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I am taking a break from my overall bike rebuild for the winter and going to work on smaller side projects that I can do in the warmth and comfort of the house. The next mini project I will undertake is the restoration of my bike badges. I will start with the tank emblems/badges and maybe work up to the sidecovers.
My plan was to throw them into paint thinner or mineral spirits overnight, brush off the peeling old paint, and then prepare the surface for Testor's model paint.
After a soaking in thinner overnight, it looks like all that came off was some old built up wax/polish that built up around the nooks and crannies of the emblem when I was tidying up the tank in years past. I did a quick scrubbing with an aluminum bristle brush to see if anything was loosened (not much was), and found out how flimsy these components are! When I applied more than gentle pressure to scour the surface with the brush, I could feel the metal bending! I am going to have to step it up a notch and attempt the same procedure with aircraft stripper this weekend if I have time.
In the meantime, I welcome any tips/tricks/recommendations from anyone that has done this in the past!
I actually have a bottle of Testor's Flat White laying around, so I will probably get a Flat Black for the outside of the lettering, and then eventually pick up Orange (?) for the CB360T sidecover badges.
My plan was to throw them into paint thinner or mineral spirits overnight, brush off the peeling old paint, and then prepare the surface for Testor's model paint.
After a soaking in thinner overnight, it looks like all that came off was some old built up wax/polish that built up around the nooks and crannies of the emblem when I was tidying up the tank in years past. I did a quick scrubbing with an aluminum bristle brush to see if anything was loosened (not much was), and found out how flimsy these components are! When I applied more than gentle pressure to scour the surface with the brush, I could feel the metal bending! I am going to have to step it up a notch and attempt the same procedure with aircraft stripper this weekend if I have time.
In the meantime, I welcome any tips/tricks/recommendations from anyone that has done this in the past!
I actually have a bottle of Testor's Flat White laying around, so I will probably get a Flat Black for the outside of the lettering, and then eventually pick up Orange (?) for the CB360T sidecover badges.
