Frame powder coating

[BEESY]

got my tank and side panels sprayed in two pack. Talking to the painter, I think it's their preferred type of paint.

It's tough, fuel resistant and polishes up nicely. I'm very happy with it.

Like the powder coating, I'd chat to the painter and get his advice too.

[berniej]

I often wet paint parts that would be problematic for blasting/powser coating.

Chain guards can distort from the blasting proess and tanks of course can retain grit that's hard to remove.
Swinging arms with good-enough Silentblocs also might be best cold painted.

Is there any real advantage to two-pack though? I use Hammerite smooth aerosol on such parts and get very good results if I pay attention to surface prep and temperature.

Cheers,
Bernie

[spaceman]

Evening Spaceman, thanks again for a very detailed response, and I clearly understand your point about the merits of powder coating as opposed to painting and visa-versa. I'm fairly sure my frame will be good enough to powder coat effectively leaving a good smooth finish. In any event I've spoken to Tom, a very helpful guy at Banbury today and they'll happily use a base-coat on parts that require them and I was assured that wouldn't incur to much additional cost.

Just another piece of advice based on your considerable experience (if you're not running short on patience by now): would it be preferable to two-pack paint the cycle parts such as mudguards, oil tank, tool box etc. or could I expect to achieve as good a finish by powder coating these? And any thoughts on this from anybody with experience would be welcome. Cheers. 

It always depends on the quality of finish you are trying to achieve but, in general, most tinware needs to be repaired to some extent before painting using a filler to eliminate small dents or imperfections that would otherwise show up very clearly on a polished surface. It is possible to do this sort of repair prior to powder coating, and I have got it done on engine casings, but it is not something the likes of Banbury Powder Coaters offer. Therefore, for tinware, two-pack spray painting is the best approach for most people providing a very high gloss and tough finish that is more or less impervious to modern fuels especially on petrol tanks.

[Geoff Leake]

To Dean Southall:

Morning Dean, In your experience have you achieved as good or better results powder coating the cycle parts such as mudguards, oil tank, tool box etc. rather than painting them in two-pack?

[Mike Farmer]

 

I have frame, mudguards and engine bottom cases Powder coated. The job is good and smooth. BUT the finish is "flat" no real depth of shine. Its what I wanted but it aint a glossy finish.

Mike

[griffo]

  I had my C12 powder coated  at a place near Crewe, Close to J16 M6. They were brilliant and did a superb job. They stripped all the gunge off (bits I must have missed) and did a turn round in 2 weeks as I wasn't in a rush... Wilkinsons Powder Coating at Shavington is the place...

[chaz]

Ive used the same powder coaters for the past 20plus years, last year was the worst job Ive had done by them. They can RAL colour all their colours and also do sparkle gloss lacquer, leather touch as well as other options. They are a industrial powder coaters. For smaller parts I use a local chap who just does the basic colours, no frills. Both have a glossy finish apart from the Matt options.
In both cases, they blank off and protect bores and threads and then shot blast. no prep work by me. Im just left to remove bungs and tape from protected areas. the joys of using places with motorcycle departments.
Frame, oil tank, battery box, or the thicker parts and footrest forward controls etc powder coated but petrol tank and mudguards, the thinner metalwork I normally get two pack or custom painted. the last mudguards I had done also had a chip proof coating underneath.
never had the cases painted as I was told it keeps the heat in the engine, also the A50 (waiting for their return) was black with sparkle coated but had a lot of chipping and bare areas, also looking at another A65 motor that has also been coated but is badly chipped both of which will be /have been vapour blasted to remove.

[Mike Farmer]

 

The thing about powder on the engine. I understand that heat retention is the case with the fins on the barrel and head.
It should not be such a problem on the bottom cases. I'll let you know when its running (if)

Mike

[spaceman]

The air cooled engine on one of the (non-BSA) bikes I ride was rebuilt and powder coated fully in satin black. The job required a specialist powder coater because the engine bits needed to be soda rather than shot blasted and the masking was quite a challenge. Once painted, the engine must obviously run a number of degrees hotter because of the thermal conductivity of the powder coating on the finning but, on this particular bike, this is not a problem. 

[Geoff Leake]

Morning to all of you guys who've offered advice on this. I'm new to the BSAOC Forum but I have to say the response has been phenomenal! The interest shown in my project and the advice given by so many has been amazing and I'm very grateful. For the record, I've decided to powder coat the frame and paint the cycle parts, etc. in two-pack. Cheers and ride safe. Geoff

[Mike Farmer]

 

Thats the way of this forum, Always advice from guys who have "been there". You'll end up with a lot of info, mostly of---This Is What Worked For Me----sorta thing. I always found  a good start point here, then pursue any particular aspect

One thing I like in particular there are very seldom any disparaging remarks or "I told you so". Very adult and grown up approach. Very pleasing. Even when I once posted utter rubbish, none took umbrage about it. Made it easier for me to get my head around my foolish remark.


Mike

[Geoff Leake]

Mike Farmer thanks for those encouraging remarks.