Britbike forum Forums British motorcycles in general British motorcycles in general Save original paint?

I'm in the process of reducing Anton to component bits.
Have the swing arm in hand.

Bike is pretty original and am going the route of attempting to keep it as close as possible.
Before I get further into the POR vs sprayer vs powdercoat jungle, I'm wondering if anyone has gone down the rescue existing route?
A quick effort with a mid-range rubbing compound brings up a fair nice gloss (left arm untouched):


I've run across Mr. Healy's fave Interlux products for frame bits etc.
Comments, fair or foul.

I guess doing the whole frame in order to check if it is all salvageable is the first option?
It only takes one bad chunk to scupper the whole thing.
Patched up paint looks worse than redone imho

I did this on my unrestored 1970 TR6R, hand polished all of the frame and bracket bits and the shine is just as good as my restored bikes (minus the paint chips) but it really depends on the whole route you are going. My option, if the fenders and tank is repainted, I would repaint the frame and brackets but if everything is staying "original", I would just polish up as best as possible.

Pretty sure the paint is original.

Personally, I would leave all the paint alone, maybe a quick freshen up with rubbing compound and some wax to finish.

From what I can see of your bike, it seems to be in very good condition, and what buyers often want these days, is is original paint and the patina of age.

So keep the paint and freshen up any mechanicals as needed.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuw2xxvgvaVOB1T1J-tv9NA

This Bloke , https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuw2xxvgvaVOB1T1J-tv9NA

Is a bit of a painter ,

https://www.modelaircraft.org/sites/default/files/UrtnowskiWinfredWindy.pdf

So theres things there on things like that .

Probly flat off with 600 after degreasing , But THE ORIGINAL PAINT TYPE would be very important , assumeing its LACQUER .

Blowing on a light daMP THINNEDS ' KEY COAT ' , AND FOLLOWING , ONE A DAY , with 20 coats will have a finish that apears

Full Depth . https://triumphbonneville120.co.uk/paint-specifications.php

https://triumphbonneville120.co.uk/resources/Service%20Bulletin%20272.jpeg.opt890x1290o0%2C0s890x1290.jpeg

But look through Wind's things , as PAINT is his game . HIS recomendation would count , if you asked .

One thing they go on about , is " High Solids " ,
Theres a Dope ( Nitro Cellulose Lacquer - like hand painted cars ! ) RESTORER , which is such .

Modern Cheap synthetic stuff might stuff it , long term .
Seen a Lotus Cortina the oversprayed Finish looked like a dryed shrunck cratered mud pool .

So Take your time , but essentially , a dozen or more thin coats of clear with time between to ' Gas off '
to avoid shrinkage , is something like what you want .



AND you might want a ' touch up ' gravity feed Spray Gun . !

I suppose I could buy a pint of Regal Purple from Don and use my air brush to touch up the nicks in my 50 year old lacquer. And, hope that the new paint matches the faded paint on the tank. I did have the pin stripes redone last year. I suppose that a real expert could tell me that the gold is not the correct shade?
However, I have another tank. I'll probably just strip the Duplicolor off that, take both tanks to the painter and have him paint the second tank, and the side covers, with modern enamel in Plum Crazy Purple (close enough for rock n roll.) He can use the first tank as a guide for the white accents.
I've never painted a frame with the engine out. I've always just sanded and used Rustoleum with a brush for that.
I can see where the swing arm would polish up nicely. It's almost always covered with a light coat of oil mist and the nicks aren't too bad.

Aye, there's the, ahem, rub.
Do you deal with them?

This is what John Healy spoke of in a post on frame painting:



Got some matching thinning and flattening components.

I also have black, Astral and silver supplied by Don Hutchinson.
Will see if the chips/scrapes can be matched in and post results at some point.

It is the ago old question that divides collectors and in particular museum curators
Refurbish it ot as new appearance using modern products
Leave it as is with perhaps a stabilizing over coat to prevent further degregation
Redo with original products applied with original equipment

From the time of the Great Depression the finish on motorcycles became progressively rougher
And when BSA went from preunit to unit construction along with that was the abandonment of fully baked enamel finishes on anything other than the frames which were dipped then baked
Then there was a change over from metal oxide pigments to far less stable dyes

So you have a philosipical dilema that has never been resolved
I for one always favour a protective over coat on the original finish
Thta is what I liek to see with all of the origianl flaws because that is how they were sold

Aye.
Once you take it out of the crate, its no longer brand new ...



Ooops, wrong era. ?
And custom paint already !

Original frame finishes seem to often have little or no primer underneath them.

So if the paint doesn’t flake off, it’ll probably bubble off with slight surface corrosion.

The first frame I had done was stove enamelled. It took 2 attempts as the first time they did the power coasters trick and applied too much paint. They redid it and lacquered the finish and it’s been like that since 2007, it’s. A good solid finish and has a zinc primer base.

I’ve since learned of another company (in the uk) called Dimlows, my father had one of his frames done there. The finish was like factory, only with probably a better gloss, ideal if your preserving stamped numbers. I’ll be using them next time.

If your not going to use the bike much then polish it up and leave it be.

My A65 seemed to have primer under the black paint on the frame, but that was probably the original Dove Grey.

My 1967 A65 was originally stove-enameled, and I could tell that it had been dipped, because the paint was thicker on the bottoms of the rails, and required extra applications of paint remover to remove.

That was a long time ago, before powder coating was an option. One of the advantages of powder coating is that you don't have to remove all the paint. You have to remove the gloss with sandpaper and taper off any sharp edges, but if there are patches of thin paint remaining it's not a problem. This assumes that the powder coater is going to clean the frame of any dirt or grease before coating, as he should.

I had the frame on my A65 bitsa powder coated, and I didn't use any chemical stripper on the frame; I just hand-sanded it. The coating turned out very well. I believe it was done in 2012, and it's still intact. One of the important factors in a durable coating is controlling the hardness, which may be related to the gloss factor. A good durable coating should dent rather than chip when struck.

Most likely if it were 71'.

Both my 71 A65 frames were exactly as you describe, both west coast frames.