Preparing Your Scooter For Painting

After buying you custom painting manual guide, tools, paint and equipments, the next job is to dismantle the scooter. First start dismantling your scooter with utmost accuracy. While dismantling the scooter, you should be very careful with wires attached to the scooter.

Dismantling scooter is not very difficult, if you do it according to the custom painting manual guide. Remove only those parts from scooter, which you want to re-paint, as most of the people remove each and every part from the scooter and find it difficult to assemble it later.

You should remember while dismantling your scooter, that you have to assemble it. By using the basic tools kit, you can easily dismantle or assemble your scooter. You should collect all the big or small parts of your scooter very carefully at the time of dismantling your scooter.

Sanding.

Sanding is done to remove the old paint from the dismantled parts of scooter and to give smooth and silky surface to paint. The process of sanding is done by using sand papers. Generally, there are two types of sand paper used in sanding process of scooters, first is rough sandpaper and second is fine sandpaper. Rough sandpaper is used to remove the old paint from the scooter and fine sandpaper is used to give smooth surface for the new paint.

If the old paint is remain on the scooter then it might cause problem with the new paint. Therefore, sanding is very important before you start painting your scooter. Never try to avoid sanding because it is very important for the long lasting shine and grace of new paint.

Sanding your scooter.

Sanding a scooter doesn't need any specialized knowledge or skill. You must be careful while choosing the correct thickness of the sand paper (rough sandpaper and fine sandpaper).

Sand papers with grit form 600 to 1000 can be used, depending upon the roughness of your scooter. 600 grit sand papers are used for the rough surface i.e. to remove the old paint. 1000 grit sand papers are used for fine finishing of the scooter.

Although sanding is not a specialized job, but you have to be expert in judging the smoothness of the surface on which you are going to paint. When you are going for scooter sanding, you should be well prepared, as the people who perform such jobs are regularly exposed to dust (powder of old paint). Chances of getting dust in the eye and throat are very common.

Therefore, your must wear the safety equipments. Swallowing these powders sometimes might leads to lung cancer.

For the final finishing of your scooter, it is recommended to use 200 grit sanding paper. Smooth and sparkling surface of the scooter is the reward of proper sanding. Use 1200 grit wet and dry sand paper if you want to paint a metallic color on your scooter.

Chemical stripper for sanding.

If you find it difficult to remove the old paint of your scooter with a sand paper, then you can also use chemical stripper. Apply the paint stripper very carefully all over the scooter with a paint brush.

Chemical stripper can affect your skin badly. Therefore, you must wear safety equipments while applying chemical stripper on your scooter.

How to apply chemical stripper.

You should cover all the parts of your scooter, which you want to paint, with clear plastic sheet (available from any hardware shop), so the vapors will be trapped inside and will work more rapidly on the scooter. After covering the scooter parts with the plastic sheet, than wait for the 2 to 3 hours and remove the plastic sheet.

Now you can start to scrape off the old paint from the scooter with a putty knife or a paint scraper. After applying stripping chemical on the scooter parts and keep the water away from these parts. If necessary, use the stripping chemical again.

Never use the chemical stripper to remove the old paint from the scooter part, as it can affect the body (metal) of your scooter. Therefore, sanding by sand paper is the best and simple way to remove old paint from scooter.

Wash the parts before you start painting.

After the sanding process, wash each and every part. Washing is necessary and important to remove the sanding powder which is left after the sanding process.

There are some people who jump from sanding directly on to the base coat and might suffer later, as if you start with base coating without washing it, then after completing the first base coat, you will find small particles on it. Therefore, wash gently all the parts before you start painting.

For washing purpose, you can use any common soap or dishwashing detergents which are commonly available in the market. You can also use a scrub or a hard brush with these soap or detergent. A scrub or a hard brush will also remove the old paint left during the sanding process.

You can also use cleaner to wash scooter, but never use any strong and chemically reacting cleaner which can damage the body (metal) of your scooter by starting the rusting process. These types of chemical cleaners contain a chemical irritant which is known as Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether.

Therefore, it is recommended to use common soap or dishwashing detergent to wash your scooter before painting.