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Norton Colours and Paints

Various sources

Also Steve Wilson

Some modern paint alternatives for Norton restorers

 

NORTON  PAINT  EQUIVALENTS

The following Table lists various paints, suggested from a number of sources

There are no guarantees offered that these match and from the descriptions,
many of these colours may by now be obsolete or difficult to obtain

We are interested to hear about
satisfactory matches from contemporary paints
 
 
COLOUR MODELS APPROXIMATE  EQUIVALENT
 Silver  International  Volkswagen Beetle Silver
 Polychromatic Grey  Wideline Twins  Volkswagen Platin 32686M or
 Talbot Steel Grey Metallic 397 or
 Ford Granada Pearl Grey Metallic
 Dove Grey  Twins  Dove Grey C1063 or
 British Leyland AB32 Arabian Grey or
 Volkswagen Pearl White or Ford
 Forest Green  ES2 and Model 50  Rover Cameron Green B266 or
 Vauxhall Laurel 4635
 Norton Red  Jubilee / Model 88 De Luxe  Berger Post Office Red or
 Ford Monaco Red
 Off White  Twins  British Leyland Pale Ivory YL1
 Cream  Twins  Audi Atlas White 6808
 Silver Grey  Electra, 650SS / Atlas  Ford Silver Fox GM25411
 Atlantic (Tunisian) Blue   Model 99 De Luxe / Mercury   Chrysler Caribbean Blue 80 GL24435
 Silver  1950 to 1955 fuel tanks  Silver Birch GL3404/M
 Grenadier Red  Commando  Peugeot Talbot Cherry YAR054
 Silver  Commando  Opel Silver 135 *
 JPN Red  Commando  British Leyland Flame Red
 JPN Blue  Commando  Rootes Ming Blue
 Norvil Yellow  Commando  Renault Canary Yellow
 Alpha Romeo Giallo Yellow
     
* The version of this paint manufactured by Sikkens has been reported as far too dark a colour

Cylinder Barrel Painting

I have tried brush on Hermetite in the past but found that the coating seemed quite porous and it was not very long before the fins were looking rusty and shabby. A spray on finish could be the answer. I popped into Mick Hemmings on the way to Norton day and he was just then in the process of painting some barrels. He recommends an undercoat of Wurth Heat Resistant Matt Black lacquer spray. This is a German paint, but if you can't find a stockist, then you can buy some from Mick. This should be followed by top coats of PJ1 Gloss Black Engine Spray Paint. This is an American paint and again, Mick can supply a tin if you cannot find a source.

With both paints, Mick bakes the parts in the oven 'at the highest setting, for a long time'. I have tried this on my barrels and although I haven't yet run the bike, it certainly looks very impressive. The Wurth is capable of withstanding 650oC and seems to provide an excellent key to the bare metal surface. The PJ1 then gives a lovely thick 'wet look' gloss covering that seems to seal the surface well. I used Gas Mark 8 for about 20 minutes.

Preparation is very important - I blasted my barrels with glass bead media which worked very well, but it took ages to make sure that ALL the grains of glass were removed as the media had found its way past the masking. Just a few grains down a blind threaded hole could easily come out during a rebuild and wreck an engine. Be careful and expect it to take time; don't just assume that a blasting firm will clean the parts up to the required standard.

Jeremy Nicholls in Roadholder

 

 

 


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