Helmet Painting 101

By Johnny O’Hannah

So you want to paint a vintage helmet. Yes you can, but first let me give you the safety speech. Any helmet older than 5 yrs old or one that has been dropped or hit during crash should be replaced with a new one. Now that you have completely ignored me, or claim you are just going to paint it and use it for “display purposes”, lets continue.

 First step is finding an unmolested helmet, meaning one that hasn’t been crashed, cracked or God forbid painted by some jackass in his garage which will require lots of sanding which really stinks. E-bay is a great place to find a lid and you can find all kinds of deals worldwide and the price is usually under a $100. Look for Bell Moto 3, Moto 4, JT ALS helmets, electro. (Bell Magnums are hot right now I’ve seen them for $500+!!)

 Secondly, pick your favorite riders helmet from back in day and get as many pictures as you can from every angle to ensure accuracy in the details. In this case I didn’t know what riders helmet I was going to do until I got a great deal on two NOS Bell Moto 4 still in the original box, so Bob Hannah it is. If you want you can just think up your own design but either way you need to put the design down on paper for a visual reference.

 Next helmet prep, take that helmet and remove everything, rubber molding, padding, and visor, tuck in the chinstrap and tape it up good. Stuff newspaper inside the helmet for over spray because the paint can dissolve the Styrofoam. These steps are super important because if you don’t do it right you will have paint where you don’t want it and where you do want it, well it just wont stick, period.

These next few steps vary but I’ll give it to you the way I did with this white Moto 4.

Since the helmet was new and scratch free I skipped the process of sanding the entire helmet and putting down a coat of lacquer primer. (If yours has a few nicks spot sand it with some 220 grit to smooth it out. Later you will use a higher grit to get it super smooth before the paint goes on.) Then I taped off my design from the pictures I gathered off the internet and a few pictures in old magazines. Sand all the areas that are going to receive the enamel thoroughly with 320 up to a1000 grit if you want (the higher the number the smoother) but avoid tearing up your primo tape job. When that’s done take a little paint thinner or lacquer thinner on a clean rag and wipe off the dust and any residue built up on the edges by the tape and your finger oils.

Now you can go crazy with pin striping, gold leafing and vintage decals to give it that old school look.

That’s it, I included a few pictures showing before, during, after and the helmet I was copying to give you a reference, its easier than it looks and harder. Just be patient and it will turn out fine. This is only the second helmet I’ve ever done and someone offered me $800 bucks for it, I aint selling this one though.

Cheers

Johnny O’