Commando Frame Paint?

elefantrider said:

BillT said:

I shot all my frames with PPG DCC9300. Good hard paint, touches up nicely with Dupli-color Universal Black if you do manage to nick it.

Click to expand...

What was the cost and minimum quantity you can buy of paint and reducer. Concept is really expensive here.
What primer did you use? I think that is going to be a touch too glossy, got any pics?

Click to expand...

I used the PPG Primer, I think K36?

Minimum amount at my local shop is usually a pint. I bought a quart of DCC9300 for about $90, plus the reducer and hardener. Came to about $65/quart mixed and did two bikes.

Pic of the G15 during assembly

BillT said:

I used the PPG Primer, I think K36?

Minimum amount at my local shop is usually a pint. I bought a quart of DCC9300 for about $90, plus the reducer and hardener. Came to about $65/quart mixed and did two bikes.

Click to expand...

+1

This is the way I plan to do my frame. 2 part with a gun is the best way to go if you want durability. Powder coating may be a bit more durable but I just don't like how it looks myself.

I just got an unbelievable quote to strip and powdercoat my frame & center stand so will be going that route.

The shop must be looking for filler work. I don't need to mess with chemical removers, paints or anything else. The price is below the price of sand/soda blasting alone, not to mention paint, primer, reducer, hardener.

I've shopped around here for sand blasting frame to find $200 average estimate so chem stripped powder coat over about a week of a few hours a go. Auto painters wanted at leat $500.

I just got a quote from my local blasting facility, Anacapa Soda Blasting in Oxnard, California, for stripping my frame, swing arm, and engine cradle. They want $325 to do the job. They also do powder coating, but this is the quote just for stripping. I went to them because I had previously had them powder coat some old Ford wire wheels, and they did a great job at a $50 per wheel, which I thought was reasonable. But $325 is bad enough that I'll do it myself.

Ken

my thots on this is if the origninal paint is so tough adhereing expensive to remove why not just leave it as nicely hand sanded down primier coat ready to color over.

hobot said:

my thots on this is if the origninal paint is so tough adhereing expensive to remove why not just leave it as nicely hand sanded down primier coat ready to color over.

Click to expand...

As I said earlier in the thread,

".... the MK3 paint is thin, soft, sands easily, and has lots of rust spots underneath. It's original, and hasn't been repainted, so it must have come from the factory that way....."

I need to strip the paint down to metal to remove the rust underneath. Dropping it all off at the blaster sounded like the easiest solution, but turned out to be too expensive for me. I'll go back to some combination of using paint stripper, and/or my sandblaster, sandpaper, 3M pads, degreaser, metal etch, and then a complete re-paint. Nasty chemicals, grit in my hair, cramps in my hands, what could be more fun than that?

Ken

What could be better? A cheaper price.. I think I would do it myself too. One thing we have to take into account is that the paints of today are not the same as 30 or 40 years ago. Enamels don't seem to hold their sheen as well or be as durable as in the past. This is basically the DYI stuff. Professional catalyzed paints are another thing I suspect. It wouldn't surprise me if corners where cut at Norton if delivery times got squeezed. Maybe some got primer and maybe some didn't. Maybe some got multiple coats while others got only one or two. The VHT high temp engine paint seems really durable and nice if it's cured properly but it does have to be brought up to200° for an hour or so or it will never care completely. I used it on a welded muffler bracket where the chrome had gotten destroyed and it looks good and is literally hard as a rock.

I repainted the frame on my 1973 Interstate 850 when it was about 4 years old and I got the impression that it had never had any primer on it. I used cellulose primer and then 2 pack acrylic paint as I was working in the car body repair trade at the time, and it's still good now.

A new tidbit of info about Commando frame paint, per Roy Bacon. For the MK3 in 1975 Norton switched to an epoxy paint. He doesn't say what they used before that. That might explain the difference I'm seeing between my MK3 frame paint and previous Commando frames.

What difference(s) do you see in the paint ?

If you're going to spray bomb a frame (use Rustoleum myself with durable results) be sure and pick the right primer. If it's mainly old paint with sanded areas use a sealer primer. If it is completely stripped use an etching primer. You can follow both with scratch filling primer. Autoparts stores usually carry Rustoleum or Duplicolor spray cans of these.

Rohan said:

What difference(s) do you see in the paint ?

Click to expand...

"...I found the paint on the older frames (1971-1973, mostly) to be reasonably durable, with good film thickness and hardness, with high gloss, and with clean metal underneath. By contrast, the MK3 paint is thin, soft, sands easily, and has lots of rust spots underneath. It's original, and hasn't been repainted, so it must have come from the factory that way...."

Other than that, visually comparing the two MK3 frames I have with the original paint on a '70s frame, they are pretty similar, except the MK3s seem to have a thinner paint coat, and the finish is not quite as glossy as the earlier one. It's not a difference that would leap out at you. The MK3 frames both seem to have suffered more from paint loss and corrosion. That's not enough samples to be sure, but it really seems to me that the paint on the MK3 frames is not as durable.

Ken

Thanks Ken.
Not a good advertisement for epoxy paints, is it. ?
Early version of though, it must be said ?

Some of these modern paints are amazing.
I got of set of sidecovers that have been painted with something that I can barely even sand.
Looks like it might be some sort of fibreglass, sure is tough.
If it wasn't a dull looking orange, I should have kept it...