Z1R Repaint

Just to post a few pics and share info about the paint color ( I thought) matched Stardust Silver Metallic. See pics for the formula. After I was mostly done, a friend found an original piece of his Z. Comparing them, his looked more silver, but I like mine better, it's close, but richer in color.
Instead of buying decals, I used pinstripe tape, substituting dark blue metallic for black, and ocean blue for whatever they called the lighter blue. I didn't get thru the jobe without a couple flaws, but I'm pleased overall, and I saved a lot of $ over having a pro do it.

Looks great! Be proud!

How did you like the Wanda paint? I've never tried it but I did work with some Sikkens (same parent company as Wanda) folks back when they were trying to enter the aftermarket paint supply market in North America. I was working for a Japanese OEM auto company and the Sikkens guys were developing formulas and comparing them to our vehicles at the port. I was amazed by their keen eye. They would hold up a chip to a vehicle and proclaim it "too blue"..or green...or dark,,,or muddy...wtf? I was flumoxed but learned a lot during that project. Another interesting tidbit is that as an OEM we had to send color chip samples to the FBI each year. Apparently they kept a full set of paint chips for every OEM car company, which came in handy I'm told when investigating hit and runs.

Thanks, Ed. I liked the Wanda just fine. That part of the job was flawless. The metallic laid out perfectly. Using the infamous $10 purple paint gun. No fisheye eliminator needed. I'm sure the Sikkens guys would pronounce my color too green, but my eyes like it. I hope to park it next to an original Z1R someday to see
the difference

Great job!

Keep in mind that the original painted parts have had the better part of four decades to fade. I'd bet that if we could time travel back with the most perfect part we could find, that the forty year old paint would not exactly match a month old bike.
What you have looks terrific, and might be exactly how a brand new one looked.

Good thinking there. You would need a time machine to verify a "perfect match". We can only speculate.
Appreciate the compliments from all.

Looks good Jeff. I had PPG do a computer match off a mint side cover 10 years ago and the first spray out was too green. Must of modified the formula 10 times before it came out right, but not perfect. If you look at a mint original fairing, tank , and tail closely they were not all exactly the same anyways. Kawasaki never believed in primer back then so over white fiberglass, bare metal, and black plastic I think the color comes out a little different. I actually added a little blue to the formula when I painted mine 4 years ago just because I thought the originals were too silver looking and blue is my favorite color.

Funny you said that about the silver. The guy that had the bike gave me a can of paint he said was right but when i opened it and stirred it up, it looked so silver I never even test sprayed it. Now I'm thinking maybe he was right. One of these days maybe I'll paint an old helmet with it...

Keep in mind that Kawasaki used different numbers of paints and coats depending on the year and model. For example on my 1977 "Metallic Regal Blue" KZ650-C1 they applied 4 coats of paint - “Special Silver Base Coat” then “Flake Silver Base Coat” then “Brigade Blue” then ”Clear topcoat.” On some 1977 models they used 3 coats of different paint, and on some they used 2 coats of different paint. Ed

Update: I was able to park next to and compare my bike to an original Z1R. See the post
www.kzrider.com/forum/7-non-technical-forums
in General, non-technical, bike related. In case the above link doesnt work.

jeffz wrote: Update: I was able to park next to and compare my bike to an original Z1R. See the post
www.kzrider.com/forum/7-non-technical-forums
in General, non-technical, bike related. In case the above link doesnt work.

What page and topic name are the photos under?

PaintWorkz wrote:

jeffz wrote: Update: I was able to park next to and compare my bike to an original Z1R. See the post
www.kzrider.com/forum/7-non-technical-forums
in General, non-technical, bike related. In case the above link doesnt work.

What page and topic name are the photos under?

kzrider.com/kunena/13-bike-related/61004...ginal-owner-1978-z1r