Painting Harley fenders and gas tank

[Lizer]

I'm going to be painting some fenders and gas tank for a buddy's Harley. He wants it BLACK but doesn't necessarily have a preference on the black, so I'm going to try SPI black.

It's supposed to be the blackest black but I've seen some comments on here where some people were finding it too brown. What has been your experience and would you still recommend it for a Harley?

Second question--single stage or BC/CC? He wants 'high gloss' (don't they all) but I see a lot of guys that only do black in SS.

 

[shine]

solid black , single stage . i see no brown tint in spi black.

 

[Jim C]

spi black either in ss or bc/cc there is no brown in it at all. if your looking at old posts though then that may be why. the old stuff from years ago had a brown flop to it in direct sun. hard to see but it was there. newer stuff in the past maybe 5-6 years (guessing) does not.

cant go wrong with either ss or bc/cc. i always preferred bc/cc but to each their own.

 

[MJM]

Rust-Oleum Gloss Black for the win

 

[OJ86]

I've shot several bike with spi black base and either euro or uv clear. Everything I've seen with the black single stage just has a brown hue to it in the sun. Maybe it's just my eyes.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

SPI Black with Euro Clear. No brown tint to be found.

 

[shine]

clear wont magically get rid of a brown hue.

 

[Glen440]

I know in the late 90's we ran into bad rm Diamont black tint. It was brown when butt matched to oem gm 8555.

 

[Lizer]

solid black , single stage . i see no brown tint in spi black.

Why do you like about SS black over BC/CC?

 

[shine]

i think you get a clearer surface.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Why do you like about SS black over BC/CC?

Barry fixed the brown tint issue that some had seen in SS black. Shortly after that thread about it. (about a year and a half ago or so)

As for the question Lizer, in addition to what Shine said, you don't have the glassy reflection look that you get with clear over base black. ( or any solid color) Looks cleaner, richer and doesn't reflect glassy or have that look (hard to put into words) Don (dhutton) had posted some pics of a Camaro he painted SS sitting next to one that was base/clear. In that pic the difference was readily apparent. I'll try to find the picture and link it here.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Here is the pic. Hope Don doesn't mind me posting it here.

 

[MJM]

Is the split bumper the base/clear coat ?

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Is the split bumper the base/clear coat ?

Single stage. Notice the glassy/greyish look of the 69 beside it?

 

[Whitesnake]

Single stage. Notice the glassy/greyish look of the 69 beside it?

Those are both spi? I thought that pic was spi next to another brand black. But I could very well be wrong.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Those are both spi? I thought that pic was spi next to another brand black. But I could very well be wrong.

Single stage versus base clear. I don't think the 69 is SPI but it illustrates the difference.

This is the 2015 Peeble Beach Best of Show winner. Used SPI base and clear. Looks great but you can see the difference to Don's Camaro.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Depending on the light (sun clouds, dusk dawn) a base clear black job can appear slightly grey like in the first photo. Single stage doesn't have that issue.

 

[MJM]

Thank goodness it was sunny that day at Pebble Beach. It may have not won if it was cloudy.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Thank goodness it was sunny that day at Pebble Beach. It may have not won if it was cloudy.

black single stage or base with clear for novice

Ive been reading up for about the last 2 yrs (yes 2 years) I feel like I could have earned a master degree by now. As Iam getting closer to paint. And Iam still undermined which way i want to go. so maybe asking a few questions will help my decision. Iam building a resto mod 57 chevy truck and...

www.spiuserforum.com

Not a pro - BC/CC black or SS black

I can paint and have painted using lacquer, Centari and BC/CC over the past 40 years (one each - only 3 vehicles total!). All of my paint jobs look very nice - I do excellent body work which is the key. My equipment consists of a portable Speedaire 2 cylinder compressor with a non-HVLP gun...

www.spiuserforum.com

 

[Whitesnake]

Single stage versus base clear. I don't think the 69 is SPI but it illustrates the difference.

This is the 2015 Peeble Beach Best of Show winner. Used SPI base and clear. Looks great but you can see the difference to Don's Camaro.

I get what you mean. I’ve always just preferred bc/cc myself. But single stage has a “richness” to it if you will. Then you have people that hammer clear on top ss. Maybe I’ll do one of my next bikes black ss. It’s been a while. I had a lot of contamination issues with my last ss job (years ago) that I never get with bc/cc…could’ve just been a fluke.