Engine Paint and Painting

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boostedsuby said:
There be pirates in them waters. They be takin' yer threads and twistin' 'em to all manner 'o meanings what have nothin' to do with yer question, Matey. I've seen it 'appen with me own two eyes. Well, back afore that dark-souled devil of a parrot prysed out me other'n for 'is dinner, that is.
Click to expand...


At first I didn't get it, but now LMAO!

Sorry about taking yer question to levels above and beyond yer expectations....but that 'appens on these forums (or is it for-eye?)
 
I know , I know it's a hijack but it has morphed so far I don't feel too badly about it....matey. Regarding the finish though, in case no one else comments, I'll add that I've owned this bike since new, bought at Harry's Motors in Denver off the floor in 1975, and the barrel finish is as I've discribed.
 
My last reply was all in good fun and honestly could not be helped :) I got time, so the natural course that it has taken is no bother at all.
 
Gee, all along I thought that the lousy fin surface finish on my Mk 3 was just due to poor workmanship; now I realize it was to increase the surface area of the cooling fins and was there on purpose! The same for the aluminum parts which seem to tarnish as fast as you can polish them giving added cooling. LOL
 
texasSlick said:
OK....one more post to completely wrap this up! Wakeup makes two good points.....first, it does not matter how you achieve surface roughness....either by leaving the sand casting texture (a jumble of mountains and valleys ), or by blasting depressions into the surface. It does not take much roughness to induce turbulence, and like most things in life, a little may be good, but more not necessarily better. Secondly, he points out that matte black is preferable to gloss. Matte black has a higher emissivity (scientific speak for Stefan's constant) than gloss.

For those who just have to spiffy up your jugs, you have my permission to sand and polish the fin EDGES, then matte black spray the jugs, next using a roller, gloss black paint the edges. Theoretically this goes against all that has been said above, but the edges account for an insignificant percentage of the fin's heat transfer, so you do not lose much. In fact, this is exactly how I intend to treat my jugs when I swap out my high compression pistons for lower CR.

Oh....why do I have high CR pistons? Because on a transcontinental trip, I took my Atlas onto the Bonneville salt flats, not knowing the salt was hard and dry only limited times a year, and got brine over everything, which turned white when it dried. Even tho' I was a graduate engineer and should have known better, I failed to wash it off (being 3 days late for graduate classes 2000 miles away, having dallied too Long in San Francisco with a hot mamma, may have had something to do with it). At first, everything was cool (pun intended), but when I got down to lower elevation flatlands, and the air temp. heated up, I overheated the Norton, destroying one piston and bending up a valve. So lest anyone still think color does not matter......
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Sorry to burst your engineering bubble, but it was the INSULATING EFFECT of the dried salt and NOT the color that did you in. See it all the time on dirt bikes and ATV's... not salt but mud. Same end result.
 
Just curious, what silver paint will survive the wash with gasoline every time it's tickled? :?: :shock: I know Urethane will, but it's a high build deal, won't look anything like orig. Just curious 8)
 
concours said:

"Sorry to burst your engineering bubble, but it was the INSULATING EFFECT of the dried salt and NOT the color that did you in. See it all the time on dirt bikes and ATV's... not salt but mud. Same end result."

It was both! How much due to each? Who knows.....

I agree, mud is not good....especially if it occludes the fins.

If the intent of your post is to alert the readers of this thread and forum, the importance of keeping mud, salt, etc off your cylinders....good. The tone of your post was more to debunk the importance of color....I say to you..." paint your jugs any color you like "

I say to any other readers of this thread..."if you contemplate painting your jugs any color but black, and agree with the above post, do some more research first."

This forum is, or ought to be, a place where we all benefit by the exchange of our academic knowledge, or dirty finger nail experience (sometimes more valuable than academic). If you have something to contribute, do so, but only if you are essentially sure you are correct, otherwise qualify it.

Sorry if anyone thinks I've gotten "testy"..... I will not allow anyone coming to this forum to leave with incorrect, incomplete, or Ill advice if is within my power to prevent it.
 
boostedsuby said:
I've read a bit here about the Commando engines being painted silver after a certain point in their production. For the record, my frame tag says 7/74 and it was painted, as was the transmission. Has anyone happened to find a close match for the factory silver? I am going to pull the top end so that I can repaint the barrels and while I'm there, I'll service the head, hone the bores and put in fresh rings, so long as nothing is out of spec. Can anyone see any compelling reason to go deeper into a running 9k mile engine or suggest anything else to address while I have the top off?
Click to expand...

Just to recap. :lol:

The thread starter asked if anyone had a match for the silver paint on his Commando engine and transmission,he then made the mistake of mentioning he would repaint the barrel/cylinder.
I personally do not know of a match for the silver but did post a link to vapour blasting when that question was asked (by the OP)
Old age,gotta love it. :lol: :lol:
 
texasSlick said:
concours said:

"Sorry to burst your engineering bubble, but it was the INSULATING EFFECT of the dried salt and NOT the color that did you in. See it all the time on dirt bikes and ATV's... not salt but mud. Same end result."

It was both! How much due to each? Who knows.....

I agree, mud is not good....especially if it occludes the fins.

If the intent of your post is to alert the readers of this thread and forum, the importance of keeping mud, salt, etc off your cylinders....good. The tone of your post was more to debunk the importance of color....I say to you..." paint your jugs any color you like "

I say to any other readers of this thread..."if you contemplate painting your jugs any color but black, and agree with the above post, do some more research first."

This forum is, or ought to be, a place where we all benefit by the exchange of our academic knowledge, or dirty finger nail experience (sometimes more valuable than academic). If you have something to contribute, do so, but only if you are essentially sure you are correct, otherwise qualify it.

Sorry if anyone thinks I've gotten "testy"..... I will not allow anyone coming to this forum to leave with incorrect, incomplete, or Ill advice if is within my power to prevent it.
Click to expand...
Sorry to have offended.
 
The vapo(u)r blasting video was interesting. Beautiful results, but I don't want to split the cases. While cleaning the grime off I did notice that the paint was not sprayed, but brushed. In several places I found brush marks and a bristle encased in the paint at the rear of the engine. Interesting, I thought.
 
I've not looked in prior but I was pleased by the GunKote brush or spray on that engine running will bake set no problemo plus all the protection and heat transmision combustion things like. Can search up to find other brands and colors. These coats need a few coats as are very thin and will not change the surface texture detectably like thicker paint will. They do need good application to prevent rust long time and trickey place are the fin valleys. As road use and maitainance chores take their nicks and nips I finally decided that rattle can for easy retouch was most practical for me. The epoxy paints seem a bit tougher shinier but not that much and harder to re touch evenly.
 
Did my jugs not too long ago. Took advise found here and used small brush to do the interior of the fins
first and finalized with light spray coats. Used engine block paint, baked in oven when done.
(Im single, I can do that) :-)
 
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