As people who have read previous posts on this blog are aware of, I’m trying to respray my 1996 Honda CB500 to make it look a bit less aged. You might imagine that if I repaint the body panels and make them look all shiny and new, the rest of the bike will look even more old and shabby in comparison. So it is important to consider repainting the engine casing and the exhaust.
Now what type of paint can you use on such components?
While researching this project, I came across a forum on MSN Groups dedicated entirely to Honda CB500′s. Unfortunately, since then MSN Groups closed down and all that valuable information was lost forever… But I do remember reading some posts from people who wanted to repaint their engine or exhaust and the prevalent opinion seemed to be just walking into Halfords and picking up:
1. Extra High Temperature Paint (comes in a rattle can)
2. Plastikote BBQ Paint (also a rattle can)
Since both components tend to get quite hot while riding, it is vital to use a paint that can stand such temperatures. If you don’t, you may end up spoiling your brand new paint by having it flake off or discolour due to the heat.
For your engine, if you would like to match the original colour, Aluminium seems to be the shade of choice (In Extra High Temperature paint). Now I don’t know for sure if my engine is still the original colour or not, since it looks like it has been painted at least once or twice, judging from the flaking. However, it seems worth a shot, as I like the shade shown on the cap of the spray can. So I think I’ll try that out in the near future, when I get a weekend of dry weather.
High Temperature paint comes in many other colours too though. You could get matte black for your exhaust, or even Red if you’re daring!
For my exhaust, I’d like to stick with what it is now (sort of) – Black. And since people seemed to have a high opinion of the BBQ Paint I mention above; I’m highly tempted by the promise of a satin black finish that will hopefully last a while. The advantage of going with a satin finish rather than matte black, is that apparently matte black paint can rub off at times. Also, hopefully it will be easier to keep clean if it’s satin paint.
Painting the exhaust seems less straightforward. At this point I am not sure if the downpipes can (or should) be painted also. They are quite rusty an flaky, and one cannot be certain if they would survive a good sanding. Perhaps I’ll just have to put some anti rust treatment on them and hope for the best…
The exhaust itself is not in a great shape either; there is a small hole in it somewhere as well as some rust & scuffs. Since I’ll have to spray paint this, it also needs to come off the bike somehow, and the bolts are totally rusty. I foresee plenty of problems trying to open those bolts…
So the action plan is as follows:
- Try to take above mentioned bike parts off without damaging anything (like bolts, brackets, or the parts themselves of course).
- Sand off the scuffs, rust and loose paint until I have a fairly smooth surface to work with. This may be impossible on the downpipes, so I’m aiming for at least the exhaust can itself.
- Use Hammerite Rust treatment on all rust which could not be sanded off.
- Give everything 2-3 coats of BBQ Paint, or keep going until an even finish is achieved – Sanding inbetween coats to smooth out any dripping or bubbling paint and to prevent flaking of the paint.
If anybody has any suggestions regarding repainting engines and exhausts, I’d be very grateful!
Nice article – can I suggest a piece on chroming vs polishing. I’ve heard lots of horror stories about expensive chrome jobs flaking after just a few months so I’ve gone for mirror polishing. The difference between “Show Chrome”, “Triple Chrome” and “Polishing” vs “Mirror Polishing” is immense and its really difficult to find suppliers you can trust as most want the parts sent to them for pricing.
What are the pros and cons of each? What should you look for in a good supplier? Which parts are better suited to polishing rather than chroming and why?
Hi David, welcome back! That is an interesting topic indeed… Just one issue; I know next to nothing about chrome! I’ll try finding some information on the topic, although I’ve generally stuck to writing about stuff I’m involved with myself, or at least plan to do in the near future.
Could you shed some light on your own experience with mirror polishing? If I cannot share my own personal experience in a post, I’d like to at least incorporate somebody else’s!
it’s been a year and i see no more post since last year.So Ill leave ya one.howd the project come out?Im rectifying 2 bikes currently. 78 cb550k and my 2nd wife 85 v65 1100 saber. theres a looong story bout the saber i could talk about fer hours. but ill keep it simple. i took it into a local machanic he stripped the threads out of 1 hole on the lower case block said he couldnt do anything for me.orig he was gonna put oil mod kit cam chain tensioner and a performance undercut transmission and clean my carbs.i bought the parts his labor was 880.00.i got her on my 34 b day may 8 last year. he did his work. and i picked up my bike in peices.had to buy 5 totes to carry the 250 lb motor home. i was crushed oh and by the way it was on the 8th when i picked her up.but im convinced all things happen fer a reason. and im gonna completly restore her.and gonna do alot of the work body wise my self i gotta neibor thats a pretty good wrench to help with the mechanical stuff cause i stink at that.but i found a parts bike thats had all the mechanical stuff done that i wanted to do i just gotta swap the motor.and a few other things that look a little better than whats on my saber. the cb 550k is just about done.ill keep you posted on the saber if your still out there peace from michigan.
Hiya, sounds like quite a project you have on your hands – do you have a blog? My plans pretty much fell to pieces, we couldn’t get engine issues sorted after numerous trips to the mechanic and in the end my hubby decided he needed a reliable bike to commute to work every day and we traded the Honda in.. So I’m left with a bunch of parts off Ebay and no bike to fit them onto
Anyway, you know how life is.. too many things to do, too little time. So at the moment there is no project, but maybe in time I’ll be able to start something new and post something useful again…
H
“I finally fitted the lovely Akrapovic Evolution Titanium full race system on my Kawasaki ZX-6R 2005. And let me say, I spent a sweaty Saturday fitting a Power Commander which was then followed by the Akra system. It all went easily enough, the time consuming bit of fitting a Power Commander is getting the connectors off the injectors. The effect One hundred and eighteen horsepower, measured at the rear tyre on Carbonteks Fuchs dyno, a gain of 6.2bhp over stock. Six horse power doesnt sound like much for your 1200. But theres a weight saving the Akra weighs just 4.6kg in total versus 10.3kg for stock. It goes without saying that theres a lovely yowl from the Akrapovic. As far as i’m concerned, it’s Akra or nothing.
Akrapovic Exhausts