Hey guys, this weekend I decided to re-paint the lowers of my '06 Fox 40 R. It was pretty beat up and just looked bad overall. I know there are some threads on here about how to do it, but I thought I'd give a brief summation of my process etc...
Materials:
120/220/320 grit sandpaper
Clean rags
Masking Tape
Knife
Denatured Alcohol
Primer
Enamel Paint
Metal Coat Hanger
Some Patience
Process:
Start by removing the lowers and cleaning the seals/stanchions. (Eventually replacing with Enduro Seals). Beware of the oil draining from the legs out of the baths. I was not ready with an oil pan and it poured all over the floor. Learned my lesson though. Next remove the stickers/grime. Then use a small flat-tipped screwdriver in the slots under the seals to push them up. Also, an open ended wrench works well to pry them up. I then cleaned the seals and top of the lowers well.
After the cleaning/disassembling was done, I pushed a clean rag into each leg to keep the dust out. Then sanding begins. I first used 120 grit to get the clear coat/top layer off. It came off with ease. Really have to work the sandpaper to get it into the cracks. Next was 220. There is no need to take it down to raw Mag., just enough to rough it up so the primer has a good foundation. Then, I used masking tape to tape up the holes in each leg. I put the screws and thru axle back in as to not over spray onto the machined surfaces and covered the middle of the axle with tape. I trimmed up the tape around each leg and then wiped it down with denatured alcohol to get all the oil off. Then a little gentle soap/water. I wore rubber gloves after using the alcohol on it as to not get any finger oils on it. Then as per the instructions on the primer, I gave it a light sand with 320 grit sandpaper. Wiped with a clean rag.
The Duplicolor Primer (purchased at local auto parts store) was awesome and dried super fast. I did three coats and waited about 30mins in between. I let it dry/settle over night and then hit it with three coats of the Duplicolor semi-gloss black enamel. Waited about an hour between each. I used a metal coat hanger to hang the fork as a I sprayed. It came out almost perfect and I love the new Semi Gloss black color as opposed to the ugly, beat up gray color.
I probably forgot something, but that was basically it and I am stoked with the outcome. It was really pretty easy. Now just waiting on my 7WT Fox Susp. Fluid and the Enduro seals.
Check out some pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48373472@N07/
Cheers,
Erik
Materials:
120/220/320 grit sandpaper
Clean rags
Masking Tape
Knife
Denatured Alcohol
Primer
Enamel Paint
Metal Coat Hanger
Some Patience
Process:
Start by removing the lowers and cleaning the seals/stanchions. (Eventually replacing with Enduro Seals). Beware of the oil draining from the legs out of the baths. I was not ready with an oil pan and it poured all over the floor. Learned my lesson though. Next remove the stickers/grime. Then use a small flat-tipped screwdriver in the slots under the seals to push them up. Also, an open ended wrench works well to pry them up. I then cleaned the seals and top of the lowers well.
After the cleaning/disassembling was done, I pushed a clean rag into each leg to keep the dust out. Then sanding begins. I first used 120 grit to get the clear coat/top layer off. It came off with ease. Really have to work the sandpaper to get it into the cracks. Next was 220. There is no need to take it down to raw Mag., just enough to rough it up so the primer has a good foundation. Then, I used masking tape to tape up the holes in each leg. I put the screws and thru axle back in as to not over spray onto the machined surfaces and covered the middle of the axle with tape. I trimmed up the tape around each leg and then wiped it down with denatured alcohol to get all the oil off. Then a little gentle soap/water. I wore rubber gloves after using the alcohol on it as to not get any finger oils on it. Then as per the instructions on the primer, I gave it a light sand with 320 grit sandpaper. Wiped with a clean rag.
The Duplicolor Primer (purchased at local auto parts store) was awesome and dried super fast. I did three coats and waited about 30mins in between. I let it dry/settle over night and then hit it with three coats of the Duplicolor semi-gloss black enamel. Waited about an hour between each. I used a metal coat hanger to hang the fork as a I sprayed. It came out almost perfect and I love the new Semi Gloss black color as opposed to the ugly, beat up gray color.
I probably forgot something, but that was basically it and I am stoked with the outcome. It was really pretty easy. Now just waiting on my 7WT Fox Susp. Fluid and the Enduro seals.
Check out some pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48373472@N07/
Cheers,
Erik