What's the best way for shooting paint on a hinge fender?

[Sidehacker]

I'm ready to paint my 1945 UL and reassemble.
Luckily this is the last and worse year of the war year shortages so I have found that there was only one color offered that year and it was grey. Not real exciting but pretty easy to locate.
My question is what is the best way to hang and shoot the rear fender. When I was more into not so stock, but easy to care for bikes I would take the hinge off chrome it and paint the fender body and gate separately. But I cant do this with a totally stock bike. And since I will be absolutely sure the fender will be opened and closed every so often, what is the best way to have a nice paint job and not have a hinge that pops the paint off first time I open it up. Thanks in advance. I really want to be able to tell painter what to do in case he hasn't done a hinge fender, and I want to do it correctly.

[1950Panhead]

If you want the best remove the pin and paint seperately.

[Sidehacker]

Last time I did this the pin lined up with the fender, I dont mean to sound ignorant but is there a trick to it like open hinge half way or put pin in from bottom? I want to make sure I can do this before it gets painted.

[JDoorn]

I made a jig to hold the fender just open enough to cover the lap. I was told that factory paint was thin. I expect some wear from vibration and use. I would rather that than welding the hinge closed like some do.

[Chris Haynes]

The fenders were painted closed with the nuts and bolts in place. Why in the world would you put a chromed hinge on a restoration?

[len dowe]

Powder coat is your only answer.

Never did I see the word "Restoration" in his post.

[T. Cotten]

Powder coat is your only answer...

Gasp!

May the judges have mercy upon thee, Len!

My pro painters masked the hinge off until the last coats. Seemed to work well.
(Even Hi-Fi Red!)

I hate paint.

....Cotten
PS: And powdercoat sometimes...

[tfburke3]

Thanks for posting such a cool factory picture.
Tom

[pisten-bully]

Why in the world would you put a chromed hinge on a restoration?

That would be a good question to ask someone who actually has done that. Sidehacker says he doesn't want to chrome it, he's just looking for advice on the best way to paint with a hinge.

[Robert Luland]

In this day and age, there is no reason to open it to start with. Are ya really going to strip the wheel off and break the bead on the side of the interstate with crazy people doing 90 plus past you? If you do, your a better man than I will ever be. I call the man with my handy cell phone and I go home with clean hands and my balls intact. Bob L

[ryan]

I painted my rear in 1995 and had no issues what so ever and it was a tri-coat with chipping or what not. I sealed the metal with ppg dp 90 epoxy primer(nla), masked the hinge, then hit it with 2 coats of lacquer primer. I then block wet sanded it with 220, shot one more coat of lacquer primer and wet sanded it with 400.

I then painted 2 coats of harley cream ppg base, one coat with the fender open, let it cure for an hour closed the fender, taped it shut and masked the hinge. I then shot the other coat and let it cure for another hour. I then masked off the the lower half for the two-tone and pulled the hinge tape. I then shot 2 coats of the color base and 2 coats of the color. I then unmasked the fender when cured and opened the fender just enough to make sure it was not sticking and masked it shut again. I then sprayed around 3 or 4 coats of very thin clear acrylic enamel and let it dry over nght. The next morning I pulled the tape just a bit to check the hinge just a little and taped it shut again and mounted it to the bike.

Todays paint is very high build, the hinge will work fine until you clear it. Even when the fender is tacked shut, you still have to be careful not to glue the to peices together with the clear or it will crack from vibration and pull a huge chunk of paint off of either side. I am going to paint two rear fenders within the next couple of weeks.One welded and one not. One thing for certain, the fender will not be opened until time for paint again.

How do you think the guys with the Ford Model As do? Their hinge is the length of the hood and they do not have a choice. One thing I do know is the tighter the two halfs of the rear fender fit together, the more problems you will have. Total paint should not be thicker tham 3 mils, that equals .003".

[Sargehere]

In this day and age, there is no reason to open it to start with. Are ya really going to strip the wheel off and break the bead on the side of the interstate with crazy people doing 90 plus past you? If you do, your a better man than I will ever be. I call the man with my handy cell phone and I go home with clean hands and my balls intact. Bob L

Very amusing, Robert, but I've done that; on I-75 in Georgia, on a road trip about four hunnert miles from home. Jacked up the UL and removed the rear wheel, hitched a ride to a nearby Honda shop on a Saturday, brought it back and was able to go on our way. My wife stayed with the bike with the Good Samaritan's spouse. Strong stock, between the two of them. I insist that every intended feature on my bike works-as-intended. Either the rear fender hinges up or the bike lays over on its side on the crash bars.

[Chris Haynes]

Powder coat is your only answer.

Never did I see the word "Restoration" in his post.

No but his paying attention to the only correct color may have been a clue.

[sprangerny]

Any other factory pictures out there?

[JDoorn]

The fenders were painted closed with the nuts and bolts in place. Why in the world would you put a chromed hinge on a restoration?

Can't really tell what stage they're at in the photo. They may have been primed open, now being primed closed. Look at the vats of paint. Colors would not have been sprayed on an assembly rack. Two tones had to be masked ect. although I never opened a factory paint fender, I'm sure I wouldn't see bare metal.