Session 8: Oil Tank and Battery Cover

Tank before paint stripping

I started sanding the oil tank, but large sections of paint just flaked off, and there was rust underneath some with no visible sign on the surface. I took some advice, and used paint stripper to remove all the paint, to great effect.

The paint just bubbles off

The whole tank bubbling off

Paint stripper is very easy to use; brush on a thin coat, dab on a thicker coat, and scrape the paint off. This removed virtually all of the paint, exposing all the rust.



The front of the tank



The back of the tank



I then sanded off the rust using wet and dry paper, to leave a good finish for painting.

 There appears to have been a brazed repair on the back of the tank, to fix the bolt hole. Also, there is a small D stamped into the protruding bracket, andh a couple of dents to fill.

 

 I then hung it out and primer etched it, using less this time than the battery cover.

  

 I have also sprayed the battery cover with primer filler. I hung it in the same way, and gave the whole thing a thin coat. I then left it to dry, and repeated. It has got a little too cold to carry on now, so I will give it the final few coats tomorrow.

Session 7: Primer Etching

The inside finished.

I used coarse grit (about 80) wet and dry to sand away the inside of the cover, which was a lot harder to do than the outside. Not only was there more rust, but the shape of it meant that it was more difficult to sand, but I eventually finished.

The outside finished.

I finished the outside in the previous session.

Using a carefully constructed jig, consisting of some bent wire and an old lawnmower cable, and a guttering, I hung the cover outside. 

The outside sprayed.

I then used spray on primer etcher to coat the whole cover in a thin layer. Due to the slightly addictive nature of spray painting, I may have done it a bit thick.







On the inside, the metal loop caused me some trouble, as I couldn't see underneath it to check it was painted, so I put slightly too much on in that area. There is a small run, but it is on the inside, and can easily be sanded off.



All in all, this has been a successful exercise, and I now know what to do for the other parts that need painting. In September, I will finish this cover, and start on the oil tank.

On a completely unrelated note, I have found a parts supplier. Draganfly Motorcycles appear to sell most of the parts we need, and will probably be our source of parts. they sell a repair kit that exactly suits the gear selector shaft for this bike, which will make life easier.