Painting Hinged Fenders

[bobdo]

Gentlemen & all others,
Any tips, suggestions, advice, knowledge of factory technique, etc. I'm planning on painting the rear fender of my '47 this summer. What is the best way to paint the hinge area of the fender? I have a lot of work to do on the fender, it's currently apart. I planned on painting it apart & carefully wet sanding the hinge area to fit, then assemble. Is this the best approach? Someone posted a pic of the factory painting the fenders assembled. I can understand this for mass production, but not to get the best job. I want to get it as good as I can, but its a rider first, show bike second. I'm not going to weld it to keep the paint perfect. I'd appreciate your experience.
Bob #3756

[exeric]

I painted a '48 big twin fender about 6 months ago. I painted it as an assembly because I felt like the color would be even for both parts of the fender. Also the hinge pin was an interference fit and would have scarred the paint when inserted. Maybe that was just my fender, your's may be different. I painted the inside of my fender on one day. On the next day, when the inside was dry I put the fender on a wooden buck I made just for fender painting and shot the outside. After the fender has cured, I use a razor blade to cut the paint on the parting lines of the hinge.

[William McClean]

After it is all said and done and when you find the Need to remove the rear wheel, do yourself a big favor and do NOT use the hinge to flip up the lower portion as it was designed to do. Almost invariably this movement puts a bind on the upper, stationary part of the fender. You will hear a "snap " as the metal flexs and a paint chip about 1 " long about about 3/8" wide flakes off the fender above the hinge. As you look around at the meets you will see bare rusty metal above the hinge on a lot of machines where this has happened. I have heard much cursing over this by guys who have made this mistake of hinging those lower fenders open on freshly repainted machines, regardless of how well lubricated the hinge is.

You can also spot this type of damge caused by hinging openning of automobile hoods that have piano hinges along the center line so one side of the bonnet could be opened.

Regards !

[fabercycle]

If you look at original paint bikes, you will notice the paint isn't gobbed on like almost everyone does now. Thinner paint on the hinge, makes the problem less of an issue.

[bobdo]

Thanks for the quick responses.
Eric,
so to understand better, you choose to paint like the factory did. That makes sense to me, but I'm not sure how the overlap is covered. I guess I could brush on that area & rub it out with the rest. Of course that means I have to hinge it open. How did you manage this? At this point, I plan on priming the parts separately then hinge the two together, rivet the bracket to the fender, fit to frame, take off & paint. I'm just not clear on the overlap.
Fabercycle,
I understand & that was my plan. Although that has always been my problem, knowing when to stop.
William,
Thanks, that's good advice. My fender has had a lot of repair over the years. Not only is it most likely weaker, but it might show some ugly scars if the cosmetic paint were removed.
I've heard that a lot of the "trailer queens" flips have been welded to keep the paint pretty.
I won't go that far, but limiting use is smart.
Thanks again, Bob

[D.Mac]

You can't put the hinge pin in after the hinge parts are rivited to the fender, the hinge goes on as one piece. A friend of mine in the body/paint buisness, who's also in into Harleys and paints a bunch of them (and cars with four piece hoods), recomends running a "whisker" in between the surfaces that move while the paint is still wet.(a whisker is a tiny wire with barbs on it used for snagging small particles etc that may fall into paint while its wet, body/paint suppliers carry them) Doing this on each coat insures there is paint on the surfaces, but not enough to bridge the gap between the moving parts. I just painted the back fender on my pan a couple weeks ago (using that method), I've had the back half of the fender up and down several times, moves freely-no chips. I'd say cutting the paint after it's dry is risky. Also the hinge needs to be properly repaired before paint work (preferably off the fender) as a hinge that is not operating correctly or is missaligned will cause the paint to chip either on the hinge or the fender or both.
Doug.

[exeric]

Bob, when you paint the inside of the fender, you also make sure to get the overlapped area on the main fender. When you're ready to paint the outside of the fender, you close the hinge for good and concentrate on doing a good paint job. Tom Faber gave some excellent advice about paint thickness in that area and it may be wise to mask the hinge and airbrush it after the primary paint job is dry and cured. The hinged rear fender is a great feature on H-Ds and one that I've used many times. If you've changed a tire on a skirted fender Chief you'll bow in gratitude to the Harley Davidson hinged rear fender.

[William McClean]

Paint thickness and excessive paint impeding the range of motion of the lower fender aside, I think the issue that causes that paint chip to seperate is that the metal above the hinge flexs with the weight of the lower fender now bearing downward, above the hinge, on this small area. This causes the metal of the fender to bend, and the paint doesn't. The snap that is heard is like the sound produced from the child's toy clicker { Crickets, like those carried as signal devices during the War among troops behind enemy lines } Then a 2nd snap is often heard as the metal rebounds when the lower fender is returned to the Run position. Then, the sad sound of the paint chip floating quietly to the ground is obscured by the cursing.

[Chris Haynes]

All parts of the fenders were painted at once. No special painting around the hinge. The two pieces were bolted together and the hardware was also painted fender color.

[exeric]

Chris, does that mean you see parkerizing (bonderizing) when you open an original paint rear fender?

[Paps]

The way I see it is the hinge itself. The hinge binds and puts stress to the sheet metal. I will be painting another rear fender shortly. I'm going to use my lubricating syringe tool and shoot the inside of the hinge and pin loops, with lithium grease, until they move freely. I will clean the outside film of grease left behind with non residue brake cleaning fluid, before I put the paint on. Paps

[bobdo]

Gents,
Good advice & information.
Doug, I'm going to ask about those Whiskers at my paint supplier.
Chris, Thanks for posting that pic, that's the one I was thinking of earlier. Great image.
Eric, I'm trying it your way. I've not had the good fortune to change a tire on a full skirted Chief. My Knuckle had a bobbed rear since I first built it, this hinged fender is a first for me. Thanks for all the good advice everyone. I'm hoping someone with an original paint bike can answer Eric's question about the parkerized overlap.
Bob

[Chris Haynes]

Chris, does that mean you see parkerizing (bonderizing) when you open an original paint rear fender?

Yup. But don't open the fender unless you want paint flying off the hinge.

[exeric]

Yup. But don't open the fender unless you want paint flying off the hinge.

I'll wear my safety glasses.

[Chris Haynes]

The last bike I had painted, after the prime coat was on, I electric spotwelded the flip to the brace where the hardware holds the two together. No pain will peel off of that hinge.