I am planning on painting the rear rack, front bumper, etc. on my old honda fourtrax. Has anybody ever done that in the past? (duh) I am wondering if it is worth it to prime the old parts or just paint. Also, if I am gonna remove surface rust, what is the best thing to use?

Thanks
Lance

 

It all depends. If you're going to be using the racks a lot hauling stuff around I wouldn't bother with too much prep work because no matter how good a spray paint job is, it wont hold up to a lot of wear. If you use them a lot I'd just sand down the rust and clean it up with a degreaser (or rubbing alcohol) and put a couple coats of paint on. Then repeat every couple months. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

But, if you don't use them that much, or don't carry anything that would rip the paint off, you can make 'em look good.

To get the rust off good (short of sandblasting) I'd use a wire brush attachment for a drill or angle grinder. Then sand the whole thing down starting with about 80 grit paper and working your way down to 120, all the factory paint doesn't have be removed, just sanded smooth. Clean everything up and and prime it. After the primer has dried, go over it with 220 sandpaper, remove the dust and put on, well, as many coats as you want of a good quality paint. I'd let them dry for a couple days or 24 hours at least.

 

I am also restoring an '86 350 fourtrax...I have ordered new fenders directly from Honda. As far as the painting goes The Avenger is right on with the painting advice. I prepped all the racks the same way and just sprayed gloss tremclad through my gun, thinned down a little. Nice thing with the tremclad it sticks to just about anything, no primer required. It turned out nice but it dosen't last long long in the elements. Just a quick spray every so often to touch it up. Did you take any before and aft. pics? I will post mine when i'm done. Good Luck.

 

I haven't thought about pics, but I will sure take some tomorrow.

Thanks for the thought,
Lance