Willie's Paint Tips
Willie Woo has been a significant influence in the custom motorcycle and paint world for the last 21 years. He is currently writing a Paint Tip column for the well known Florida publication, Southern Biker. Southern Biker Magazine serves the Custom Motorcycle enthusiast. Presented below are some sample articles.
June 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
O.K Hotshot ! So you've decided to paint your bike. You bought it, you rode it, you had it awhile and now you want to make it your special ride. Assuming you have all your billet shit and new doodads on the bike and its running strong the way you want it, it's time to put the icing on the cake.
That's right, its time to paint the Bitch. Now comes the big questions: 1. What kind of paint do I want to use. 2. How long do I want it to last me. 3. Am I painting it to sell or to keep it.
The answer to the 3rd question will give you the answer to the other two. If your painting it to sell, then any clean, single color paint job will do you pretty well. If your painting it to keep, then you have a bunch of other questions to answer. 1. Do want the bike to look low-key clean and simple, eye-bulging radical to the max or somewhere in between. 2. Do you want go with solid colors (just what it says), candies (they are transparent colors and their final appearance will depend on the color underneath them), metallics (are solid colors with metallic particles suspended in the paint), pearls (they flash a iridescent colored finish resembling pearls), flakes (large or small metallic flakes that you add to colors or clear, usually shot in clear over colors), flames (either traditional red, orange and yellow or any damn colors you desire), fades (horizontal fades make the bike look longer and lower. Vertical fades work the opposite), scallops (start from a solid in the front and come backwards to a point, can be large, medium or small), panels (contrasting colors separated by a sharp line or stripe) or ribbons (flowing stripes that resemble ribbons blowing in the wind, any size any shape any combination of colors your little heart desires). Next month … "Planning the Paint Scheme". Keep your rubber on the ground and your knees in the wind. Luv "N" Stuff, Uncle Willie.
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July 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang! Hope you all had a really great 4th ! We're talking about planning your paint scheme. A lot of you say " I don't know what I want." I say whenever you go on a run or to your favorite motorcycle shop, you always see a bike or two you like. I'm not saying to pirate a paint job someone else has, but it's fine if you see a color you really like, to plan on using that for a base coat.
Do you like the all time old favorite flames? Nothing wrong there. You can always go with traditional red, orange and yellow, or you can get creative and go with any combination of colors you want., it's up to you.
A single set of flames will always brighten up a bike. You can get crazy if you want and have your painter (or yourself) do two, three or more overlays of different color flames. They can be big, medium, or small flames. Usually, the more overlays you're going to have, the smaller you'll want the flames. You can go mild to wild with flames. Once when I was in Daytona, a guy had me paint his bike with flames that went from the rear of the bike to the front, and it looked good (but weird). In other words, whatever you want to make you happy. Till next month… Ride Safe - Be Free ! Uncle Willie.
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August 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang! Well before we talk about paint, I would just like to say good-bye to a really great guy. As you know by now, we lost Dick Britt. He was a real standup guy and will be missed by those lucky enough to have known him. My deepest condolences to his family.
Now lets' talk about scallops. Scallops are similar to flames, except their straight. Usually you want to place them in a balanced sequence. They are generally harder to do than flames. Flames can go anywhere and they don't have to be symmetrical if you don't want them to be. Scallops on the other hand usually look best when they are symmetrical. Generally, if you lay your scallops out properly, they tend to make the bike look longer. If done properly, they can really bring a bike to life.
If you've never painted before, and you want to do the job yourself, I'd suggest you practice laying out your scallops out on the bike with 1/8" paper masking tape first, instead of expensive blue, fine-line plastic tape. It's a lot easier and cheaper to change your mind with the paper tape than to have to scrap the paint job and start all over again. Also, 1/8" masking tape is cheap and you can afford to try several ideas before you decide which one you like best. Take a photo of each one so you can compare them and do the one that looks best. Till next month, live, love and laugh ... Uncle Willie.
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September 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang:
This month’s column is about some of the "Nuts and Bolts" of painting. We’ve talked about colors, designs and such, this time we’ll talk some about the most important thing in painting. If you don’t do this, then all the best , most expensive, highest quality materials (paint, primers, blue masking tape, etc.) won’t get you anywhere.
This thing I’m talking about is simply proper preparation for painting. Preparation is getting the surface of the material we want to paint ready to accept and hold the paint securely. I can’t stress strongly enough to you that the better the prep, the better the final finish and the longer the paint job will last.
There are a lot of shortcuts that you can take in painting, but the one part of the job you NEVER, EVER shortcut is the initial prep work. I swear to you it will come back to haunt you. Nothing (almost) feels worse than to spend 3 or 4 hundred dollars on materials and supplies and 20 or 30 (or more) man hours on a paint job only to have it fail on you hours, days or a few weeks later, because of a "shortcut" you took to speed up the job. Did you ever notice how you NEVER have enough time to do the job right the first time, but you always have enough time to do it right the second time?
Next month we’ll talk about the different primers and thinners that are available, how they differ and which ones we want to use. Till then -- Ride Free! -- Be Happy! -- and Keep Smiling!
Uncle Willie.
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October 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang:
Well it’s hard to believe, but another month has gone by. Hope yours’ was great! This month we’re going to talk about primers. There are many different kinds, but we’re only going to talk about those that best lend themselves to painting our bikes. The basic purpose of primer is to hold the paint to it. Primer holds to the bare metal and bonds better than paint alone. There are 5 types of primers that we will talk about:
1. Lacquer primer- a good all around primer, but one that I’d recommend against using unless you’re just painting the bike to unload it. Under good paint it will keep shrinking and chances are 6 months down the road, any body work underneath will start to show through the paint.
2. Enamel primer- good choice for all around painting, slow drying and smells terrible.
3. Urathane primer-The best all around primer you can use. They are hi-build (means they fill minor sand scratches and defects in your surface prep), but they ARE NOT substitutes for good body work. If used over bare steel, you must use a self-etching primer first, like vareprime. Most urathane primers are cured and ready to paint in about 2-3 hours.
4. Self-etching primer- It has acids in it that burn into the bare metal and hold it on. Most of these can also be top-coated (with a urathane primer or paint) in about 2 hours. I usually use them by themselves when I’m painting something that has a perfect surface as they don’t fill too good.
5. Epoxy primer- Is the last primer I’m going to speak about. It’s the best there is for filling, toughness and long life. The draw backs are that you have to wait longer periods of time for them to fully cure. Once they are cured fully though, they’re almost bullet proof.
There are many other types of primers on the market, but they are specialty primers for certain things like zinc chromate for aluminum, etc. That’s about it for this month gang. Ride Safe and Free! Uncle Willie.
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November 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang:
Well, Biketoberfest ’97 is over and it was really great. We went up to Daytona and saw old friends and made a couple new ones too ! I just want to start by saying a special thanks to the Great Bartenders at the Boot Hill, especially to Red, Frank, Tom Terrific, Noodles and to the ever lovely Miss Karen! See them all again this coming Bikeweek!
For you brave souls out there who are getting ready to paint your own motorcycles, here are some pointers for before, during and after you paint.
1st: CLEAN. The first thing you do before anything else after you’ve taken the bike down is WASH everything, inside and outside. Use a good strong detergent / degreaser and all the parts to be painted. After the wash, dry off the pieces and then wipe them down with a good grease/wax remover (like prep-sol, pre-kleeno, ect.).
The one thing we really want to avoid is getting contaminants sanded into the piece which might give us trouble later when it might come up through the paint or make the paint over it react in some way.
2nd: Make sure you have all the basic supplies and materials on hand that your going to need to dot the job.
If you don’t know everything you’re going to need, a pretty good place to get a basic list is your friendly local auto-paint /auto-body supply house. They’ll be happy to tell you what you‘ll need depending on the paint system your using (Deltron, Cromer base, Imron, etc., ect.).
3rd: Go with the best quality materials you can afford.
4th: If it don’t come out good the first time, DON’T ever be afraid to strip it down and start all over. I guaranty your 2nd paint job will be better, and so on and on. The only difference between an amateur and a professional is that the pro has more mistakes and now knows what to avoid.
5th: Be consistent. Start with one piece and work that piece for each operation. Don’t jump from one piece to another. I usually start at one end of the bike and work each piece from that end to the other end.
6th: Clean as you go. You will be amazed at how much dirt you can get out of a motorcycle paint job. Also, working clean is good for your head as well as getting the best results. Most common paint problems are directly related to dirt (lumps, specks, etc.).
Anyhow --- next month we’ll continue from here. Till then --- Have Fun --- Stay Safe. Uncle Willie.
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December 1997
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang:
Hope your Holidays were happy and fun! I wish you all Health, Prosperity and Joy in the New Year!! Well, we’re finally ready to paint. It’s been a long haul for us, but we’re not going to start painting our ride yet. We’ve learned about our different kinds of paints, thinners, reducers and additives, as well as our different types of fillers and spot putties. We know about our papers for masking and our different kind of tapes. We’ve learned what’s compatible with what. We’ve sure learned a lot about paint.
There’s only one small problem now. You see, shooting paint is kind of like shooting pool. You can read all the books, watch the "how-to" videos, but until you get on the table with a cue in your hands and start shooting, you ain’t ever gonna be good at shooting pool. Painting’s the same. Until you practice with the gun, practice your stroke, your overlap, and start to get the physical act of painting down, you’ll never be able to paint. A pro makes it look easy (and it is to him). It’s not so easy when you first start. I’m not trying to scare you away, I’m just letting you know what your in for.
You’ve got your bike pieces prepped, primed and ready to get painted. STOP. Don’t use your pieces to practice on for your first paint job. Paint goes on easy, but it comes off hard after it dries. Practice first. Go down to your friendly body shop and ask the owner or shop foreman if you can have an old door or hood or fender they’ve replaced to practice on. They’ll usually give you something free gladly to get rid of it. If you can’t do that for some reason, get some large cardboard boxes and some 1 gal. milk containers to practice on. Go to the automotive paint supply and they usually have "seconds" which are colors that were mixed wrong or just not picked up and are on sale very cheap. Get the same type (not color) of the paint you will be shooting the bike with. I mean if your going to using lacquer, buy a lacquer second. If your using acrylic enamel, buy a second of acrylic enamel, etc. Get the proper reducer or thinner and mix and reduce your paint according to manufacturer’s directions. Fill your cup with the proper reduced or thinned paint and your ready to practice. Always wear an approved spray mask respirator. Your lungs will thank you for it.
If your shooting lacquer, you’ll want to shoot it very thin. Be careful though, the thinner the paint, the easier it is to run. If you mix your paint too thick, it will go on rough and sandy to the touch. Lacquer is best shot in thin multiple coats. Don’t try for full coverage in one or two heavy coats. Shoot multiple coats and bring your coverage up gradually. That way you control how deep your color is and also keep from running your paint. Always allow at least 15 minutes flash time between coats.
With enamels, if you want to minimize sags, lightly dust the first coat on and walk away for about 15 minutes to let it tack up. Don’t worry about complete hiding. Your second, third and fourth coats will take care of that. After the tack coat is ready, the next few color coats should go on medium wet. Always let each coat flash before re-coating or you will visit "sag city" and it ain’t a pretty place!
Shooting paint isn’t easy at first, but with a little practice you can get pretty good at it in a relatively short time. We’ll talk about gun handling next time. Till then --- Ride Safe --- Uncle Willie.
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January 1998
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang:
First of all, we went to Phil Peterson’s Anniversary party and it was great! I saw a whole slew of old friends and had a really great time. Thanks Phil, and many more of the same!
Also, I’m happy to say that this month is my first anniversary back here in South Florida since returning from living in Daytona. I just want to give a big heartfelt Thank You to all my Friends and Clients who have supported me this past year. Again, Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!
O.K., You’ve prepped, primed and finally shot your pride and joy with the paint of your choice. The paint’s dried/cured by now and it really looks great. The color’s are bright and vibrant, your; lines are crisp and sharp and all of your pieces are shiney. You’re finished, right? WRONG! Here’s where you make or break your paint job.
All paints will dry/cure with some sort of texture in them. The enamels are the worst, especially the catalized types. We call this texture "Orange Peel", because it looks like the texture on the skin of an orange. If you leave the orange peel, you will also leave the little "narfs"(my name for them). These are the little dust and dirt specks that land in the wet paint and are trapped in it when it dries. Also, the orange peel will never allow you to have the glass-like, mirror image shine you know you want to have on your motorcycle.
For the next and final operations in your paint job, you’re going to have to wet sand and buff your paint job. Don’t be afraid to try. It’s not hard to do.
First of all, you’ll need a bucket of clean water with a little liquid detergent in it. Some guy’s use a hose with a trickle of water running out. I prefer the bucket method for a couple of reasons. First of all you can put the liquid detergent in, second, you conserve water and third it’s not half as messy as using the hose.
The detergent keeps the wet sandpaper from clogging , it also washes away any oil or grease from your skin on the parts you’re working on and reduces the drag on the sandpaper as you’re using it.
The next thing you’re going to need is the proper grit of wet sandpaper. For color sanding the roughest paper I use is 1200 grit. I use that to cut down the ridges that separate the colors from the designs. Remember, you can’t cut down the colors or the design by sanding directly on it or you will wreck it. That’s why you shoot 7 to 10 coats of clear over them before sanding. You sand the clear, not the color.
Now, use the 1200 to cut down the ridges you can feel in the clear. (HINT: watch the color of the residue coming off the part being sanded. No matter what color is underneath it, the clear will always come off as milky white. Colors without clear over them will always have a residue that is the same color as the paint.) Once you can’t feel the ridges anymore, sand the whole piece with 1500 grit wet paper. Be careful. Even though 1200 and 1500 grit papers are very fine ,they are still abrasives and if you’re not careful they will cut thru the paint and then you have to start retouching and repairing.
It’s a lot easier to be very careful ,sand slow, use lots of rinse water to see what you’re doing and avoid breaking through the paint than to have to deal with it if you do. Also if you’re new to painting, you won’t know how to spot and blend the paint. That means to repair the job you’re going to have to resand the entire piece and repaint it. BUMMER.
Well gang, next month we’ll finish this final phase and then you can put it all together ,jump on your pride and joy and profile for days!!!!!!!!!!!!! ’Till then, Hope you enjoyed Daytona and Bike Week’98. Your Friend, Uncle Willie.
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March 1998
Painting Tricks By Willie Woo
Hi Gang. Well, here we are, finally ready to finish our pride and joy. We’ve got our bucket of soapy water, our 1200-1500 wet paper and painted pieces to sand. I personally just sit on a chair and hold the work piece in my lap. It’s messy, but I’ve been doing it that way for years and old habits are hard to break. Or to make things easy on yourself, get a small table, put an old blanket over it to protect your new finish while you’re working it. You can do it anyway that floats your boat. Remember what I told you in another article. Start at one end of the piece and work from there towards the other end. Also, be careful when sanding high spots or "crowns" such as fender ridges, or the bottom edges of the fenders. That’s where you’ll usually break through the paint and then the fun starts all over again for you.
Lay the piece on the blanket, let the sandpaper soak in the soapy water for about 10 minutes before you start to use it. It will keep the paper from clogging up as fast. Hold the work piece steady with one hand and use the other hand to sand. A good idea for you is to get a sanding pad and wrap you paper around that. Until you learn how to sand properly, if you don’t use a pad, you’ll have a tendency to use your fingertips on the paper the most, and that’s not the hot ticket for color sanding.
When you start to sand, try to sand in one direction only. Don’t cross sand (in one direction and then across that at a 90 degree angle) or you will have a real fun time trying to buff out the sand scratches. When color sanding, all you want to do is take out the "narfs", and also, to get rid of the texture (orange peel) on the cured/dry paint. You want the flattest surface you can get to give you the highest gloss when you buff after sanding. That’s all this is about. Getting the highest gloss or the best shine. You’ll find that color-sanding is as exciting as watching a glacier race down a valley (average speed is 1/8 to ¼ inch per year). Just be patient and do it. After it’s over, you’ll forget how boring it was and really enjoy all the compliments you’ll get from all the different people who like the finished product. Just take it slow and easy and you won’t have a problem.
O.K. the color-sanding is finally finished (Thank God) and you’re wet (soaked is a better description) and your fingers are all soggy like when they’re in water too long, and if you used a polyurethane paint maybe the finger tips are bleeding a little from having the skin sanded off (no kidding), now it’s time to buff. Now if you don’t have a buffer (air or electric), then you’re either going to have to compound by hand (a bummer and a ton of hard work), or after you finish/color sand the pieces, you’re going to have to visit your friendly body shop again (where you got the old fender, hood, etc. to practice on), and have them buff for you. If you’re going to buff yourself, then I suggest you get a friend to help you by holding the piece while you buff. I do it myself, but I’ve been buffing a long time. Hell, even now, every once in a while, I have a piece get caught on the old buffer and get tossed across the shop (very bad for the finish AND my attitude for the rest of the day!).
When buffing tanks, I start at the rear top of the tank. Be very careful buffing by the tank mounting tabs. That buffer is turning about 1200-1400 RPM and when it catches a tab, it’ll really supprise you. On the fenders, you always want the direction of the rotation going towards the edge of the fender so that it doesn’t catch an edge. On a plastic piece you can instantly break a chunk out of it. Wear protective eye gear when buffing. The compound goes all over the place and burns like hell when it gets in your eyes. Don’t try to put a lot of pressure on the buffer, you’ll be amazed at how fast you can burn the paint. Lacquer paint is the hardest to buff right, because it burns so easily. I strongly suggest that you all just stay away from lacquer completely, but if you don’t believe me, have a go at it anyway! As you buff, you’ll see a super shine magically appearing on the dull color-sanded area. Keep buffing until you have a real gloss. Only practice and experience will get you good at buffing.
After you have your gloss and compounding is over, the final step is to glaze your paint. Don’t panic - it’s just another compound you apply with the buffer to get rid of the swirls left from the 1st buff. You just apply the glazing compound and buff it into the paint with a glazing pad. When that’s finished, wipe everything down with clean, soft rags, stand back and admire yourself in that shine. Till Later! Uncle Willie.
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