Clear coat paint.

[John Schmidt]

Does anyone know of a clear coat paint I can spray that is shiney when dry without having to sand and buff out?  I'm having the worst time getting a good finish on the rear fender on the 1200, sanded and base color sprayed twice now and hesitating spraying rattle can clear coat. The last time didn't turn out very good even though the color coat did. I do have a spray gun and willing to use it, was hoping the rattle can method would do the job but isn't to my liking even though I'm not keeping the bike.

Any suggestions? I want it to be a one step process....spray 2-3 coats and forget it, no mixing of the paint unless it's something simple. Guess I'm running out of patience.

[WintrSol]

There is a 2-part clear coat that comes in a rattle can, but for best results it is best buffed out. There is also a spray paint blender, used to smooth re-painted areas to adjacent old paint. It doesn't need buffing, so you *might* be able to use it over the clear coat. Find a local auto paint store; they can usually advise you.

[Pete]

Some paints that use a thinner/reducer that require buffing, can be fooled.
Double the thinner/reducer and spray many light coats until it flashes to a gloss.
It may take up to 12 coats for this the happen.

Some refer to it as spraying "wet". It is really easy to have run so be careful.

When this works it produces a really nice finish with no orange peel.

[ValkISDan]

Just curious, are you afraid of how it will turn out if you sand and buff?

[John Schmidt]

Just curious, are you afraid of how it will turn out if you sand and buff?

No, I've already tried that route but part of my problem is I have no way to fasten the fender down to buff it out. I can't do it when installed, can't get to all of it as you can see in the pic below. If I could spray it with a clear coat that doesn't need sanding/buffing to bring out a nice shine, I'd be in business. I made a rack to set stuff on to spay, but have no way to hold it down for sanding/buffing. I did get part of the fender sanded/buffed and it looked good. But when I tried to do the rest with one hand for the buffer while holding the fender down with the other, that didn't work out very well. The front fender worked out pretty good. The area where the metal extends down to fasten it to the forks made a good place to put it in a vice so I could use both hands on the buffer. And of course, I had to scratch it in one spot when reinstalling it.    If I had someone helping me by holding the rear fender down while I sand/buff, I'd be in good shape.

[signart]

I know the auto parts stores that mix automotive paint around here will load you a rattle can with clear or any color you need. They spray smaller areas quite well and you can achieve good results most of the time, if you get trash you can scuff & re-spray. When dry enough to touch, you can buff with the palm of your hand to make any orange peel lay down.

[flash2002]

When I paint with rattle cans, I spray my paint first then just before it starts to dry I spay a tin coat of clear. Just before the clear dry's , I spray one or two heavy coats of clear and let it dry a few day's. The finish comes out nice and I don't have to sand and polish.

[ValkISDan]

Just an FYI, I've taken a 3M Headlight restoration kit and used the buffing pad inserted into my cordless drill for similar small projects. Ive been able to buff various loose pieces with the drill in one hand and the part held down on a flat surface with the other. It works great for touch up projects on my various vehicles instead of breaking out the full size buffer.

[John Schmidt]

Dan, good suggestion on the buffing with the drill. 

[sutterhome]

There is a 2 part clear in a can max 2k maybe is the name. goes on pretty nice and is tougher than the basic one part can clear, pricey ebay is 27.00 or so for 1 can shipped.also there is someone on ebay recently that was selling 2 part clear in pints and larger starting around 20.00

[falconbrother]

I haven't had much luck with rattle can clear since 1984.  I did have a bike pained a few years ago and the guy used Dupont clear and it was the shiniest clear I have ever seen in my life.  Expensive but..wow!