Pale Grey Powder Coating

[Mick Taylor]

The wheels on my Classic are a sort of pale battleship grey.....and yet, they look silver in the brochure photos.

I don't intend to change anything as it's the original finish and removing powder coat (ghastly stuff ) is no small task.

That said, there are a couple of chips here and there which I would like to touch in before the powder coat (horrible stuff ) starts to peel off on it's own.

Has anyone here found a decent colour match for the grey wheels?.......if not, I'll try common grey primer with a satin lacquer as a start.

Mick.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Mike,unfortunately the finnish on the Classic's wheels will only get worse with time,especially as the miles clock up,(mine are pretty grim now after 67,000+ miles,especially the rear one)BUT I have heard of there is a pretty good wheel restorer in Maldon Very HappyJ.B.

[Mick Taylor]

Hi John, happily for me, because this bike has had so little use, the wheels are still pretty good, but there are these few marks I'd like to deal with as powder coat is notorious for deteriorating if it's breached, prevention being better than a cure.

If push comes to shove I will look for a paint supplier that does colour matching and take a wheel in......but hopefully someone on here might know of an existing paint that's a decent match.

Mick.

[johnbirchjar]

I wonder if a coat of lacquer will help preserve your wheels?(much to late for mine of course,)any thoughts guys?J.B.

[Richard Negus]

Mick,
Your bike's original wheels, engine parts, and rear sprocket cover aren't meant to be grey - they were originally silver. Fading isn't due just to age and sunlight, popular vehicle wash detergents are slightly caustic and also cause the coating to fade. I have a Classic now where the engine castings are almost white, but on the side hidden from sunlight, the original silver is still visible - and vertical streaks of grey where a perhaps concentrated detergent has trickled down.
I have used an industrial company at Tamworth that uses a hot solution to remove powder coating, but now use Classic Coatings at Grantham for stripping and powder coating. They have a tub of something aggressive which remove the old coating, then vapour blast to prepare the surface before re-coating.
They apply a silver finish called 'White Aluminium' which is closer to the original as any other I've tried.
Trouble with doing one or two bits is that it draws attention to the other faded parts. Perhaps better to have them grey colour-match painted over the powder.
R.

[Mick Taylor]

Thank you for that Richard, you have confirmed what I believed to be the case, that the wheels started out as silver. The battleship grey colour does look a bit bizarre, but these wheels are in particularly nice condition, so at least for now I think I will leave the colour alone and find something to touch in the few chips.

You have reinforced my considerable prejudice towards powder coating though........I've had several bikes with powder coated frames over the years and they have all been a pain in one way or another; one had a leak from the fuel tap which turned a highly visible small section of the frame almost white.....and no amount of polishing would restore it.....all of them had issues with barely legible chassis numbers, all of them had orange peel surfaces to some extent, all of them had dulled and not one of them looked like proper paint to my eye.

I believe modern coating may be better, and I'd happily use it on crash bars and so on, but apart from cheap and convenient, I can't see the advantage when it comes to frames and wheels.

Mick.

[Richard Negus]

Mick,
One of my enduring memories of working at BSA in the 60's was the all-pervading smell of stove enamelling. I understood that this was a wet-spray paint process that was then cured in an oven; thus the smell.
A few years ago, a customer requested stove enamelling rather than powder coating for his non-rotary rebuild. The then local powder coater, Chris Ward of Burton, said "No problem, we do that as well". They use powder instead of wet spray and bake in the same ovens. The coating was certainly thinner and smoother than polyester powder and had a higher gloss. I don't however recall whether it was 'any colour you like so long as it's black'.
R.

[Mick Taylor]

Powder stove enamel........something new to learn every day. I suspect a lot of the problems with powder coat have their origins with the person who applies it.

I have heard very good reports about a place called Triple S powder coaters and seen some of their work which I have to admit did look quite impressive, but I'd like to see the same stuff twenty years later to see how it has withstood time and use.....

I have never painted over powder coat, but can't see any reason why that would not work while the coating is still reasonably decent, so it's an option.

I didn't realise the engine coating also started out as silver.....(bloody powder coat! ) the colour of mine looks like a white shirt that went in the wash with something grey......it's definitely not silver now...

Mick.

Norton Rotary 015 (1280x960).jpg

[johnbirchjar]

When I bought my Classic new in 1989 I am almost sure the wheels were the same colour grey as they are now,I will have root round and see if I can find an original photo,yep,found one (NOC Norton Day, Swanage Junction 2003)and they were a lot more nearer Silver then than they are now ,(as was the engine.) and was I to have the wheels re-furbed I would have had them done(in my ignorance) "Dove Grey"thinking that's what they were originally,The engine colour hasn't changed that much though,still quite "Silvery",but a tad shabby ,J.B.

[Mick Taylor]

There is a nice clear photo of a brand new wheel here on the Andover Norton spares site.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... er-44-0064

It's definitely silver.....it seems hard to imagine it will eventually fade to grey. (there's a song title in there)

Mick.

[holger999]

Hello,

I had the Norton Classic N ° 12, the first on the road in Germany.
As Richard had written it: the rims and wheels were in bright silver met. coated. Unfortunately, I sold them a few years ago because I drive my Norton F1 Sport. When selling the rims were still silver and the engine on its cooling fins. In places, the rear wheel was on gray.
greeting
Holger

[Mick Taylor]

In places, the rear wheel was on gray

Interesting that your rear wheel was turning grey in patches......this powder coat is pretty bizarre stuff.

As you can see, no trace of silver here......but the coating is actually in good condition which does give the option of painting over it in the future, for now I think I'll try to touch it in and call it 'character'.

Mick.

Norton Classic Crashbar 040 (1280x960).jpg

[Richard Negus]

I remembered I have a photo, taken some time ago, of an IP2 engine with streaky powder coating.
I don't know for sure what caused the streaks, perhaps a leaking fuel tap or, more likely, Mr Plod pouring neat Truckwash on it prior to rinsing with a pressure washer. That location is hidden by a cover plate so perhaps the rinsing wasn't thorough.
R

Streaky powder.jpg

[Mick Taylor]

That looks a proper mess doesn't it? I have to say that despite my loathing for powder coating, I think the durability of whatever it is on the engine is quite impressive given the temperature range it has to cope with along with salt, stone chippings and all the rest of it.

I popped off my footrest hanger brackets a few days back and the colour of the coating on my engine is a sort of grey/blue off-white, but it is uniform all over regardless of whether it has been exposed to light which suggests it is age related as much as anything.

If I thought a coat or two of extreme high temperature silver paint would stick to it I could be tempted......but on the other hand it's reasonably decent, it's original and I suspect if I did that it would look like a dog's breakfast in fairly short order....almost certainly best to leave well alone.

Mick.

[Richard Negus]

Mick,
Chris Ward once said that he uses polyester powder and can apply a clear coat over the silver to give a higher gloss. I don't know if polyester is what was used 30 years ago, or whether a lacquer over-coat gives better protection.
Any coating experts out there?
R.