1979 Laverda 1200 Mirage green???

Hi Liz

I have no idea what Tina's line of work is, but I would happily take up spray painting as shown in your post, not many beaches anywhere near where I live in Calgary, western Canada, but hey, I am game to give it a try........ :o

Paul LeClair
 
used to be a guy on the Gold Coast who had a business on Main Beach spraying people with tanning oil
was there for years, not certain if he still is, would have to be getting on in years now
not a bad business when you consider some of the lithe bodies he would have sprayed over the years
probably start getting hand shakes around the Bikini line
:D

 
well, back to the motorcycle painting projects. Some current photos attached.

I am doing the 79 1200 Laverda, and the 78 650 Kawasaki at roughly the same time.

I am just about completed all body prep/high build primer/glazing/and wet sanding to 600 grit, I have the Laverda bodywork completed, and I am just putting the final touches on the 650 sidepanels, they needed enough extra attention I will have to reprime them, then wet sand to 600 grit. I figure I have everything prepped to as good or better than factory original, especially the Kawa 650.

I am painting the Kawa 650 candy red to original specs, metallic silver base/red candy coat/several coats of clear, I have the paint, and I will probably spray tomorrow if the weather co-operates. The filtered and forced ventilation in my improvised spray booth has been working quite well so far, and I am wearing a really good organic dual stage respirator. I wish I had forced air for breathing, but oh well.....

so, I haven't been able to get a metallic Mirage green match locally, not even close..... :( Also, Andy Ebbern's Laverda 1200 local to me is in a nice muted metallic Mazda green, so I am falling away from the green idea if I can't get that screaming lizard green. I am now thinking bright metallic Porsche silver, or pearl blazing orange, or..... any and all suggestions appreciated. I am going to buy the paint for the Laverda in the next day or two, so lets hear those suggestions. The bike is presently high gloss black, and I am keeping that set of bodywork, what I am painting is a presently "spare" set of bodywork for the 1200.

Paul LeClair
 

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  Have you tried any of the hot rod suppliers Paul, I'm sure someone like House of Kolor http://www.houseofkolor.com/index.jsp  could come up with something pretty close to what you want. Got a pearl orange Mirage here at the moment, looks a bit pony to be honest.... Why not do it candy apple red? you got the paint already and just about anything looks good in candy apple red.


    Keith
 
Hi Keith

"pony", new one on me, I had to find an online slang dictionary............. :o

I have a local House of Kolor supplier, I went through their colour books, and I have identified the blazing orange pearl from their colour line, but I am a novice painter and the House of Kolor range is frankly a little intimidating. Combining one of the house of Kolor vibrant green metallics with a yellow/golden candy coat might get close to Mirage lizard green, bit it triples the price of the paint supplies with a silver metallic base, a transparent green, and a transparent yellow, as well as the clear, with no guarantees of success and a lot to go wrong with four distinct layers on top of the primer, as well as no guarantee the final result would be a close match for the Mirage green anyway.

I am shying away from the Laverda orange as well, this is a 1200 Mirage not a 1000 Jota, the spare set of bodywork I am working with was orange when I got it, and I didn't particulalrly like the way it looked on the 1200. I do love the look of the 2003 Kawasaki Z1000 in blazing orange pearl, but on second thoughts, an orange Laverda is a bit of a cliche if it is not a SFC 750 or a Jota 1000.

I have found close colour matches for both the metallic blue and the metallic red from the 78/79 1200's, and I even have a couple spare sets of the safety orange swoosh decals correct for the year of the bike left over from when I had a bunch made up for Wolfgang, but sad to tell, I don't like the coarse metallic red or the blue either, especially not the red with orange swoosh stripes......

I love the look of the 76/77 Jota 1000 in silver, gorgeous, clean and simple, but again this is a 79 1200, so I am struggling... maybe blazing banana yellow.......

for the 78 KZ 650 I have done an exact colour match for the candy red metallic from 1978, and the rest of the bike is just as retro. I see the KZ 650 as retro and quite limited mechanically, anyway, I guess I still have the perception of the 79 Laverda 1200 as a much more modern bike somehow, deserving of a more modern colour, whatever that might be.......

Paul LeClair

 
redax5 said:
used to be a guy on the Gold Coast who had a business on Main Beach spraying people with tanning oil
was there for years, not certain if he still is, would have to be getting on in years now
not a bad business when you consider some of the lithe bodies he would have sprayed over the years
probably start getting hand shakes around the Bikini line
:D
Click to expand...
That would be Al the Suntan Man, Surfers Icon, bundied off in 2004, suprisingly no-one took up the mantle

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/07/30/130030_gold-coast-history.html
 
Paul if you want something different how about a mean looking "rat 1200 look".....flat black primer/sealer maybe with some colored or carbon fiber look accents on the side panels.  Oh, I forgot your over 50, nix that. If you want a classy but sporty look then a BMW (car) like metalic silver or some of the metalic dark blues I think would go well on the large flat body parts the 1200 has.     
 
well, I bought the paint for the 79 1200....

a 2011 Ford Fiesta colour, screaming bright metallic lemony green, my interpretation of Mirage green, 33 years on!

Couldn't get it in water base, so I am spraying it in solvent base, will layer it on until I am happy, them mist a final colour coat to hopefully show off the metallics, then clear.

Saw the Budget Ford Fiesta rental car earlier today in a parking lot, looks much better in the flesh than in the attached photo. Happened to have a camera with me, went straight to the paint supplier and had a sufficient quantity mixed....

Paul LeClair
 

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solvent based is good. water based not so good
you should find out the primer color to get it closer
its not a shade i would expect to cover well

when the final colour coat is applied you can make a call if you need more metallic
you can add some to clear and spray before final clear coat
maybe a lime pearl midcoat

this one done today
dupont sunshower with a couple drops green tint added
took 4 coats for good coverage before 3 coats clear
so color sanding and buffing should really bring some depth
 

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Very nice Scott, love your work  :)
Never had any experence with water base spray paints, been spraying Acrylic Laquer, seem forever!! I like it cause of the quick drying properties. Not sure about water base just yet, maybe enviroment now has more weight than quality? I think I'll stay with Acrylics till they're no longer available.
 
Paul

    I am disappointed .

          Speak to your insurance company . ask them where they send fucked up Hondas and Kwak's...

                  Get Your stuff together Brother is Calgary really that limited ?


                                  Tim
 
The Three Dellortos said:
Paul

    I am disappointed . Speak to your insurance company . ask them where they send fucked up Hondas and Kwak's... Get Your stuff together Brother is Calgary really that limited ?
                                  Tim
Click to expand...

Hi Tim

I spent the better part of two weeks trying to colour match to that sidepanel you were kind enough to send me. As near as I can tell, Calgary really is that limited as far as paint suppliers go, unfortunately.....

Paul LeClair
 
jotacorsa said:
solvent based is good. water based not so good
you should find out the primer color to get it closer
its not a shade i would expect to cover well

when the final colour coat is applied you can make a call if you need more metallic
you can add some to clear and spray before final clear coat
maybe a lime pearl midcoat

this one done today
dupont sunshower with a couple drops green tint added
took 4 coats for good coverage before 3 coats clear
so color sanding and buffing should really bring some depth
Click to expand...

Hi Scott

the colour and quality look great, I hope to get maybe somewhere close to the quality, we`ll see..... :D If mine isn`t as good, it won`t be for lack of surface prep or trying hard!

Paul LeClair
 
not so easy to tell but i use a little bit of tape over the badge screw holes when doing all the prep work as the primer can get very thick before blocking down. now when i chase the threads with a tap it goes much easier

i meant t mention earlier on the post about your plastic booth
lay a couple plastic sheets that overlap on one side and put a slit in that wall
this way you have to walk around some flaps, sorta like a door to a darkroom
reduces dust. mist the floor and lower walls so any fine dust or overspray sticks to the dampness
try to be dust free when you go in the booth
if you want airflow rig a fan with and offset motor ... don't want fumes going into the windings and going bang
home a/c filters across from exhaust fan mist the filters, too

don't rush you want 15-20 minutes between base coats and 30-40 before the first clear
extra clear gives more material depth for color sanding to get it smooth (and remove inevitable dust)
4:1 clear gives a deeper finish. its thicker than base coat so go back to the needle used for shooting high build primer

first paint job in booth will leave overspray stuck to walls and roof
it has a tendency to separate from the plastic as it is pretty dry by the time the basecoat overspray
makes contact. use some compressed air to blow the roof and walls before the next paint job
do it over a damp floor  ;)

prep is everything. when i think the primer surface is ready i give it a coat of contrasting color and block again
it shows up all the little spots i miss
 
Thanks, Scott

just going out now (noon hour) to start spraying colour coats, it is a nice warmish day here, has warmed all the way up to about 13 -14 degrees C., although I still have the garage heaters running on high.

I have a good size box fan fitted in a frame in the plastic sheeted wall to postitive ventilate the plastic booth, with a decent quality furnace filter cleaning the air going in, a good sized venitlation outlet, and I made a sort of double layer door for the entry opening so that the only air going in is filtered air forced in by the fan. As I primered in the booth earlier in the week, last night I cleaned the booth out wih compressed air, blowing the walls and ceiling clean, then removed the original plastic sheet floor, then left the filtered air fan running all night to hopefully clear out any last few remaining particles of dust. I also laid a fresh layer of clean plastic sheet on the floor just a few minutes ago.

so, all that is left to screw up is me....... wish me luck, here goes....... ;)

Paul LeClair
 
Hi Scott

yeah, solvent and sparks aren't a good thing.

I have the box fan mounted in a wooden frame in the plastic wall, forcing air INTO the enclosure, with a furnace filter on the outside of the fan filtering the air being blown into the enclosure. As I am not sucking vaour through the fan, I think it will be all right, has been so far anyway!

I just sprayed my 3rd colour coat, everything was going really well until......the HVLP spray blew one of the Laverda sidecovers right off the support stand, and just like buttered toast, it landed on its freshly painted side on the plastic sheeting on the floor..... :o I used solvent to strip off the three fresh colour coats from the wrecked sidecover, which then of course started lifting the high build primer, so I stripped off the primer as well, gave everything a good wet sand, and I have already sprayed the first coat of high build primer and have the sidecover in the oven at present at 175 degrees F trying to accelerate the drying time.......bugger. Will need to be wet sanded again after it cures, probably will need a second coat of primer, another wet sand,etc.. before I can go back to colour spraying it.

I want to clear everything together after the same number of colour coats, so I may not be clearing until tomorrow now to give myself a chance to catch the stripped sidecover back up to the other parts :(  I may take the extra waiting time and go back to the paint supplier to by some metallic fleck to mix into the first coat or two of clear as you suggested, just for fun, we'll see...

Paul LeClair
 
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