Handlebar Controls need a facelift

Restoring my 75 850 Mk3 and just could not bring myself to installing the handlebar controls without trying to make them look new again. They are very weathered and the white lettering is worn out.

Do I spray paint them black?

What do I use for the white lettering?

Has anyone done this?

Any thoughts on how to go about this would be appreciated.



Thanks

Chuck

Hi Chuck,
If they were mine I'd treat them to a session in a bead blasting cabinet and bring them down to bare metal.
Once the paint is off you could leave them that way or opt for paint. After that you could repaint the letters by wiping a
gob of paint across them cleaning off the excess with a rag, the paint would (should) fill in the letters. If you want to get carried away
you could send them out for chroming !!!!!!!
GB

Sadly these are from the era when every part on the machine had to have some instruction, specifcation, directions or disclaimer. I'd suggest you get the parts either bead blasted or vapour honed. The media has to be micro and gentle otherwise those alloy parts could erode pretty quick and leave you with less than you started with. Painting them is not simple. The bodies can be epoxy enamelled, but then you have to very carefully with a super fine pointy artist brush pick in the lettering detail in white epoxy enamel. Take the challenge to a model hobbyists club!

Mick

ML said:

Has anyone done this?

Click to expand...

I repainted both my MkIII's switch housings some years ago. And it was just a simple strip and repaint job as far as I was concerned.

I removed the old paint with paint stripper, and then gave them a rub down with a medium grade of 'wet or dry' paper (probably 250 or 400 grade, I can't remember) and then sprayed them with (if I remember correctly?) black PJ1.

When the black paint was dry, I used white enamel paint to fill in the lettering, and again, if I remember correctly (as it must have been at least five years ago), I dabbed it on with a small piece of sponge and then quickly wiped off the excess paint using a piece of rag pulled tightly over small flat block which stopped the rag from wiping the paint out of the lettering.

I did exactly as Les described on my Mk3 rebuild last year, but used a small air gun to coat the bodies with primer , then semi-gloss black. After the black was fully dried, I applied white appliance enamel with a fine brush, then ran a rag over the lettering. Les' idea of a firm backing to the rag is a good one. I'm happy with the results.

I started the task by chemically stripping the bodies. I have a media blaster but was afraid it would soften the edges of the indented letters.

Thanks all for the great suggestions.

Chuck