My take on partial-black exhaust, and thoughts on the process

[alexg57]

What's the dilly?
I took Danthedawgfan's idea of a partially black-out exhaust and ran with it, but instead of going with the BBQ matte black paint, I found a series of paints at Schucks designed for high temperature applications - like engine blocks - that are supposed to withstand up to 500 degrees. I figured that would be enough; I guessed the exhaust pipes to only reach 300 or 400 degrees on the surface. And the best part is that it came in gloss black to better match my M50 Black. It's from Dupli-Color and called "Engine Enamel." I used DE1612 ("Gray engine primer"), DE1613 ("Gloss black") and DE1636 ("Clear").

The painting process
I started by taking apart every piece that I could so that it would be easier to paint them. I then took some 80 grit sandpaper and scuffed the hell out of the parts to be painted. I put in enough elbow grease so that the chrome looked more like brushed aluminum than scratched up chrome. Honestly, I have no idea if this was enough preperation work or not. Regardless, I finished prepping by giving everything a quick rinse with dish soap and hot water.

I then went at it with the primer, about 10 minutes apart for each coat. Following that, I sprayed on the black paint. Again, three coats about 10 minutes apart. Finally, I ended by putting the clear coat over everything under the same schedule as the other two. So all in all, there are nine coats of compound on the parts. Everything went pretty well, except that I had never really spray painted anything before and I ended up screwing up one the parts - I had to resand and start over on that one. Here's a hint: make sure the spray can is a good distance from the surface to be painted, and put several light coats on instead of trying to get that really wet paint look.

Anyway, I let the paint dry overnight and then reinstalled everything this morning. I was careful to not ding the parts on anything, but inevitibly I did end up with a couple of chips. I solved the "flange scraping" problem by either (painters) taping it to the end of the pipe, or by putting tape around a section of the pipe and taping the flange around that tape. That last part was a big mistake, though. After everything had been installed and tightened up, I removed that tape and ended up taking a big chunk of the paint with it! To fix that, I just sprayed some of the black onto a piece of cardboard and used a paint brush to apply it. I doubt it'll be as strong as the rest of the paint since there is no primer underneath it, but it should work at least for awhile.

Final thoughts
I think it looks fantastic - the color and gloss match up perfectly to the other black parts on the bike - but I doubt the paint will last forever. If I can pull some of it off with painters tape, it'll probably not withstand rock chips and general wear and tear even after it fully cures. I'll probably end up having it professionally painted at some point. I had a previous bike painted from top to bottom for like 700 bucks. Just a few pipes should only run me $50 or so.

As for a more durable DIY way... I don't know, what do you guys think? Should I have sanded it more during the prep work? Should I have let the paint cure for a few days before handling the parts? Maybe there is a compound that I could have used to give it about the same durability as the stock gloss black paint? Let me know what you think.

Dig!

~ alexg

[diamond_jim]

Great job. The gloss looks better in my opinion. My airbox mod was originally done in flat black. I've since went back and changed it to semi-gloss and it looks so much better against the gloss black of the engine. The gloss black pipes look more like a custom factory option.

[07M50zAllDaWay]

Looks good, I'd finish up by blacking out the mufflers too. Nice work, let us know how they hold up.

[mbgraham2000]

Excellent job. I like the gloss better myself. When I painted my linby bar I used a similar procedure -- scuff the dog doo out of the chrome ( I had a power sander ) , 3 coats etching primer, 3 coats flat black enamel, 3 coats wheel coating lacquer. It came out better than I could have hoped.

If my camera weren't so crappy you could see how shiny the whole thing is.


I don't know if I would paint the mufflers black or not. They offer a good counter point to your chrome tornado ( you need to paint that type a adapter ).

[diamond_jim]

Originally Posted by alexg57

As for a more durable DIY way... I don't know, what do you guys think? Should I have sanded it more during the prep work? Should I have let the paint cure for a few days before handling the parts? Maybe there is a compound that I could have used to give it about the same durability as the stock gloss black paint? Let me know what you think.

Dig!

~ alexg

There are a variety of paint adhesion promoters available. However, I'm not sure if there are any "high temp" promoters.

[burnchassis]

Originally Posted by mbgraham2000

Excellent job. I like the gloss better myself. When I painted my linby bar I used a similar procedure -- scuff the dog doo out of the chrome ( I had a power sander ) , 3 coats etching primer, 3 coats flat black enamel, 3 coats wheel coating lacquer. It came out better than I could have hoped.

If my camera weren't so crappy you could see how shiny the whole thing is.


I don't know if I would paint the mufflers black or not. They offer a good counter point to your chrome tornado ( you need to paint that type a adapter ).

Hey Marc,
Where did you get that dual headlight mount?
Are those 2 stock headlights or 2 aftermarket?
THX
CS

[mbgraham2000]

Originally Posted by burnchassis

Hey Marc,
Where did you get that dual headlight mount?
Are those 2 stock headlights or 2 aftermarket?
THX
CS

That is a home made mount. A piece of 1/4 in by 1 inch steel from Lowes. The buckets are two Adjure Sunset 5.75 inch, the head lamps are Adjure wave cut black dots. I have been planning to add those lights since I bought the bike 3 years ago. It took me that long to find a deal on the buckets.

I like my girls with big eyes.

[Trigger1985]

They have hi-temp primer... I also went with Hi-Gloss, planning on installing on Monday, along with lowering, and maybe starting to paint.

[diamond_jim]

Originally Posted by burnchassis

Hey Marc,
Where did you get that dual headlight mount?
Are those 2 stock headlights or 2 aftermarket?
THX
CS

I totally missed that. Wow, those look good.

[mbgraham2000]

Originally Posted by diamond_jim

I totally missed that. Wow, those look good.

Thanks,

I don't want to hijack the thread. I am going to post a "what I did on my summer vacation" thread when I get my wifes camera. I did a lot of stuff over the last week. I'm really happy with the head lights.

[alexg57]

Originally Posted by Trigger1985

They have hi-temp primer... I also went with Hi-Gloss, planning on installing on Monday, along with lowering, and maybe starting to paint.

I used what the high temp black paint called for in the instructions, which is a high temp primer. It still didn't hold up very well to just minor dings. I'm going on my first ride tomorrow since the paint job, so hopefully it all at least holds up to the heat like I hope it will.

~ alexg

[chiefriceburner]

great job like the gloss better than the flat also.

[1badbaker]

I'm with the majority here...I like the gloss pipes better than the flat pipes. However, I still really don't like only having half the exhaust painted. It looks like you did a good job man.

If I were to do it, I would go flat because there's already so many other things flat on my bike (airbox, rad. cover, neck covers, sissy bar, frame rails, front signals) but I'd have to do the full exhaust.


mbgraham - the highway bars look good! The dual headlights is cool too...nice bike.

[wideopen4life]

For those of you that have painted pipes black or half black, how is the paint holding up after a few rides. You all should post a few pics after you put a little time on the paint. I am interested in seeing how the hi-temp paint performs.

[alexg57]

Originally Posted by wideopen4life

For those of you that have painted pipes black or half black, how is the paint holding up after a few rides. You all should post a few pics after you put a little time on the paint. I am interested in seeing how the hi-temp paint performs.

A bit poorly, so far. I let the paint cure for a day before riding it and I've since taken two rides of about 30 miles. It hasn't bubbled or chipped, but the paint where my right foot rests has already started to rub off

I'm investigating some professional solutions right now. Just a few plates and pipes should only be like 50 bucks, so hopefully I'll get that done. A pro sandblast and ceremic paint job should hold up much better.

~ alexg

[mbgraham2000]

Originally Posted by alexg57

A bit poorly, so far. I let the paint cure for a day before riding it and I've since taken two rides of about 30 miles. It hasn't bubbled or chipped, but the paint where my right foot rests has already started to rub off

I'm investigating some professional solutions right now. Just a few plates and pipes should only be like 50 bucks, so hopefully I'll get that done. A pro sandblast and ceremic paint job should hold up much better.

~ alexg

I was wondering, in your prep did you go over everything with a finer grit paper? I started with 60, then 220, then 400, then a wash with dish washing detergent and steel wool, and a final wipe down with Acetone.

I also let the paint cure for two days before installing the bar.

I know it is a little like comparing apples to oranges, but I haven't had a chip yet.

Powder coating would be a great way to go, but I didn't want to shell out the cash. Plus I like to be able to do everything myself.

[womper]

awesome look to the bike... the lindby looks nice painted black...
love the dual headlights!

getting rid of the stock headlight anytime soon?

alex... i'm not sure about the pipes... i'm with badbaker on that... i like all or not i think.. i dunno

both bikes look cool though...

[alexg57]

Originally Posted by mbgraham2000

I was wondering, in your prep did you go over everything with a finer grit paper? I started with 60, then 220, then 400, then a wash with dish washing detergent and steel wool, and a final wipe down with Acetone.

I also let the paint cure for two days before installing the bar.

I know it is a little like comparing apples to oranges, but I haven't had a chip yet.

Powder coating would be a great way to go, but I didn't want to shell out the cash. Plus I like to be able to do everything myself.

I was planning on sanding it between coats of primer, but I didn't think the particular primer I was using would handle it well. So I just sanded the chrome off using 80 grit sandpaper, and that's about it. I also only waited overnight to install them back on the bike instead of a few days. It probably also didn't help that it was a pretty cold night.

I like doing stuff myself, too, but you can't always have all the tools in the world. If I had my own paint booth with airbrushes and everything, you can bet your ass that I would do it myself. Instead, I'll see if my father-in-law can help me with that. He painted his '59 Corvette in his boss' shop, so maybe he'll get permission to help me out

~ alexg

[mbgraham2000]

Originally Posted by alexg57

I was planning on sanding it between coats of primer, but I didn't think the particular primer I was using would handle it well. So I just sanded the chrome off using 80 grit sandpaper, and that's about it. I also only waited overnight to install them back on the bike instead of a few days. It probably also didn't help that it was a pretty cold night.

I like doing stuff myself, too, but you can't always have all the tools in the world. If I had my own paint booth with airbrushes and everything, you can bet your ass that I would do it myself. Instead, I'll see if my father-in-law can help me with that. He painted his '59 Corvette in his boss' shop, so maybe he'll get permission to help me out

~ alexg

I hear ya. I want to do some serious painting myself this winter but I need to set up some kind of spray booth if I do. I have way too much dust floating around to paint my tank, fenders and side panels otherwise. I was thinking some plastic sheeting around a 2 by 4 frame, just big enough to do the job.

I didn't sand between coats either.

Temperature may be the culprit here. I made sure all my work was done during the day between 60 and 80 degrees.

[mbgraham2000]

Originally Posted by womper

awesome look to the bike... the lindby looks nice painted black...
love the dual headlights!

getting rid of the stock headlight anytime soon?

alex... i'm not sure about the pipes... i'm with badbaker on that... i like all or not i think.. i dunno

both bikes look cool though...

Thanks.

If you want the stock head light, pm me an offer.