Mirrors opening...

[persempre907]

I have bought two original black mirrors (not Freccia type).
Obviusly, I would like repaint them red.
Since they are made of many plastic parts, how can I open them to well repaint them?
Above all, I would like remove the frame around the glass, but I'm afraid because I always have been good to break the plastic things!
Ciao

[Finnpaso]

Take first those orange lenses away, then U can see one screw inside holding just that mirror. Open it. That screw is near almost stugged, so be very carefull, cause if it dont open, then maybe You have many small plactic pieces in floor. If U dont take that mirror part away, then its too hard job to grind plastics for repaint. When mirror is away, then U can see, how its build and go on. If U open it carefully, U can take plenty of parts away and then much easier to paint it well. Maybe U have to glue some parts, when reassmbly it, but surely U have allkind epoxy glues, etc.... I have opened about 7 Paso mirrors and grinded, repainted, clearcoated, etc.... When reassemble mirror, U should put samll amount of grease, like silicome to that ball joint inside, cause near all have too tight/not lubricated ball joint.

[persempre907]

Thanks Antti ,
your advice always is worth!!!
Ciao

[mrinflux]

persempre,

since ur talking "repaint", i'm dying to know: what paint are you using? color? color code? brand? your process? are you going to prime the mirrors pink first? i've heard this is necessary to match the 907 color exactly. do you know the secret to matching the original ducati 907 red? fill us in.

elton

[Finnpaso]

Elton, 907s are already so old bikes, that EVERY 907 is little different colour, so ONLY way is to find very good painter, who can MATCH(mix right red) just to Your Ducati. They have used "allkind" of reds for years in factory, so "matching" is only/best way to do it. If You choose some Ducati red paintcode, then You will see easily that difference between mirrors and fairings.... Red is worst colur, if talking about sun UV effect to destroy paint !!!! More Your bike have stayed in sunlight, more bad is that red colour....

[mrinflux]

finnPaso,

i agree that given the age of the 907, all of them are slightly different in shading. that goes without saying. depending on their exposure to sun and elements, as well as other factors, no two paint jobs fade the same. this is obvious.

and it is also true that the 907 red is unlike any other red ducati has used. it is a deeper fuller red than ducati used before or after. very hard to replicate. some have opined that in order to match the 907 red, it is necessary to prime with pink. so...it's not just a matter of finding a great painter and matching the paint to your partcular 907. the greatest painter in the world isn't going to match the ducati 907 red if he doesn't start with the right paint.

As for your claim that ducati used different reds when painting the 907, i wasn't present at the ducati factory during the painting process so i can't refute your assertion. but frankly, i'm skeptical. first of all, while many of the 907s i've seen, (and i've seen quite a few), have faded slightly differently, it's obvious they were all originally painted the exact same color. more importantly, why would ducati use more than one color red when painting a production model? to what end? what possible advantage from that? it doesn't make any sense. using different reds would only serve to hopelessly complicate things for ducati. remember, we're not the only ones who have to repaint. if there are manufacturer's defects, shipping accidents, warranty claims, the manufacturer has to repaint. i understand we're talking about ducati, but even they wouldn't do that. they're a bit quirky at ducati, but they're not idiots.

so...i ask again, persempre, what paint are you using? what color? what color code? and what technique?

[persempre907]

Hi Elton,
I'll do as Antti told.
Since I'm not going to paint the whole bike, I'll try to match the right colour with the help of a good painter.
In fact, if I tried to use the original colour and its code, for sure I'll have a bad result.
When I'll decide to paint the whole bike, I'll use the original PPG code colour.
Ciao

[mrinflux]

yes, persempre,

i understand. ur going to use a great painter and match the paint. but could u tell us, for pete's sake, when u meet with ur great painter, what paint are you going to use? color? color code? primer? process? is my question so complicated? can we move beyond the whole great painter/matching thing and get some hard facts? what brand paint will ur great painter use? does this paint have a color code? i assume your great painter, (like all great painters), is going to start with paint? or does he make his own red paint from tuscan clay in a secret process that cannot be revealed? does this paint he's using have a name? a color code perhaps? could u, would u, be willing to share this information?

for obvious reasons, many readers at this site are interested in matching the ducati 907 red. and we all understand that due to the age of our bikes and the color fade inherrent with the passage of time, the color for each paint job must be matched to the particular bike. but notwithstanding the individuality of each re-painting process, it would be helpful to know the specifics of your materials and process. what paint? color code? priming process?

whaddya say?

[persempre907]

Hi Elton,
I have no secret, and so the painter since I do pay him.
Besides, since actually I don't need to do it quickly, I'll have the time to do it well.
No matter, when I'll find the time to do it, I'll let you know about the whole process, the codes etc.
Ciao

[Rogero]

Thanks - there are quite a few who would appreciate this info!

[DesmoDog]

i understand. ur going to use a great painter and match the paint. but could u tell us, for pete's sake, when u meet with ur great painter, what paint are you going to use? color? color code? primer? process? is my question so complicated? can we move beyond the whole great painter/matching thing and get some hard facts? what brand paint will ur great painter use? does this paint have a color code? i assume your great painter, (like all great painters), is going to start with paint? or does he make his own red paint from tuscan clay in a secret process that cannot be revealed? does this paint he's using have a name? a color code perhaps? could u, would u, be willing to share this information?

for obvious reasons, many readers at this site are interested in matching the ducati 907 red. and we all understand that due to the age of our bikes and the color fade inherrent with the passage of time, the color for each paint job must be matched to the particular bike. but notwithstanding the individuality of each re-painting process, it would be helpful to know the specifics of your materials and process. what paint? color code? priming process?

Yes, your question IS complicated.

I had my mirror painted years ago. Numerous tries to "match the paint" from various sources. None of them were correct. Yes, the painter ended up using a pink primer and a tinted clear until it matched the other parts.

As for the pink primer, he used white and tinted it with red until it matched the old factory primer. Then tinted clear and painted it much like a candy color would be done.

I'm not really sure why you are so interested in the exact colors used - every painter worthy of doing the job will have favorite brands. There is no off the shelf match. There is no one brand that works - it's a custom mix no matter what brand you use. Even if you had the details, you wouldn' t be able to recreate what a good painter can do because you have no experience doing it.

It's not a case of "mix one part HOK Roman Red with 2 parts HOK White Koseal II, then tint 4 parts interclear with 1 part roman red, five medium coats overlapped 50% and you're done" or whatever. Each bike will be different. Granted, if you were repainting the entire bike you could probably do it this way. But to MATCH an existing color? There are no set recipies to follow - you have to do it on a case by case basis. A decent painter can do it by trial and error. A backyard painter with no experience and nowhere near the resources? Good luck...

FWIW - the guy who did mine lost money on the job. He bought a lot of "custom matched" paint that he couldn't use (on my parts anyway). In the end he did a fantastic job and told me "If you ever need anything else painted on the bike... take it somewhere else".

It's not easy to do. You'll get general details on how it's done but you're never going to get specific paint codes, and if you do, they won't work on your bike anyway. As for processes, there are courses out there on refinishing techniques, if you're interested in doing this I'd suggest you search out a local community college or vocational school and sign up for one. They'll have the equipment you need and will be able to answer the many questions you'll run in to along the way. No one will be able to teach you how to do this via an internet forum.

[mrinflux]

craig,

i'm very clear on how a good bodyshop guy creates, by mixing experience with trial and error, a custom color that exactly matches an existing paint job. a color created for one, and only one, bike or car or boat or whatever. it's a difficult, specialized job that i, like you and persempre, would pay an expert to do rather than foolhartedly attempting myself. again, as i said to persempre and annti, this goes w/o saying.

And...it's also true that one need not reinvent the wheel. while i'm no expert in painting, i've been around enough body shops to know that it does make a difference what red you start with and what white you use. all paint is not equal and if you start with the wrong paint, you'll never get an exact match, no matter how crafty you are. and i'd rather not pay an expert to experiment w/ the entire universe of reds and whites until he stumbles upon an exact match when i could narrow his focus by pointing him in the right direction.

i found it interesting that in support of your explanation of how the paint matching process is labor intensive and arduous you mentioned how your painter "lost money" matching your ducati 907 red. you didn't say so explicitly, but presumably this is because it turned out to be much more time consuming to match your ducati 907 red than than your painter originally estimated. in my world this could never happen. that's because if my painter took much more time than he initially estimated i'd pay him much more money rather than holding him to his original estimate. i understand that in a very real sense, this whole paint matching thing is an art, and i don't expect artists, (or anybody else), to work for free.

you misunderstand. i not only understand, i appreciate and admire the artistic nature of this paint matching process as well as the painter/artist that does it. and i'm willing to pay what it's worth. but, as i said before, i'd like to point my artist in the right direction. and i know from reading the posts i'm not alone.

so...how about it craig, would you care to share with us the paint codes your artist used? whaddya say?

peace, elton

[DesmoDog]

Hi Elton,

My painter lost money because he trusted other people who claimed they could match the paint "no problem" and save him some time. I think it was three shops that mixed him up some nice shades of orange before he stopped trusting people. In the end he used the paint for other projects, telling people it was so an so's version of "Ducati red". The kicker is we never had an estimate to start with - he is a friend who took responsibility for trusting people he shouldn't have and presumably made the money back painting other things. Or not, he never said.

I've long ago forgotten the brand of paint he ended up using, let alone the codes he started with... It was repainted 15 years ago after all.

A year or two ago there were some posts over on Speedzilla about this. I don't know of this guy's e-mail address is good anymore, but you could give it a shot. Here's one of the posts:

************
It was probebly me that told you to use a pink base coat. I'm Sean from CCR, been painting Ducati's since 1991 for shops / customers across USA.
If you want details, email me at ccrbike@yahoo.com PLEASE put something in the header regarding Ducati or I''ll most likely bomb it out as spam. I lurk a few other BB's and am glad to help with info regarding Duc paint.
***************

Here's the link to the entire thread:

http://www.speedzilla.com/forums/showth ... cati+paint

Good luck...

(BTW - he also has some interesting comments on how they got the yellow of the 900ss/sl)

[/url]