AKA basket case 1970 Commando

I have a pallet of parts, AKA basket case 1970 Commando. I hope most of the fun is ahead, opening the pallet of shrink wrap was fun. I made a quick deal to purchase and the surprise was okay. I in the middle of an inventory of what’s there and of course what’s not there. I've got 2 engines and really not a lot of missing stuff. My first question is concerning the frame. The guy did what appears to be an excellent job of prepping the frame for paint. He had it sand blasted and painted an epoxy primer, it is a very nice smooth pale grey. The smoothness is one of my concerns, so smooth that I wonder how a final coat will adhere. the frame looks perfect! I wish it was black and I’d probably leave it. I looking for comments on paint and powder coating. this bike will not be a queen, I intend to make it a close to stock 1970 rider. I am trying to keep my $$ to a minimum, I will source missing parts from various sources such as eBay and Craig list. I have never had a "basket case" and for some reason, probably a few shiny parts :roll: , I bought it.
Paint the frame or powder coat it?
Thanks,
Kurt

kwb210 said:

Paint the frame or powder coat it?
Thanks,
Kurt

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Mother-lode of discussion on powdercoat here. Search away.

Well certainly painting is the cheaper route to go. With the primer being smooth that is okay. As any painter would do is lightly sand the frame with high grit sand paper.

Powder coat I know little about. But what I do know is that it is stronger than paint. By stronger I mean it chips less. It may last longer than paint as well.

So you have two engines. Well I'd like to talk with you more about the engine.

Like you, I too have a basket case. Mine is a 1969 Norton Commando Fastback 750. I paint residential and commercial buildings for my lively hood. I'm not exactly an automotive painter but the two do overlap.

Blindstitch said:

Well certainly painting is the cheaper route to go. With the primer being smooth that is okay. As any painter would do is lightly sand the frame with high grit sand paper.

Powder coat I know little about. But what I do know is that it is stronger than paint. By stronger I mean it chips less. It may last longer than paint as well.

So you have two engines. Well I'd like to talk with you more about the engine.

Like you, I too have a basket case. Mine is a 1969 Norton Commando Fastback 750. I paint residential and commercial buildings for my lively hood. I'm not exactly an automotive painter but the two do overlap.

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How far along or what kind of progress are you making? I think I noted I just got the pallet, geez, what a way to get a bike! I would like to see a check list of sorts to help me in what is missing. I have made a rough guess so far and am hiting ebay for some stuff, like an air cleaner box. My main goal in the next few months is to get the frame painted and work over the engines and see what they look like. The prior owner had NO info on the health of the engines. I am trying to take small steps so as not to be overwelmed into doing mindless things and not making any forward progress. I would sure welcome comments as to what others have done on basket cases.
What condition is your engine?
kurt

swooshdave said:

kwb210 said:

Paint the frame or powder coat it?
Thanks,
Kurt

Click to expand...

Mother-lode of discussion on powdercoat here. Search away.

Click to expand...

Good point, I forget about the search function. I'll check out the powder coat comments via searching, thanks.

kwb210 said:

I would like to see a check list of sorts to help me in what is missing. . . on basket cases.

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I provided the one that was used for the Michigan Norton Owner's charity bike build, it's one I use for all my projects. 100 line items +/-, broken down as - chassis, cycle parts, electrical/lighting, bottom end & top end. You can further break it down as to wheels, brakes, bodywork and whatever.

I have offered it on this forum before, I'll offer it again to anyone who can use it.

It's an Excel spreadsheet, so e-mail me for a copy grandpaulz at hotmail dot com

If you have a bare frame already, go for the powder coat. There are so many of us that would like to get our frame powder coated but it is just not worth stripping it all down just for that. Be couscous of many mounting point like swing arm pivots and what not. There is info on powder coating a Norton frame that discusses this very thing(maybe the Captain Norton links).

The chassis powdercoat masking scheme is on the Old Britts website, excellent reference.

I would recommend painting it in a nice two-pack, it sounds like all of the prep work and base coat has already been done, so it should be reasonably priced, it looks nicer than powder coat in my opinion, is easier to touch up if necessary and the masking problems aren't as critical.

Like Dave I have both powder coated and painted frames around. Everything gets chipped if you actually ride it and the painted ones are far easier to repair.
With my bike that does a couple of shows a year I seem to be a magnet for road stones. I must have at least six places I've spent time touching up and after fixing that big tank chip I got next fall it will be ready for shows neat summer.
This would be no problem if I trailered it like a couple of my friends, but where is the fun in that?