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yamaha big 4

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Jun 9, 2004
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n/w ohio
any of you ever painted the plastic parts on your sleds (side panels) do you need a special type of paint or would acrylic enamel work i have spray painted a few cars with good luck just not sure what to use a on a plastic vehicle thanks for any help
 
Every paint manufacturer has their own plastic refinishing systems, Personally i would use a basecoat clear coat system as a flex agent isnt usually required, unless it is extremely flexible. However a plastic prep (adhesion promoter) is required before paint, making the plastic more acceptable to paint. Acyrlic enamel would likely be too brittle, and more likely to peel. Just my 2 cents.Check with your paint jobber and ask what he recommends.
 
The best adhesion promoter that I have found is fusor 602. You should be able to find a body shop supplier in your area. What colour are you going to paint the side panels?
 
thanks guys i am going with blue i am painting the whole thing i have been polishing the tunnel and all the uliminum i posibly can should look pretty sharp when she is done thanks again
 
oh man where do I start

I would stay away from painting the belly pan on your sled. They have the color injected into the plastic for a reason. They take alot more beating than any plastic part on a car.All the automotive systems are designed to use on a car, not bouncing down a trail at 0 degrees. I sell three systems that are very good, but I haven't tested this on the bellypans. You need to find out what kind of plastic they are. There should be a stamp on the inside somewhere. There are a couple of plastics out there that are considered non paintable. I carry around with me a sample of a bumper cover that is TPO(a plastic that doesn't accept paint easily) that you can jump up and down on and you can't make the paint come off, knowing I have this product, I still don't want to try it on my textured belly pans. There are a host of things involved with painting raw plastic to make it a great repair. Ask any painter out there if he likes painting raw plastic, he'll say hell no, no matter what paint system he uses. If you would try to use base/clear, you would fill most of the texture imbedded in the plastic, then it just looks like a shitty paint job. Making it flexible enough isn't a problem, but some plastics are hard to get really good adhesion. Getting it super clean of all the mold release agent is critical, and it will be tough to sand the belly pan without messing up the texture in it. Also film thickness is important. The thicker it is, the LESS flexible it is. I'm rambling, but there is much to know before painting plastic.
 
thanks ridesrx for the info although i am not going to be painting the bellypan i will be doing some checking around here for some products that may work thanks again
 
I know that "ridesrx" answers alot of these paint questions for us all and that he has alot of knowledge. Maybe we can convince him to write up a "guide" and put it in the tech section of the web site?!?!

:rocks:
 
thanks chief

I'll try to get something put together. It might take me a little time. I'll do some research on which kind of plastics Yamaha is using on their sleds so I can get you guys the best info possible. Chad.
 
info needed

My buddy repaired and painted the hood on his 1996 Arctic Cat. The repair held, but the paint started to flake and peel. He used an automotive spray primer--all purpose variety. From reading the previous threads, It sounds like he needs to use a special plastic prep before painting. Is priming required before painting, or just the plastic prep? The hood does not have any type of material designation on it--I have looked. any general or specific recommendations---He and I are 1st time painters. Also, I would like to repaint the trailing arms on my 1998 sx vmax. any comments would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Dusty
 
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The best kind of paint I have found to paint plastics is a polycarbonate paint. You can get it at any hobby shop. It's used to paint lexan r/c car bodies. It's flexible and bonds to plastic really well.
 
Any paint will work. I would recommend Dupont or Sikkens. The trick is to add lots of flex agent. Thats what they use for car bumpers. It will take the cold and the paint won't crack and break real easy. I hope this helps.
 
here's some info

I believe the 96 Acrtic hoods were made of Metton. This plastic does fall into the category of slightly more difficult to paint. Usually the reason paint comes off plastic is 1) poor preparation, and 2)wrong products used through-out the system. The primer he used was probably lacquer primer from an aerosol can. This product is very brittle with less than good adhesion properties to anything, much less raw plastic. You will want to use professional refinish products for the repair, not the stuff you can buy at Wal-Mart. Go to an auto paint jobber, tell them what you are going to paint, and they will be able to sell you the right products for the job.Some plastics readily accept paint without much work like Lexan and ABS. Others don't, so you need to do good prep work, and use the correct products. You will need a plastic cleaner, and adhesion promotor, basecoat, clearcoat, and a flex agent. But only use the recommended amount of flex in the clear only ,not in the color. If you use too much flex you will run into more problems than if you didn't use it at all. It screws up the chemical cross link ratios, thereby giving you a product that doesn't cure or adhere properly. The old saying "If a little is good, alot is better." DOESN'T apply to anything in the refinish business. Call me, there's more to know, but I'm running out of room here. 563-590-3842. Chad.
 
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