I started on my replacement tank today and thought the proccess might be of interest.
I gave up my spray equipment years ago and dont do enough to warrent buying it again so, I have my methods for achieving decent paint work with rattle cans, there are very few spray paints which can hold up to even the slightest exposure to gas, I found a couple clearcoats that will.
I Started by repairing a ding in the tank and wet sanding the entire tank with 220, this is a new tank with solid paint so its not necessary to remove the old paint. I built a quick ficture to hold the tank, this is important especially later when pulling tape.



I use high build primer to fill minor imperfections and sanding scratches, availible at Walmart



Spray the entire tank and then wet sand with 400 untill no imperfections show when the tank is wet, I also taped off the filler neck right down to the tank surface, i will only tape the top edge for the clearcoat ,this is so when the clear goes on it will seal the edge of the underlying color coats.



Now is the time to clean the tank with warm clear water, let dry completly , use a tack rag right before the base color and then paint the base, in this case black acrylic lacqure, ( my spelling is terrible    )





Notice my paint area is a dirt floor garage, some floaters will land in the paint but it will turn out in the end.

After allowing this to dry for 2 hours I use " Fineline tape" to lay out the design. it is important to start t one side and work your way around to the other side, each peice of tape should start overlaping the previous peice, this way when you start to pull the tape from the original starting place it will lift the edge of the next peice making it easy to get ahold of.





now that the outline is done time to mask it off, take your time , do the edges first then fill in the middle so again when you pull tape it is layed to come off as one peice.





once its all taped off use the contrasting color and spray just enough to get
it a consistant color, you dont want to build up paint here as a hard line will show later



A word about spray cans here, NEVER hold the can over your work , a bad spray nozzle will drool paint all over your work



So, now the fun part, emmediatly start pulling the fine line tape from your original starting point



remover the making tape as you go from the area , you will notice the fineline I just pulled is under the next peice so I can easily get the next peice started without digging a fingernail into the base coat.





Tape removed , time to let it dry , I had perfect 75 degree temps and low humidity today so I let it dry for 4 hours , over night would be better.





Now the part that makes the work worth it , I wiped down the tank with a tack rag and sprayed the clear, its important to keep the coats just completely wet but light and build up each coat, think about how to go around the tank so as little overspray for one area lands on an area just done. I keep going to let any overspray kinda melt into the wet areas, remember you want the clear to cover the edge of the color coats at the filler neck, the clear is the only gas protection.









Any imperfections I can rub out by hand after the tank cures for several weeks , most of the time it just isnt neccesary. the mild orange peel will lay down as it drys.

I'll post a pic of it on the bike in a couple days , I am happy with the results and feel anyone can achieve respectable results.

"D"

So here is the result , not too bad considering.





The new and the old rusted out tank.



Good thing I posted pics before going for a ride, just noticed I forgot to hook up the speedo cable

Wow... you would never know that was a rattle can job. Excellent work! I was told not to do this because spray paint and clear coat doesn't hold up to gas spillage. The engine enamel you used will hold up to it?

I tested this clear and also helmsman clear spar urathane for gas resistance with good results, gas doesnt seem to effect it although I dont plan on leaving gas on it for extended periods.

orange peel would need to be wet sanded with 1200 however this grey I used is metallic and the edges would change to silver if wet sanded, applying very thin but wet coats limits the orange peel, there is virtually no orange peel showing after the clearcoat cured and for my purposes this job is good enough with no color sanding or buffing or rubbing out involved.

Keep in mind this was inexpencive and quick to do, I dont expect it to last like a Paintshop job but my mountain bikes still look great after a couple years.

Wouldn't marine epoxy work?

Denise, do you have any reason to think Plasti-Kote Clear Gloss engine enamel you used is any more gas resistant than Duplicolor Clear Gloss engine enamel?

Do you think the engine enamel gets more gas resistant as it cures more fully over a few weeks?

I've just been real disappointed with the clear gloss from any rattle can when it comes to gas resistance.

Denise wrote on 11/29/12 at 07:56:44:


About three or four days after I had put the final coat of Duplicolor Clear Gloss Engine paint on the tank, I spilled several drops of gas on it while filling up the tank.  (on RYCA bikes you fill the tank OFTEN)  I blotted it with a paper towel immediately, but there were dull, raised spots, with some paper towel lint stuck to it.  I let it stay that way for a week to let it get hard, then lightly sanded with 3000 wet, and rubbed it out.  It looks okay, but I sure do want some sort of a long-term solution to the problem.

So, per your comment, I should let the topcoat dry for several weeks to see if it is anymore resistant.

I think I'll do some scrap pieces with color and clear coats, and experiment with them.  I'll do up four samples.  I'll let one dry for a week, one for a month, one for two months, and one for four months.  At each of those time intervals, I'll put a little gas on them and see what happens.

I'm real careful when fueling now, too.  I got some naugahyde, cut out a 12x12 inch piece, and cut a hole in it that is slightly smaller than the gas fill opening.  When I gas up, I slip that piece over the filler, and it stretches just a bit for a tight fit.  The idea is to keep any drops from getting on the paint.  So far it works well, but I am so paranoid about getting any gas on the paint, I have not had any "accidents" at all since the previous problem.

Have you ever tried SprayMax 2k?

http://www.spraymax.com/index.php?id=361&L=1


,

Denise wrote on 11/30/12 at 08:18:18:


No, i am not familiar with it, I'll look into it at some point though.

Building up the turtle wax "Ice" seems t work well for me. [/quote]

You responded before I had a chance to correct my mistake.  Spraymax 2k, not spraytek.