Questions about finish / chroming / polishing.

[Josh Cox]

Am about to take my first step in restoring a Golden FLash Plunger.

Looking at all the surfaces that would look good tarted up:

Fuel tank:

The paint job I'm going with is the gold, when you chrome the tank, do you chrome the whole tank then paint over the relevant peices with gold ?.

When painting the gold, two pack or powder coat, is powder coat suitable , I believe it to be harder wearing ?.

Frame:

Am planning on having the frame soda blasted, thence powder coated black, satin or high gloss ?.

Thanks in adavance,

Josh
Perth Australia

[Brian]

Hi Josh, nice choice of bike. I have a 53' plunger A10 and they are a great bike.

Now, to some of your questions. The tank will be chromed all over and then you paint the panels.

Powder coat is good but you can run into problems matching colours if you use some powder coat and some paint. There are only a limited range of colours available in powder coating. If one is available in the colour you want then a automotive paint supplier or the company you get to do your painting should be able to match the colour. Any painting you do have done or do yourself definitely use two-pack.

The finish depends on what you want but I always use full gloss.

We have a member (Orabanda) in Kalgoorlie, maybe he can help with some recommendations as to who to take your chroming to etc.

I'm in South Aust. Good luck with the resto.  Brian.

[orabanda]

Hi Josh (and Brian!),
John Berkshire does all of my tanks; good value - he knows what he is doing.

He will use Kerry at K & D Chrome Plating to do the plating. Kerry does a great job, but expect to wait (he has a long backload). I gave him a tank and rear mudguard for a Super Rocket in early December, and he expects to start it after Easter!

Contact me if you need John's phone no.
Regards,
Richard

[Josh Cox]

Gents, thanks for the quick response.

Orabanda,

Those details would be great, email Joshua_Cox1@westnet.com.au or 0428 241 105.

If you wanted to rebuild/service an A10 engine in Perth, who would you use ?.

Back to the paint, use two pack for everything then,,,,,,,, if an acceptable colour is available in powder to do the lot, thoughts ?.

With the side covers (gear  box/chains etc etc), Ash blast then polish ?, polish only ?, polish and clear anodise ?, thoughts ?.

[RichardL]

Josh,

I am of the belief that powder coating is best reserved for parts that can't dent and don't need body filler, as in the frame, triple trees, engine mounts, battery box, fork tubes, etc. I don't believe powder coating works well over body filler and repairs and touch-up are difficult. Normally I would qualify such comments, wherein I lack actual experience, by saying that "I could be wrong." However, everything I have read, here and elsewhere, tells me that I need not try powder coating over body filler to learn for myself that it is not a good idea. We have at least one such long story here in the forum with a member wishing he had not powder-coated tinware.  Back then I was qualifying my remarks on this, but after the member reported the actual bad results, I believe it is "case closed." Here is the link to his comments:

http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=688.msg4363#msg4363


Richard L.

[RichardL]

P.S.  Nevertheless, there may be a group of members more expereinced than I, whom I respect, that will say I am wrong. I will still respect them.

[olev]

At a recent swap meet, a local powder coating firm had a set of alloy barrels off a harley as a demonstration piece. They had been powder coated black and looked very nice. Does anyone have any opinions about powder coating iron barrels and heads?
cheers.

[LJ.]

Well I dont know about barrels but my A10 head was powdercoated when I bought it off of ebay. Done very nicely and has lasted the last couple of years quite well. I'm pleased with it.

[mrshells]

id stay away from powder coat on anything that difficult to replace like tinware
also i had in my youth my RD350LC powder coated and the swingarm rotted from the inside out to the point where i pushed my thumb through it !!!! from the outside it looked perfect
Also powder coat cant be repaired like paint and it does scratch and chip
I just painted my Star Twin with black coach paint using a quality brush
its almost as good as a sparay finish and doesnt look like its barand new
as for anything you decide to paint Id go with 2pac everytime

[snowbeard]

to piggy back a bit on your thread, I've heard suggestions that powdercoating the barrels is bad, as it decreases the heat dissipation?  also polishing the cases (crank) has been said to reduce heat dissipation also, as the surface area is actually reduced without the casting marks.

so anyone have any thoughts on those opinions?

[RichardL]

Snowbeard,

I think the crankcase is not a real issue with respect to heat dissipation. Technically speaking, yes, heat radiation would be reduced to some extent that could only be measured by very sensitive gear, with the difference not worth worrying about. If you want a real shiny crankcase, you won't hurt the machine mechanically (but, maybe, "nostalgia-istically") If one wanted to create maximum heat radiation, all parts would be black.

Richard L