Thread: 2 questions

Hey, it's a rainy Saturday so i figured I'd finally ask these 2 questions.

1. I have a 1972 k1 that has a few scratches here and there that I have been able to deal with for a long time. Now they are bugging me a bit, so I went on dratv (where i usually buy my parts) and looked for some candy yellow touch up paint pens. Unfortunately they had every color except for candy yellow. and i don't want to buy the 130$ paint can for a few scratches. Anyone know where I can get some candy yellow touch up paint, or something VERY close to it?

2. This question is also for my k1. As you know, the k1's never came with turn signals, but now i really would like to get some for it. I know dratv has those too, but im just wondering if there is any easier alternative?

Touching up candy colors is a nightmare job, at best. Even newly-applied paint is an absolute bastage to touch-up, using paint from the same batch. That's for someone skilled with an airbrush. Some colors are tougher than others to get a seamless blend. Light colors, gold in particular, border on impossible. You're dealing with the worst of all possible worlds and in 36 year old faded laquer, to boot. I've yet to see a CT70 touch up job that didn't look worse than the scratched original candy finish. If $130 seems expensive, get a quote from an experienced pro and you'll know why precious few successful repairs of this type are ever done, even on custom cars.

Still not discouraged? Here's what you'll need:

• Silver metallic basecoat. Candy colors are transparent, sprayed over the metallic.
• Candy yellow midcoat - this is tough, since the original color is faded to some degree and the final color is developed through multiple thin coats of color. You're going to need paint that's at least compatible with the OEM laquer, which is hard to find at this late date.
• Clear top coat...true seat-of-the-pants flying. Your bike is basecoat/top coat. However, once you get the color blended, the scratch will likely still remain. Clear, applied over the repair will level-out the recessed area enough to allow you to colorsand and polish the repair for an invisible blend.

I've only covered the easy parts of the process. The hands-on part is where things go from tricky to fiendishly difficult and there's no going back if you make a mistake. You might try repairing a similar scratch on a normally hidden area of the frame before diving into this project with both feet. An ultra-fine brush might suffice for a sharply-defined scratch, but candy base & mid coats are usually water-thin and hard to control with a brush. This is highly exacting, completely unforgiving, work.

Motorcycle Paint :: Touch Up, Aerosol & Refinish Paint - ColorRite
1/2oz paint pens 15.00

Haha yeah, I had a feeling candy was going to be a pain in the neck to do, but the scratches are not so severe that I have to get rid of them, i am probably the only person who notices them

In just the right instances, a touch-up pen might work out okay. (With non-candy colors, particularly solids, they can work wonders.) Just remember to get the surface properly prepped (no traces of rust, oil or dirt remaining) and to first apply the correct silver basecoat. Without the metallic base, the color will look more like a dirty/shiny spot at best. This type of touch-up requires zero overlap, the touch-up paint & base must be contained within the scratch itself. I'd either live with the chips/scratches or redo the entire frame set. But, if you're really itching to try this, at least do a test repair someplace inconspicuous like the reverse side of the chain guard. That way, if the results are typical (awful) no one will ever know and you'll avoid making the problem worse. If you turn out to be a paint-repair magician, then nothing lost with the practice session.