Powdercoat the barrells?

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I've decided it's time to tear down the 750 Racer and check over the engine. The barrells are looking a bit tatty and I spoke to a powdercoating specialist who do a high temp powdercoat for cylinders which I think looks nice. They do a charcoal grey with a satin finish that I like.

However.... I tired to remove the original coating from my barrells and by heck it's tough. Paint stripper didn't touch it and I really don't want to get too aggressive with sandblasting, so....what is the original coating and what takes it off?

I know photos are popular here so:-

Powdercoat the barrells?


Powdercoat the barrells?
 
Howdy John, Yes mine were exactly that, Hard as hell. Blast would'nt touch them.
So they sat them in an acid bath for three days, really softened them up and cleaned them out.
Then got blasted. Then got bored. Then got painted.
Gee she looks nice, you better bring her down to Mac Park next time.
 
I'm thinking of turning her into a road bike, 'cos I've got a BM racer that's in the same class and a bit faster.
 
AussieCombat said:
Howdy John, Yes mine were exactly that, Hard as hell. Blast would'nt touch them.
So they sat them in an acid bath for three days, really softened them up and cleaned them out.
Then got blasted. Then got bored. Then got painted.
Gee she looks nice, you better bring her down to Mac Park next time.

Weren't you concerned about the acid affecting the bores?
 
Wow that's pretty. Love the blue & silver. I don't see a fitting for a oil line on the left side of the head. What's up with that?
 
Earlier 750 heads were top oilers.

That is one good looking business bike.
 
pommie john said:
I'm thinking of turning her into a road bike, 'cos I've got a BM racer that's in the same class and a bit faster.
I think you should look into your engine instead of making it even nicer than she already is
A bm faster than a commando ?
A bm handling better than a featherbed?

PS soda blasting will take all your paint off ,without damaging anything else (no metal being removed...)
 
I would be questioning the ability of the coating to conduct heat. Most powdercoats are rather thick and are pretty good insulators and tend to hold the heat in. I raced with a fellow some years back who used regular black powdercoat on his barrels and had trouble with pinging until he stripped them and rattle canned them black. Jim
 
is powdercoat the same as plastic coat?
if it is , avoid it like the plague ,as comnoz said
I also dislike ik because it looks like what it is :plastic and on cycleparts you have to remove it where bolts etc are sitting .If you don,t the bike will do it for you.
also if it get chipped moisture will get under it and rust the part ,but only under the plastic where you cannot see it.
It is ok for bms and jc i suppose.....
 
Hey Swoosh, yes I was concerned to start with, untill I was reassured by the rebore guy, who I have known for
35 years. I didn't ask what Acid is used, but needed to be bored and painted quickly after Blasting.

Powdercoat the barrells?


Quite common to dip Auto carbies as well, to clean them out, not sure about Amals.
 
Hi Pommyjohn

She would make a very nice road bike then you would be able to ride it every day as I do with my 850 Featherbed Norton, some nice winding roads up our way.

Ashley
 
AussieCombat said:
Hey Swoosh, yes I was concerned to start with, untill I was reassured by the rebore guy, who I have known for
35 years. I didn't ask what Acid is used, but needed to be bored and painted quickly after Blasting.

Powdercoat the barrells?


Quite common to dip Auto carbies as well, to clean them out, not sure about Amals.


What paint did you use?

It seems the powdercoating gets the thumbs down from the forum.
 
lynxnsu said:
pommie john said:
I'm thinking of turning her into a road bike, 'cos I've got a BM racer that's in the same class and a bit faster.
I think you should look into your engine instead of making it even nicer than she already is
A bm faster than a commando ?
A bm handling better than a featherbed?

PS soda blasting will take all your paint off ,without damaging anything else (no metal being removed...)


Will soda blasting work on the barrells? The original coating is very hard.

The BM is faster than the Norton but I can't say it handles better. The BM has 92 horsepower at the rear wheel, the Norton has around 60. Also , the Norton is very original, it has a genuine pair of crankcases, genuine barrells, etc etc no Maney replica parts on it. Not even carillo rods, so I don't want to over stress the engine too much.

Here's the Bavarian Money Waster. Yep that's a JPN fairing, I had to get a Norton part on there somewhere :)

Powdercoat the barrells?
 
When I took my barrels in to be powdercoated the guy there told me I should have had it coated before I had it bored. He told me he had some complaints about warping the barrels due to the heat used in baking. It turned out it wasn't so much the level of heat used but it involved the fact that they just pull the racks and let them air cool. He said you can hear things twang like a cookie sheet. He also said that alloy cylinders seemed to be the ones most at risk. Just one more thing to think about regarding powdercoat.
 
I don't care what the "experts" say about it being okay to powdercoat cylinders, I DISAGREE.

Powdercoating DEFINITELY holds heat in. NOT GOOD in air-cooled bikes.

Logic is what it is, opinions are what they are.
 
I found that oven cleaner or a strong caustic soda solution works pretty well for striping paint/powder coat, however it can only be used with steel/iron parts definitely not aluminum
 
pommie john said:
lynxnsu said:
pommie john said:
I'm thinking of turning her into a road bike, 'cos I've got a BM racer that's in the same class and a bit faster.
I think you should look into your engine instead of making it even nicer than she already is
A bm faster than a commando ?
A bm handling better than a featherbed?

PS soda blasting will take all your paint off ,without damaging anything else (no metal being removed...)


Will soda blasting work on the barrells? The original coating is very hard.

The BM is faster than the Norton but I can't say it handles better. The BM has 92 horsepower at the rear wheel, the Norton has around 60. Also , the Norton is very original, it has a genuine pair of crankcases, genuine barrells, etc etc no Maney replica parts on it. Not even carillo rods, so I don't want to over stress the engine too much.

Here's the Bavarian Money Waster. Yep that's a JPN fairing, I had to get a Norton part on there somewhere :)

Powdercoat the barrells?


YES IT WILL i mean soda blasting will take anything off apart from metal ( i will try to post some pics of my powdercoated barrels after blasting )

Ps that bavarian thing has got some treatment your NORTON should have got , you looked after frame mods and even diff front suspension (japanese?), stop wasting money on that ugly thing and invest in that beauty you have
Blueprinting a std NORTON can produce some fast and tricky machinery
 
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