40 Year Old Tank
- Thread starter bentrod
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My black-n-gold 850 tank did not look quite like that, nor that decal.....
Twin pinstripes makes it an 850 tank - and the factory pinstripes merged the 2 stripes into 1 along the top and back of the tank.
So, no, these are not factory pinstripes, nor decal, its been re-done at some point. ?
Has polished up well though.
Better paint than the factory put on them ? - which was criticised as being a bit thin at the time, on some tanks anyway.
Twin pinstripes makes it an 850 tank - and the factory pinstripes merged the 2 stripes into 1 along the top and back of the tank.
So, no, these are not factory pinstripes, nor decal, its been re-done at some point. ?
Has polished up well though.
Better paint than the factory put on them ? - which was criticised as being a bit thin at the time, on some tanks anyway.
Did you buy this tank on a new bike ?
We'll wait and see what others say about that decal and pinstriping, wouldn't be the 1st time Nortons had more than 1 way of doing things.
Around the front curve/join of your tank, (ahead of the fuel cap), we can see some of the original paint where it hasn't been fully stripped off prior to refinishing ?
Cheers.
We'll wait and see what others say about that decal and pinstriping, wouldn't be the 1st time Nortons had more than 1 way of doing things.
Around the front curve/join of your tank, (ahead of the fuel cap), we can see some of the original paint where it hasn't been fully stripped off prior to refinishing ?
Cheers.
Its not cloud reflections.
Looks like all the old paint wasn't quite all removed.
Its those several little bumps and lumps on the back of the raised join on the neck of the tank - straight ahead of the filler cap, 2 or 3 inches forward.
I refinished my 850 tank back in 1977 - bought it as a crash.
Better paint after than before....
I'd say yours is the same...
Lets see the underside of the tank ?
Looks like all the old paint wasn't quite all removed.
Its those several little bumps and lumps on the back of the raised join on the neck of the tank - straight ahead of the filler cap, 2 or 3 inches forward.
I refinished my 850 tank back in 1977 - bought it as a crash.
Better paint after than before....
I'd say yours is the same...
Lets see the underside of the tank ?
You are ignoring the little lump and bump on the upturned seam on the neck of the tank.
As shown in the little insert on the pic above.
A sure sign this tank has been refinished.
Unless you have a better explanation...
An underside view of this tank could be instructive too.
Painters often don't take the extra time to do things 100%, and this is often where it shows...
As shown in the little insert on the pic above.
A sure sign this tank has been refinished.
Unless you have a better explanation...
An underside view of this tank could be instructive too.
Painters often don't take the extra time to do things 100%, and this is often where it shows...
You are not going to show the underside of your tank ?
Convince me...
This is the 40 year old Interstate tank that I have.
Thats its factory box its sitting on.
Correct decal, pinstriping, and thin weak paint for a factory finished tank.
If you look closely, orange peel and slight bubbles in the paint.
Not flawless, by any means.
Note too how close together the pinstripes are.
Convince me...
This is the 40 year old Interstate tank that I have.
Thats its factory box its sitting on.
Correct decal, pinstriping, and thin weak paint for a factory finished tank.
If you look closely, orange peel and slight bubbles in the paint.
Not flawless, by any means.
Note too how close together the pinstripes are.
Yes but there's an alien standing in the background, same species as in the movie "ET" you can tell by the shape of it's head and long fingers!bentrod said:Ok, so now I guess your going to tell me that it's not a reflection of me taking the picture you see on the tank.
Art
Are you going to touch up the pin strips and apply a few coats of clear? Cut polish doesn't work too many times before exposing primer.
This is the "original" tank off an 850 I had about 1977.
Only its not so original at all - this whole side of the tank was crushed in when I got it.
As a look at the underside of the tank will soon show.
Its not black-n-gold cause I didn't want another blackngold bike....
Only its not so original at all - this whole side of the tank was crushed in when I got it.
As a look at the underside of the tank will soon show.
Its not black-n-gold cause I didn't want another blackngold bike....
One of the criticisms of the 850 bikes at the time was that the pinstripe gold didn't match the gold decals (vinyl).
This is an 850 sidecover (obviously) original factory finish.
Replaced off a bike in 1977 - its dented and marked - easier to buy new ones back then than get them redone.
Those were the days....
This is an 850 sidecover (obviously) original factory finish.
Replaced off a bike in 1977 - its dented and marked - easier to buy new ones back then than get them redone.
Those were the days....
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bentrod said:I been advocating System One cutting polish on other forums, I thought I'd show you guys what it can do for a 40 year old Commando tank.
I was unable to save the paint on the side covers, but very happy I could save the original paint on the tank.
Art
I think it looks good, thanks for posting
I don't think that is original lining and paintwork and I'm sure that it's not an original 850 decal. However, the originals weren't lacquered so that could have been changed. Has this tank been lacquered over ? If not then any hint of cutting compound would normally remove the colour from the decals.
Here's some more pics, taken with a cell phone. I haven't touched the underside of the tank as yet. You can see rust in places and that there is no overspray on the rubber tank cushions. The white specs are from the cutting polish splash. The decals are not covered with clear. Is there any doubt that the pin stripe is not original? You can see where is has been worn off in places. I taped over the pin stripe before I buffed the tank , I didn't want to take a chance of buffing them off.
BTW, I think this is a testiment to how well this cutting polish works. It has some thinking this is fresh or newly fresh paint. I should have taken pictures of what it looked like before.
Art
BTW, I think this is a testiment to how well this cutting polish works. It has some thinking this is fresh or newly fresh paint. I should have taken pictures of what it looked like before.
Art
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- Dec 21, 2008
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Two pictures of 850 Roadster tanks from 1973, in red and blue. The blue is from the 1973 Norton sales brochure, and the red tank sold recently on eBay.
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