Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

I have the Red-Racer fenders and sidepanels so I thought I would paint my tank Chrysler Engine Red. Does this color match Red-Racer plastic well?

Also what method do you use to remove the old paint and apply the new?

Thanks for any help!

J

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#829 The "Factory Novice"

1988 Honda CR250RJ
1983 Honda CR480
1981 Can-Am 250 MX6-B
1979 Honda CR250RZ
1979 Kawasaki KX250 A5
1978 Husky 250CR
1978 Honda CR250R
1977 Yamaha YZ400D
1977 Suzuki RM125B

Some time ago Scott Steger of Red Racer recommended Dupont B98531F as a good match for their replica plastic even if a little darker red than the orangey Tahitian Red. Brian Rivers uses PPG Omni Russet Orange MTJ 60945. This might work better if you want to match to an original frame, tank, fenders.

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF

When I put my '79 CR250R together I used red-racer fenders and side panels. I don't care what anyone says, the '79 was not Tahitian Red. I've got a '74 MR50 and an '83 CR250R & CR480R that are all Tahitian Red and they are a lot different color than the '78-'80 CR's.

I took the fenders down to my paint guy and after an hour of trial and error her matched the fenders perfectly. Once I painted everything and put it together everything matched and looked great. So, my suggestion is to take the fenders into a paint supplier and match them up.

I was able to obtain a NOS rear motor mount, NOS clutch cover, and NOS cylinder head I now use as color references. The frame color is a much brighter red than the orange-red everyone refers to as Tahitian Red. The motor was also red rather than orange-red, but had quite a flat finish. I matched the underside of the tank to a powdercoat color RHS 3020 and had my frame done and it matched the Red Racer plastic very well. Now I am going to do the motor the same, but see if they can add a flattening agent to the powder. I am wondering if sunlight makes the color more orange over time? BTW I think the '83 CRs were Flash Red which is a much more orange color than Tahitian Red...

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF

MIchael, you're correect, the '83 was Flash. It was the '81-'82 that was Tahitian Red.

When I did my '79 I added a flattener to the paint I used on the frame and shot the engine with it and it turned out great.

Should I use a chemical stripper to take the paint off the tank and maybe have the frame media blasted?

J

_________________
#829 The "Factory Novice"

1988 Honda CR250RJ
1983 Honda CR480
1981 Can-Am 250 MX6-B
1979 Honda CR250RZ
1979 Kawasaki KX250 A5
1978 Husky 250CR
1978 Honda CR250R
1977 Yamaha YZ400D
1977 Suzuki RM125B

Aviation grade paint stripper works great. You'll want to use platex gloves and a face mask. Pretty potent stuff, but it works great. You can get it at a "real" automotive paint/parts store. Hard to find at the chain stores. I'd use the stripper on the tank and blast the frame. It is very hard to get the stripper into all those nooks and crannies on the frame.

You can get the aviation stripper from Pep Boys. Blue can with a plane on it (!), but I forget the name. It is specifically designed to get lacquer of aluminum parts so it works very well cleaning fork legs. I had my frame blasted by Olympic Powdercoating in Santa Ana, CA. They do a lot of frames for the motocross people around here including Vintage Iron so you know they will use the right kind of abrasive for the job.

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF

On my '76 CR250M, I painted the tank, side panels and fenders with Duplicolor Engine enamel DE 1632 which is Chrysler Industrial Red. I like it just fine. The engine enamel was selected not for heat but rather because it resists gas and oil.

Robert