Original Fibreglass Metal Flake Tanks

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Ron L said:
Can't say I have ever seen a solid blue fiberglass tank (save for the '72 Interstate tank)
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Same here, and those were dark blue (or at least the ones I've seen were).

Thanks for posting that brochure, Ron. The blue Fastback, at least in the photo, looks a little lighter than my tank and does not appear (in the photo) to have the large metal flake like mine. The other bike I mentioned was a 69 or 70, had its original blue metalflake gelcoat, and was definitely lighter than my tank. It could have faded from being parked outside for a couple of decades, but the color looked fairly uniform.

I actually bought my tank off ebay, so I don't know what year it really is. My bike's original bodywork was orange but had been repainted black (and was bubbling due to a crack in the tank).

Debby
 
Thats quite interesting Ron that u have an original steel tank that came out in the metallic blue colour, i only thought it was on the fibreglass tanks, good too know, i guess it doesnt really matter what one does as even from fatory there was some differences.

Thanks
 
Sorry about the two button hits, old age I think and no patience.
ADAM Seymour Motorcycles Bits and Pieces Ph 0242722193 Shop 3 Fourth Ave Unanderra . He said the type of fibre glass resin he used was ok with ethanol but I would coat it with one of the products available. Search back there has been a lot of info and advice on which type of tank coatings to use. The one I used has only been in the tank for about 12 months and is still ok but some have said that as it is a hard coating it will fail at some time in the future. Time will tell.
Ian
 
Metal flake colours were deffernately available in steel tank and side cover models, a freind i have ridden with since the 70's still has a steel tank combat in metal flake bronze.
Al
 
Here is a picture of the what I call Fireflake blue from my original Apr. '69 (registered in '70) 'S'. It is the area under the tophat shaped gaskets on the rear of the panels, so it should be undisturbed for 41 years until I pulled the gasket off and made a photo of it. As you can see, it has silver flakes, black flakes and a blue base. It's the old gel coat, I don't know how they did it, but when I sand off the gel coat, the black and blue is still there, the silver seems to disappear.

Original Fibreglass Metal Flake Tanks


Dave
69S
 
This is a photo of the steel tank from my '74. Sorry but my camera was not up to a closer shot without blurring. The paint is coming off the tank so I could actually send somebody a chip of it if it would be any help.




Russ
 

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Original Fibreglass Metal Flake Tanks

Not the best photo, but I think you can see it is a little darker than Russ's. If you see it up close, you can see the dark specks among the mettalic (mica) flecks.

I have never seen the dark flecks in '74 paint.
 
I am getting ready to paint my F/G tank with Metal Specks Blue. But I am wondering, I can just make out the outline of the old Norton logo on the side, and comparing it with the new decal I got from Old Britts, the original was taller and longer, height is hard to tell how much, width is about 1/2" longer and the N looks to be bigger. Also, I notice on the new decal, the gold outline is very thin, less than 1/16" , hardly visible. I remember the original had a definite visible gold outline, probably on the order of 3/16" or more. Is there anywhere I can get a better or more to my liking decal in Black with the gold outline? Or do I need to have someone paint it on or perhaps one made?

Dave
69S
 
Dave have you still got my email address? if so drop me a email with what you are after as a freind here in New Zealand makes a lot of reproduction decals and other bits which he exports to dealers around the world i got a set for my 70- tank decals black with gold outline sidecovers gold with black outline.
Al
 
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