Stocking up on better primer.

Goodbye Bright Beauty Sandable Primer, hello Rust-oleum Automobile Primer. A quick lunchtime visit to the midtown Home Depot (man that place is civilized compared to my local in Brooklyn) bagged me a much better primer and a handful more sandpaper.

One can of primer completed both cowls with ease, three coats each in total without a drip in sight making me feel back on track with the restoration.

After three coats of Rust-oleum primer. Much better.

After three coats, high spots in my filling and scratching from some over zealous sandpapering became apparent. A combination of coarse sandpaper, fine wet-and-dry paper and scrubbing with Comet cleanser and water began to address these.

Addressing high spots in the filler.

Another quick spray covered these fixes but it’s clear that there are still some areas to address. My filling on the engine-side cowl in particular leaves a little to be desired and the ripples are apparent. This will need some more finessing and more filler. Still the primer helps you really spots these things. I’m going to try Restolad’s steel ruler trick to identify exactly where the dents are because they can be deceptive.

No matter. I achieved what I set out to do – cover up the rust.For a complete paint ready finish it looks like three or four sessions of touch-up primer and sanding will be necessary to do the job right.

Once the cowls were dry I refit the wiring and the tail-light housings. I’ll reuse the existing rubber when I put these back on the bike, then replace the rubber when I do the final rebuild. I have a new bulb (and a couple of spares) arriving tomorrow from Scooter Works along with a replacement PX150e cowl badge and some other nik-naks. I won’t put these final dressings on until the full paint job has been completed.

After refitting the electrical.

Next up I will be addressing the rust on the tail of the bike under the broken back bumper and other miscellaneous rust and damage around the engine and behind the seat. I have a replacement bumper from Scooter Works that will also tidy up the rear-end. Once that’s done the bike will continue to be ride-able while I move on to the foot board.

Work accomplished:

• Finished primer on both cowls.
• Addressed some filler issues.
• Re-assembled the cowl electrical.

Materials used:

• Soap, water and Comet powder cleaner
• Paper towels
• Tack cloth
• Sandpaper
• Wet-and-dry paper
• Rust-oleum Automobile Primer

Lessons learned:

• Priming, sanding and filling is an iterative process.
• Stick with brand-name paint you trust.

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