Prep and paint

My moped still had some of the original blue paint left on it when I got it. I did sorta-like the metallic blue color, but for this project I wanted to go in a different direction. I chose to paint the moped a vintage lime green color that was reminiscent of something you’d have seen in the late 70’s. I chose to use spray paint for the cost and, if done right, the ease of use. I ended up picking a green apple color from rust oleum that turned out to be perfect for what I was going for. I also used a flat black rust oleum for some trim pieces and of course the rest in chrome!

Before the painting could be done, I needed to do some minor dent remediation and prime the pieces that needed paint. I used a ball ping hammer to get the majority of the dents out and finished up with Bondo to smooth everything out.

Now I will admit that I am definitely no expert when it comes to body work, but through a bit of trial and error and lots of research I feel like I did a decent job!

I rigged a make-shift paint booth inside my garage, carefully making sure that everything was covered in plastic. The plastic definitely helped with dust and kept the paint from getting all over everything (saving me the haste of cleaning and probably saving my marriage as well…).

Now it was time to prime everything. I used rust oleum auto primer spray paint. I also coated the fuel tank with fuel tank sealer to prevent any further corrosion and in case I ever wanted to go back to gas power.

After getting everything primed, I sanded with 600grit sandpaper to smooth and re-cleaned to get all the paint dust off. Now finally time for color!

After color was applied, I wet sanded with 1500grit sandpaper re-cleaned and let the paint cure for a solid week before clear coat. I chose to apply a clear topcoat of polyurethane to finish the parts. I found a great 2k clear coat spray from Amazon that was super easy to use.