Scooter Update: Painting Part 1

My Dad and me taking the body off of Lucky

Hi everyone,
This past weekend has been a doozy for me and I'm always happy to return here to be in the little corner of the internet with you. I just wanted to update you on the progress of my scooter.

Before I continue, I just want to say that this scooter is asking more out of me than I expected. I knew that I would have to go through the safety school to get my licence, my equipment to ride the thing, and of course getting used to and practicing with the vehicle. But buying an older scooter has proven to be more challenging just because of what age will do to a vehicle in general. This has led to further repairs that I had not expected. The strange thing about it is that it seems to be making me fall in love with it more and more. I feel like I'm really taking the care to enjoy the whole experience rather than rushing into the process. Because of this I've grown more appreciative of what I have in front of me. As my first two wheeler, I can honestly say that it feels like it's mine. So that being said, I wanted to write about my experience with painting my scooter. This is probably the biggest labor of love I've put into her.

When I had gotten Lucky, she came with so many broken parts, the paint was scuffed everywhere, and she was cosmetically not in the best of places. I knew that to get her in a better condition and it was going to be much more work. So I decided that if I was going to go through the process of patching her up, that I wanted to paint the whole scooter. I wanted to give the scooter a new lead on it's life. I am now it's 3rd owner and the last owner didn't take the best of care of her. So my first step was to begin with research.

I'll spare you the couple of weeks of exhausting research, you tube videos, and ebooks and tell you the few things I realized:

• A real paint job with and auto body shop was going to cost me between 1,000 - 3,000 which was so much more than what I paid for my bike. It was also money I did not have.
  
• This budget would not have included patching all of the cracks in the body.
  
• Paint is great, but what makes a great paint job and overall good bike is a well structured shell. So my cracks would have to be repaired and done right.
  
• One last thing: it makes me so sad that the auto painting community has this wave of arrogance and bullying in them. Tearing others down because you could do better doesn't make you any better or help them learn. (Seriously, just read the comments on any auto painting tutorial in a forum or you tube.)

My early concept attempt at a two-toned paint job. I was thinking of a metal flake Bronze bottom. 

So this being said, I went for the poor mans option and opted for spray painting my bike. My father has spray painted a few things before, particularly his trailer frame and hitch for his teardrop trailer which looks fantastic! (I ought to make a post about that) After his advice I decided to go with his favorite brand of Rustoleum. He says that it has the right in between of going on even and not too runny.

I waited on a few days and finally settled on their color of Apple Green. I love the lightness of the color and how it has a cool vintage feeling to it. It was a bit of an homage to the mod colors of the 60s scooters with a clean kick of the green in it. Plus the lighter color would make me safer on the road and be more visible. I had also decided that I was going to go all out and paint a pattern on my scooter. Originally I had wanted a two tone look, but the design of the scooter was too organic and curvy for it to look right. Instead of fighting it, I went with a cherry blossom pattern. It was something nostalgic that reminded me of my teens when I was really into Japanese pop culture. Some of that still reflects in my style, and since my scooter represents freedom and fun in a new lead on my life I thought it was perfect.

Before I continue on with the process I'm going to write a list here of the products that I've been using in case anyone might need to get their hands on these things. I'll also include links when I can to the places that I got them:

Sandpaper Sheets: I've been using these grits- 80 for stripping and smoothing out deep scratches. 150 for the overall sanding of the surface to prepare it for painting. 220 for last minute detail before painting. It's also good to look for sandpaper that can be used wet. Sometimes all the details come out when you wet the body, it's the best way to look for scratches.

Bumper Repair Kit: I've been using Bondo from Pep Boys. Try to look for something with meshing and and squeegee tool to lay out your material. This stuff is also great for bigger noticeable scratches you can't get out with sand paper. My only regret in using this product was how much of it I need to buy. One kit will do about 2-3 major cracks. Then again, my scooter is full of cracks that I didn't know it even had.

Apple Green Rustoleum: This was my choice mainly because of the color. There are so many to choose from. The only downside of my color is the satin finish it has. I'll be making up for this with my clear finish.

Clear Finish from Rustoleum: You've been warned, you will be needed a lot of this stuff! Even in the professional industry a lacquered clear coat on a restored car can be up to 30 layers thick. I'm currently up to my third coat and I think it needs at least three coats more. If there is a sale do stock up, this has cut my paint budget down by half.

Chisel: I would have never guessed how useful a chisel was until I started this project. It gets out most of the gunky sticky stuff on your body. You just need to be very patient with it, but its very effective.

Degreaser: I found the brand called Awesome at a dollar store and it works great!

Dishwashing brush: Trust me, you do not want to get all that grease and road gunk off with your bare hands. Let the brush for all the work for you. Get the ones that look like large tooth brushes, the handle will help you plenty in the long run. Again, I found this in the dollar store.

Spray Paint Handle Gun: This has been such a God send! I can't believe that I didn't buy one sooner. It takes the pain out of spray painting and assures you make even coats to your body. Even if you don't plan on doing a project like this but spray paint a lot, get one.

Paint Brushes: I used acrylic brushes of mine that were getting a little old and frayed. These worked great on all of my detailing after the base coat was laid down.

Testors Model Paints: These are so under appreciated. They have some of the most beautiful intense colors out there. They also go on with the glide of a watercolor. Building up these pigments in the details of my scooter was such a dream. There also super cheap in comparison to vinyl decals. If you have an artistic hand give them a try.

Brush Cleaner: I've been using my trusty Masters Brush Cleaner. If you clean your brushes immediately after using the Testors, they come right off. You will also need this for your hands, even with a spray handle gun, paint will get on you.

Handkerchief or face mask: I learned the hard way that you inhale so much of the left over spray. Cover your face, it will get you sick.

I'm going to end this post here as it seems like this is going to be a long journey. Next post I'll go into detail on how I prepared my scooter and started to get painting.

Thank you everyone for joining me. I hope that these posts will be a friendly and honest way to learn how to repaint an old moped.

Cheers!