ATT. Scooterdude

[crash carden]

Hello Scooterdude, did you have your penton tank re-gelcoated at minicraft in FL.? If so and if you don't mind me asking how did it look when finished? Also did they do your side panels,and were they made of metal? Did they recoat the underside of the tank,and back sides of the panels? I see in a recent post you mentioned a cream coating for the inside of the tank,is that very costly? I spoke with minicraft on the phone they remembered doing your tank,however I thought it would be good to ask you about your finished tank,ect. before sending mine out to be redone. Hope I diden't bend your ear to much,but I'm doing a total restoration on my 72 jackpiner and I want it to be as original as possible.Thanks for any help you can give.Looking forward to the day I can kick over the engine and take a ride on this bike again,after nearly 30 years. Thanks to the POG website I found my original old Penton Jackpiner.Thanks again Crash Carden.

 

[scooterdude]

Hello Crash,
Mini-Craft Did a great job on the tank and panels with about a 12 day turn-around.Not only did they color match the paint( found the best unfaded blue under original Jackpiner sticker )they repaired all chips,spiderwebs and even a huge gouge in the air box aluminum panel. Must have been from kicking with boots on. Good job on the metal plate on the other side too,with original yellow. Not perfect,but I don't know who is these days. A little pricey,too. $295 for all three, but it was worth it. That bike is now on display in the local KTM shop here in Columbia,S.C. I can't remember the name of the goo that Hugh sealed my Pursang tank with, but it's on his website //WWW.HUGHSBULTACO.COM. Works great and I never drain the gas( too lazy ).
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[scooterdude]

Hey Crash I forgot to answer all your ?'s. They didn't do the underside of the tank or panels,but they probably would have if I was smart enough to ask them. It was my first time and it had been a while since they had done one too. Considering it was the blind leading the not so blind it all turned out great.
Jeff

 

[AndyL]

scooterdude or crash,
Did mini-craft keep the Jackpiner blue formula that was used on your tank and side panels?

In looking thru their website, the FanTex 415 and the GK26 gelcoat colors look close.  But looking at colors and making decisions based on what the computer monitor shows has not worked well in the past.

The Gelcoat in a spray can that they offer might be an inexpensive way to keep the glass on a race bike looking nice.  It would most likely only take two spray cans to do the work.

AndyL

[crash carden]

Hello AndyL, I am sure that Mini Craft would have kept the formula #'s for the gelcoat Jackpiner colors. They may have to look up the paper work on the job they did for me to get the correct #'s. The job order was writen up under my real name Chuck Carden. If you need more info you can email me at [email protected]  Mini Craft did a great job on the tank and # plates.[^] The # plates are steel and they coated them as well with the gel coat. The air box tuned out great as well.I had them coat it inside and out,that way I was sure it was air tight. I did a ground up restoration on my original "73" Jackpiner which I felt was worth the extra money.
  I bought it new on 4/4 1973 and sold it in the fall of 1974. Then I got lucky and found my old Jackpiner in July of 2002,:D thanks to the POG website.It was a basket case,I mean it was a frame and about 7 or 8 box's of parts. I asked the guy if he still had the title and he said he had lost it. So when I got the bike all finished I went to the license branch to file for a lost title and get new plates for it.I had no idea of what they would find after all 28 years had pasted since it was mine.I gave them the frame and engine #'s. They got on the phone and called the state branch and the old title was still in my name. Is that cool or what! [8D] I think I'll keep it this time. Good luck on your project, Crash Carden-GO TEAM PENTON!

[AndyL]

Thanks Crash!

I emailed Minicraft and I heard back from them.  Someone named Don is going to see if they can pull up the details on the color for your job.  I will just have to wait and see.

I am hoping that the gel-coat in a spray can will adhere, hold up well, and look decent all for a the cost of 2 or 3 cans of their stuff and my time/effort doing all the prep work and spraying.

Thanks again,
AndyL #14u MOVMX and AHRMA

[AndyL]

Jeff and Chuck,
Minicraft called me back this AM after researching the jobs.

Don at Minicraft remembered both of your gelcoat jobs even though they were a year apart and over a year ago since the last one. They mixed up a small batch of the color this AM just to verify it was the medium blue Don remembered.

The minicraft color code for the Jackpiner blue is AT-995.

I have ordered the colored gel coat, hardener and the little pump to inject the hardener into the cans. (cost was about $85 for enough to do two complete sets of tanks and side panels)

I talked to them about the glass prep recommended before using the product and it seems like something I can handle.

I like to do my own work and try new processes, so this should be fun.  I like my projects to look good (for race bikes) but cant seem to give up the "do it yourself" attitude.

I will let you know how the little Minicraft system works out.

AndyL #14u MOVMX and AHRMA

[AndyL]

I used the fiberglass tinted gel-coat in a can from MiniCraft over the last week and it seems to have worked out pretty well.

It was just a first attempt but the color is a dead on match for my 75 Piner watermelon (I think that is what it is called) tank, and it appears that the coating will hold up well, bonded well and doesn't scratch very easily.

It does not go on just like spray paint, you have to go at it like you are trying to spray a very wet lacquer paint and watch the thickness (instructions include recommended thickness).  Certainly have to watch the overspray and don't try to do the many thin layers thing.

So far I have prep'd and sprayed it on bare aluminum, replacement side panels from Tom B., a blue JP tank and a red 250 tank.  The gel-coat covered the red pretty well and my eye can't see any color differences due to the different colors under the coating.

Overall not bad for a first try.  I am going to do some more with it this weekend.

AndyL
#14u MOVMX and AHRMA