concerned with symmetry when this one was made, and the swage lines differed by about 10mm. Getting the striping to look right from both sides and above took nearly four hours (and me to the brink of my sanity). But I finally found a compromise between the dimensions that works. |
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| Being a custom bike, it seemed fitting to steer away from the norm when it came to the badge design. As with all my work, it would be in paint rather than a vinyl transfer. This final design was the fourth attempt – I have a friend with a sign who’s a brilliant designer (and fortunately very patient), who worked through the process with me, then cut some masks using low tack masking vinyl. |
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| After mixing some pigment inks to get the main colour just right, I masked off the flashes and painted the bulk of the tank. The masking scheme was then reversed to paint the side flashes. Finally, the badge’s black pinstripe went on, at which point the tank just looked like a mess of masking tape and overspray! |
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| With all the masking removed, there were a couple of tiny mask bleeds and a smudge of cream overspray, but these were easily sorted, before a single coat of clear was applied. Naturally the tank would get several more but it’s important to get a clear coat on to lock in the fragile base metallic. The finish isn’t glass-like, but it’s a good foundation to flat down in preparation for the remaining bulkier coats. |
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| Next article the build continues with more tips and advice... Enjoy the results! |