SHOP VISIT: Colourfuel

PHOTOS | JO-ANN McEWAN

If there’s one thing I know about paint from a few years studying it, it’s that you need to plan for its longevity. The last layer is what everyone will look at, but all the work underneath it, each decision, the skilful application and knowledge of the materials will affect whether space and time will best it.

Recently I had the pleasure of needing to get my bike resprayed. I say pleasure because although my wallet is a little lighter now, the paintwork is infinitely better. Despite the fact that the prior owner had arranged a professional paint job, it was already beginning to fail; petrol fumes had infiltrated the layers around my filler cap and the paint was lifting, bubbling, and making me sad as it got progressively worse.

Having heard only good things about them, Sam from Colourfuel (both a whiz with a spray gun and a gun in Supersport racing) was entrusted with the freshly disassembled bits for a week or two, returning them to me in a much better condition than I had anticipated (smiles abounded). He then had me back into the shop a week later to watch him work, where the attention to detail and quality control was nothing short of impressive and made obvious the reasons the shop came so highly recommended.

Sam walked me through the usual process. Following a good old sandblasting to remove old paint and rust, repairs to the metal and filler are undertaken. An epoxy primer is then applied to seal the metal from corrosion. It adheres more like a glue than alternative acid based self-etching primers but with the benefit of being repeatable as necessary to perfect the bodywork. Next is a high build primer, much fine grit sanding, several layers of base colour, cleaning, checking the finish, then several layers of 2-pack topcoat for shine and protection. Lastly he tops it all off with some special time for baking and curing. Restoring caravan trim has fewer steps; complex design work has a few extra ones.

If your painter loves what they do enough to continue polishing to high shine until the minute you leave with your parts, they’re a keeper. I’ll happily tell everyone they’re good at what they do, and fully intend to buy more things needing resprays to send their way.