SuzukiSavage.com - Shiny tank

LANCER

Serious Thumper
Alliance Member

Offline

Savage Beast
Performance Parts

Posts: 10606
Oklahoma
Gender: male

Shiny tank
06/29/07 at 18:30:30

I have been working on polishing the steel tank...it is a lot of work. I have put in a bunch of hours so far, trying to figure out what will work and finding out what won't, which is at least half of the time. But progress is being made. There are still some of the deep manufacture marks in it and I do not want to spend the time needed to get it perfectly polished since I just do not have the equipment required to do a professional job. So I am pretty satisfied at this point and will do a little final polish and let it go at that. The marks left in it will be considered character lines, besides, the idea I was after was like a WW2 fighter plane wing and they were not polished like a mirror.
Anyway, here is what it looks like at this point as best as I can get with my suffering camera.

Well, not only the camera but also snapfish is kind of weird today. The pic's are very poor. Sorry

Back to top

IP Logged

Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 28387 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #1 - 06/29/07 at 18:36:13 Looks nice! Is it steel or aluminum? Reminds me of my old Hodaka.
Back to top	Ludicrous Speed !... ... ... IP Logged

Fido_the_Cat Senior Member Offline " If you don't ask, They can't say no!" Posts: 300 Harrisburg PA Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #2 - 06/29/07 at 19:14:47 Doesn't quite do it justice. Can't see the wings. Is that a kind of blue tint to the tank? Expect a lot of comments with that on.
Back to top	Follow me into the twisties.... I'll wait for you on the other side. IP Logged

tuxedo Senior Member Offline medium pimpin. Posts: 275 Hot Springs, AR Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #3 - 06/30/07 at 17:33:21 that's a great idea. I'm thinking this winter I'm going to capitalize on my brother working with sheet metal geniuses and attempt to fill the speedo hole and remove the seam lips on the stock tank. I think polishing after that with a clearcoat and some airbrushing would be slick.
Back to top	I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world. 86 Savage IP Logged

justin_o_guy

Ex Member

Re: Shiny tank
Reply #4 - 06/30/07 at 18:16:56

In the Wildguzzi forum ther was a guy last year who sliced both sides off a tank & ran a strip O metal all the way around, widening it.Made a big difference in volume & he did a class job of it. Looked factory.This tank could be sliced horizontally & do that, then get it stable & cut it the other way. It would make a good sized tank then. You know, take something slim & trim, add an inch here, add an inch there, pretty soon, we look like tanks.

Back to top

IP Logged

LANCER

Serious Thumper
Alliance Member

Offline

Savage Beast
Performance Parts

Posts: 10606
Oklahoma
Gender: male

Re: Shiny tank
Reply #5 - 06/30/07 at 20:11:49

Yep, the tank is steel.
I do not have the WW2 style decals on it yet, that will be the last thing I do. Finish the polish, clearcoat and then apply decals.
There is no blue tint, that is just a bit of a reflection.

When working on the tank it is easy to get drawn into the minute detail of every little line, and polish and polish and polish. Well, for me anyway.
But when you back away from the tank even just a few feet it is virtually impossible to see the imperfections, and I believe that with a final polish and then the clearcoat (2 or 3 applications) it should really shine & glow.

I really like working with the metal and seeing the changes. It is amazing how much plain steel can be polished. If I had the time and good equipment/supplies, it could look every bit as bright as a super chrome job but with a slightly different luster/color.

It is fun.

Back to top

IP Logged

justin_o_guy

Ex Member

Re: Shiny tank
Reply #6 - 07/01/07 at 06:05:58

Yea, Lancer, knowing when to call it good enough is real hard. I've worked with people who didnt get "drawn in" to the little imperfections & work to fix them. They do shoddy work. Doesnt matter what kind of work is being done, details are always there. Those who ignore them get on my nerves. But, there is a place in a project to say" Good enough".In neurosurgery, its when its perfect. On a gas tank, well, you be the judge. Looks great from here.

Back to top

IP Logged

LANCER Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Savage Beast Performance Parts Posts: 10606 Oklahoma Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #7 - 07/01/07 at 07:32:26 I was not pleased with the way the pic's turned out ... before I tried to put them on this site ... they just do not show the tank the way it really looks. Even at this moderately rough stage there is real depth in the shine.
Back to top	IP Logged

Savage_Rob

Serious Thumper
Alliance Member

Offline

Mechanically
Inclined Amateur

Posts: 6972
Texas (Dallas area)
Gender: male

Re: Shiny tank
Reply #8 - 07/01/07 at 09:27:29

LANCER wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07:

I was not pleased with the way the pic's turned out ... before I tried to put them on this site ... they just do not show the tank the way it really looks. Even at this moderately rough stage there is real depth in the shine.

With the images being 96x72 pixels, it seems like maybe you've linked to the thumbnails instead of the actual full-size images.

Back to top

IP Logged

LANCER Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Savage Beast Performance Parts Posts: 10606 Oklahoma Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #9 - 07/01/07 at 11:29:38 Savage_Rob wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:07: With the images being 96x72 pixels, it seems like maybe you've linked to the thumbnails instead of the actual full-size images. Yep, I was trying to get the full size but at the time my snapfish page would not bring up the full size so I just went with the thumbs as a last resort.
Back to top	IP Logged

LANCER

Serious Thumper
Alliance Member

Offline

Savage Beast
Performance Parts

Posts: 10606
Oklahoma
Gender: male

Re: Shiny tank
Reply #10 - 07/02/07 at 21:56:45

Man, it is hard to get a good picture of this thing. At least this time I was able to get the proper size pic from snapfish to this site.
Anyway, this is the best I could do for now.
I decided that I am going to polish some more. I brought it with me to my daughters place and we will be here all week so I will just polish my little heart out and whatever it looks like at the end of tlhe week is the way it will be. When we get home it will be clearcoated and then the WW2 star decals go on....fini !

This is the way it started out ...

And now ...

Back to top

IP Logged

Savage_Rob Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Mechanically Inclined Amateur Posts: 6972 Texas (Dallas area) Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #11 - 07/03/07 at 05:45:53 I like that look... almost as much as flat black!
Back to top	1998\|MAC muffler\|ceramic coated header\|K&N air filter\|Amal Mk2 carb\|Odyssey battery\|iridium plug\|NC windshield\|Dunlop 491s\|Superbrace\|EBC brake rotor\|12.5" Progressive shocks\|Kuryakyn ISO grips IP Logged

vroom1776 Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 2110 Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #12 - 07/03/07 at 07:30:01 wow! good work!
Back to top	IP Logged

jkhulon73 Ex Member	Re: Shiny tank Reply #13 - 07/03/07 at 09:10:47 After stripping one of the side covers for my bike, I think I changed my mind about actually painting it... I really like that look.
Back to top	IP Logged

LANCER Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Savage Beast Performance Parts Posts: 10606 Oklahoma Gender:	Re: Shiny tank Reply #14 - 07/03/07 at 11:02:36 I am really liking the polished bare metal, and it is fun to work on. It does take a lot of time but watching the look of the metal change is during the process is the fun part.
Back to top	IP Logged