Gas tank painting cost

[gearman]

I blasted two tanks and two side covers and got quotes of $850 and $550 from two body shops.The cheaper shop only uses water based paint which I don't like.Just prime and paint with filler as needed. No decorations. What have you guys had to pay? I would doit my self but I don't have a spray booth.





What do you think of the black headlight stays?

[RinkRat II]

 I would find out if the painter in either shop does side work and go from there. Depending on the color, all the labor is in the prep work, black takes the most work to look good.
   Do the prep yourself and hand them a paint ready tank, save some $$$.      My$.02

        Paul B

[Allfat]

I had a painter do my whole bike for $850, but it was a side job for him. Found him through a friend of my brother-in-law.

Tank, fenders, and side covers. Finish body work and paint. I removed all paint and did most of the pulling and pounding dents out.

[dsrdave]

I do complete bike, less the frame for 750-1200.  Depends on color and condition of the parts.   Prep, prep and more prep.  Materials aren't cheap !!  The maroon used on my centauro is $1800.00 a gallon.  Now you usually only need a quart.  But paint is $$$$$

[Chuck in Indiana]

I do complete bike, less the frame for 750-1200.  Depends on color and condition of the parts.   Prep, prep and more prep.  Materials aren't cheap !!  The maroon used on my centauro is $1800.00 a gallon.  Now you usually only need a quart.  But paint is $$$$$

Most people just don't realize how much prep is involved.. or the cost of the materials.

[bigbikerrick]

Gearman, you dont need a spray booth to do small stuff like that. Do you have a compressor? If you do, get yourself a harbor freight paint gun, they sell a nice  gravity feed HVLP one with pressure regulator, and everything you need for under $50. You have the prep skills, and thats the main thing. Go to your local auto paint supplier, and get pints of urethane base coat, and the clear in quarts, so its cheaper. there are brands like dupont nason, or dimension 1 that are real good  "second line"paints for less than the premium stuff like dupont chromabase, etc. I make paint stands to spray bike parts out of 2 by 4 studs, and an old automotive brake rotor as the base. perfect for spraying all around tanks and fenders/sidecovers.  I spray when its not windy, just outside my garage door, then put the parts/stands in my garage to dry  dust free. Even if you get some dust, or small imperfection in the clear, later you can sand/buff it to perfection.
It will be fun, and you will save some $$$.
Rick.

BTW, the black headlight stays look real nice, did you rattle can those?

[rodekyll]

You can make a paint booth using that retired camping tent, mosquito netting, a tarp . . . you're only limited by your imagination, and it doesn't need to be a permanent structure.  You just want to keep the bugs out and the paint in until it sets up.

Prep is a relative term.  When I was powder coating, people would bring me their version of "prepped".  It was always a degree of prep, but never anything I'd just toss in the booth and spray.  The parts always needed more.  In some cases, the "prep" was actually detrimental -- silica sand blasting, preserving zinc plating, using house painting tape to mask, etc.  Getting the customer-introduced contaminants out of the metal can take as long or longer than doing it right the first time.  Sometimes they'd insist it was "just fine" the way it was, and to coat the parts as-is.  I'd say "alrighty, then", coat and bake, and sometimes return horrible results as fluids and chemicals outgassed during the baking.

What I'm getting at is that it's ok to do an initial strip and clean for the painter, but let him decide if it's "prepped" or not.  But as others have pointed out, for a very few dollars you can tool-up for painting.  The big cost is the materials.

[TimmyTheHog]

I was quoted blast, prime, paint with my last bike for $1000 CND + tax.

you can do it yourself quite easily if just single color.

It is the clearcoat shell you need to becareful...need that 2 part stuff to resist the fuel.

Edit: forgot to mention this is Tank + front fender

[yackee]

Here in Madison Wi, about 8 years ago, I paid a local custom-bike painter about $850 for my T3 (tank and side covers), which were still on the original paint. Painter did all the prep, and the base coat (black) contained some silver glitter. He also applied silver leaf to mimic the original metallic stripes/accents, and he clear-coated it.

The T3 is nice because no fenders to paint.


Jason

[JayDee24ca]

I had my 79 Convert tank stripped, filled, painted black, hand pin striped to original spec, and clear coated, for $450 Cdn.
I thought it was a pretty good deal. I did have to wait for it for about 6 months, but it was worth it, me being such a cheap beggar.
JD

[MMRanch]

GearMan

you should know that rattle-can polyurethane dries clear now , and after it cures for about 3 weeks  a little gas spilled on it has no effect .     

[n3303j]

Local sandblaster paints a lot of things like chassis, tractors, or whatever else you bring him. He did some parts for my Ural several years back when I reconditioned it. I chose shiny black, and the parts still are shiny and black.

I recently asked him for a quote on my T3 tank and side covers in shiny & black. I would bring them in with paint removed. He said $150 to $200 for prime, sand and paint shiny and black. He said the paint was fuel proof. He should know. Been painting tractors for years. His price is right.

I'm treating the 40 year old tank innards with Caswell's Dragon's Blood as a preventative measure. Then he gets the parts to make them look as good as original.

[gearman]

Gearman, you dont need a spray booth to do small stuff like that. Do you have a compressor? If you do, get yourself a harbor freight paint gun, they sell a nice  gravity feed HVLP one with pressure regulator, and everything you need for under $50. You have the prep skills, and thats the main thing. Go to your local auto paint supplier, and get pints of urethane base coat, and the clear in quarts, so its cheaper. there are brands like dupont nason, or dimension 1 that are real good  "second line"paints for less than the premium stuff like dupont chromabase, etc. I make paint stands to spray bike parts out of 2 by 4 studs, and an old automotive brake rotor as the base. perfect for spraying all around tanks and fenders/sidecovers.  I spray when its not windy, just outside my garage door, then put the parts/stands in my garage to dry  dust free. Even if you get some dust, or small imperfection in the clear, later you can sand/buff it to perfection.
It will be fun, and you will save some $$$.
Rick.Thanks, The stays are painted with Imron 3.5 Hg  a 1to 4 polyurathane. There is no clear coat.That is why dust is so critical. I used  base clear years ago but I think I am getting lazy in my old age.The shop that quoted me $850 now wants another $4oo for the Two side covers.

BTW, the black headlight stays look real nice, did you rattle can those?