big mike Posted March 1, 2009 #1 Posted March 1, 2009 Well i've finally made the decision to repaint my Venture. When I origionally thought of doing this, my father-in-law was going to loan me his garage and expertise. However with the economy the way it has been, half way through his rebuild of the garage he was let go from his job (downsizing) and hasn't finished the ventilation system for the paint stall. I was hoping by spring he would have it done but it isn't working that way. So off of a whim I decided to give a friend of mine a call, who now runs his families bodyshop. He said if we do all of the prep work, and wet sand and polish after it is painted, that he would paint any color (including candies or pearls) for $300.00 to $500.00 depending on weather he had to do any extra touch up work or not. So considering that the paint alone was going to cost me around $300.00 when I was pricing it out, I figured that having a professional paint job including paint and labor for $3-500.00 was awesome. I know the hard part is going to be the prep and finish work but We were going to have to do it all for that price. I was going to do the 2007 Venture blue and black, but now after looking at several different paint colors and bikes I am thinking of maybe a Black Pearl. I feel Chrome lends itself well to Black and vice versa, but that Black Pearl will give it that little extra ooooohhhhh aaaaahhhhh factor. I havent decided weather i'll have the blue or the white pearl added to the clearcoat yet, but I will make that decision when I get to the bodyshop next weekend. Now the bike is being torn apart, and hopefully by tomorrow we will be able to get started on the prep work. Big Mike........who's looking forward to a new paint color as much as spring!!!!!!!
pegscraper Posted March 1, 2009 #3 Posted March 1, 2009 Some colors of black will have a blue tint to them anyway. There's no such thing as a solid black. It will always show a tint of some other color if you look for it.
waterbug Posted March 1, 2009 #4 Posted March 1, 2009 Thats a great price! I do that for a living and he is charging you pretty close to cost or cheaper depending on what kind of paint and product he uses. If you use the pearl blacks it will give you a cast in it of what color pearl you want to use, if you look at the honda cars that are black the have a bluish cast and some cars have a redish cast and that is from the pearl. If you want a straight black then you dont want a pearl in it. Good luck and just take your time preping it and make sure everything is sanded good with no shiny spots. They are a pain in the a$$ so have fun.
GunnyButch Posted March 1, 2009 #5 Posted March 1, 2009 Black is an excellent choice. Taking everything off isn't that bad either, just take pictures and try to start bolts back in the holes they came out of.
big mike Posted March 2, 2009 Author #7 Posted March 2, 2009 I snapped some pictures while taking the bike down and thought i'd share 'em. I wish I would have done each step, but when you decide to tear into it and don't think about it these are the pics I was able to snap. Sorry about the darkness i'm not sure how to fix it.
big mike Posted March 14, 2009 Author #8 Posted March 14, 2009 Well I got all of my parts back from the bodyshop tonight. I decided not to go with a pearl after all over the black. Instead, after looking at the paint panels he made for me to decide on which pearl to go with, I decided to go with a made for me color. I didn't like the pearls, wasn't what I was looking for. I had a plain black with silver metal flake mixed to my taste. Didn't like the paint chips that we had to look at, so I asked if he could do something half way between the lighter and darker colors we looked at. He told me that he could look at the recipes and see what he could make up. After doing that he mixed up a very pretty color that I was happy with. When I PICKED THE PARTS UP TONIGHT, IT WAS BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE IMMAGINED. More pics will follow as I get the time to reassemble the bike. work is very busy lately, they have me training the rest of the staff on a new handheld computer device we will be using at the hospital. I will be doing this for the next several weeks after my scheduled shifts, so i'll try to post as soon as I can. Big Mike......who's glad to be employed, but wants a vacation to put his bike together!!!
big mike Posted March 17, 2009 Author #9 Posted March 17, 2009 I finally finished puting the bike back together about 22:30 last night and took it for a ride to make sure it was road worthy. Took it to work today and got out at 13:30, so I went for a 200 mile ride round trip to show my bodyshop guy the finished product. I can't say thank you enough to my wife and kids for putting up with me these last few weeks, now it's time to give them some time with me. everyone here loves the way this color turned out. I tried to get a good picture of the silver flake showing in the paint but I don't think it came out good. Maybe I'll be at Don's M.D., at least that is the plan if something from work doesn't interfere to stop me. I would like to sync my carbs if that is possible. Anyway here are the promised pictures. I still need to put on the venture tank emblems, and the cassette cover emblem. Still debating the chrome eyebrows on the faring. What do ya think??????
bryan52577 Posted March 17, 2009 #10 Posted March 17, 2009 I think it looks great! But I think ,,,,, Well I guess I am not sure about the eyebrows either? Sure does look good tho!
Dano Posted March 18, 2009 #11 Posted March 18, 2009 I can see the metalflake in the gas tank shot right by the suns reflection. Seems like all your hard work and worrying about the color turned out in your favor. Looks great! For a second gen! You knew I had to throw that in, right?! Dan
waterbug Posted March 18, 2009 #12 Posted March 18, 2009 Not sure but from those pics how do you reach the ground when you stop the bike is bigger than you are??:crackup:
friesman Posted March 18, 2009 #13 Posted March 18, 2009 Hey the paint looks wonderful, why cover it with the eyebrows or the tank emblems? Brian
ibents Posted March 18, 2009 #14 Posted March 18, 2009 She looks really good Mike, and yes you can see the flake on the tank, hope to get a better look at MD if you make it. :happy34: Ian
waterbug Posted March 18, 2009 #16 Posted March 18, 2009 Ok the bike looks great but I want to know how much time does it take to take the bike apart? I was going to do it to mine last winter but couldnt make up my mind on what I wanted to do so I didnt want to have it sitting apart then when it was nice I am freaking out to get it done. I am going to tear her down this winter since I think I know what I want to do. Thanks and hope you enjoy your new bike!!
Riderduke Posted March 18, 2009 #17 Posted March 18, 2009 I never liked the tank emblems and eyebrows. I took them off years ago. I think the bike looks cleaner without them. Nice job with the paint color. Nice looking bike.
dragerman Posted March 18, 2009 #19 Posted March 18, 2009 Wow, looks great! That’s an ambitious project... certainly a labor of love. As for the ‘brows’ I tend to like the dark solid color Ventures without... heck, looking at your photos I’d be wondering if I’d even put the tank emblems on? Either way it will look great... it’s a win, win situation! Nice work
big mike Posted March 19, 2009 Author #20 Posted March 19, 2009 Ok the bike looks great but I want to know how much time does it take to take the bike apart? I was going to do it to mine last winter but couldnt make up my mind on what I wanted to do so I didnt want to have it sitting apart then when it was nice I am freaking out to get it done. I am going to tear her down this winter since I think I know what I want to do. Thanks and hope you enjoy your new bike!! Well it depends on how much time you can spend each day! I have about 10-15 hours I figure into taking it apart, not counting taking all of the tail light, turn signals, and chrome off the rear fender. I have back problems and can't work as long and hard as many. I have done the tear down over a three day period. Also, I did all of the sanding and prep work before it went to paint. This included the removal of all of the hardware chrome and dirt. I started the project on a Saturday, on Tuesday I started all of the cleaning and silicone and wax removal. On Wednsday-Friday I wet sanded and preped for paint. Friday I took all of my parts to the bodyshop. The following Friday I picked them up. Saturday after work I started the reassembling about 16:30-22:30. Sunday I worked on it for about 6 hours, and Monday I worked on it for 7.5 hours. I rode to work on Tuesday, and then took a 200 mile round trip to show my buddy the bodyshop man, who then took pics in front of his sign. But man to have a ridable bike that looks this good for the money I paid is priceless. If you know what you want, tackle it this winter and don't be in a rush because it is tedious work, especially puting it back together. You'll love it in the end though!!! Thank you all for your comments, I was hoping it would be liked by others also. But I guess I played it safe, I don't think anyone on here can dislike any venture.....even those antique 1st gens!!! Big Mike
Yammer Dan Posted March 19, 2009 #22 Posted March 19, 2009 Great Color!! It would sure look good on a 1st Gen!! Good looking Bike!!
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