I'm starting to prepare to get a 1936 16H back on the road.
The petrol tank is very shabbily painted and until that paint comes off we have no idea whether plating, painting or polishing will be the best way to go - in fact I'm not sure I want to over-restore the tank on a bike in otherwise good un-restored condition.
But more importantly it has a tank-top mounted instrument panel. I can't find any good photos of these on the web, and my books all seem to have black and white and mostly side-on views. Can anyone advise how these panels were finished? I would guess they were entirely chromed - but did they have lines? Or even transfers?
Thanks for any pointers.
Here is the bike- I said t…
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and thanks for the pic, Gl…
and thanks for the pic, Glen. I hope mine ends up nearly as pretty!
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I had a look through a cop…
I had a look through a copy of 'The Book of the Norton' by W.C. Haycraft which covers my 1938 model. In it is a chapter describing the various models as they were brought out. Under the petrol tank section it says, "Finish is in a lacquered chromium with handsome enamelled side panels". This was for all models bar 30 & 40. If you could get access to the same book but an earlier edition, which are available, it may give you the same kind of info. But on the other hand I have heard through the grapevine that tank finishes did vary from time to time and not all were chromed. I would love to get my hands on an original sales brochure and see what it has to say.
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Nice pictures Glenn, I hav…
Nice pictures Glenn, I haven't seen a Norton tank with the red stripe on the outside of the blue, is this correct?
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Hi Dave, I presume you mea…
Hi Dave,
I presume you mean black and not blue. When I got the bike it was already painted like this and I thought the fella that done it had stuffed up putting the red line on the outside of the black. The rest of the bike was put together that badly that I have only just got it on the road after a year and a half so as you can understand I was suspicious about the tank too ! I started doing a bit of research, luckily before changing it, and found a little bit of info on tank painting here. http://www.norton.uk.com/expert.htm I then found a thread in a forum somewhere but for the life of me can not find it for you now. Anyway, from memory, someone who was contributing to the thread actually knew someone who had worked in the paint department at Norton in the 30's. Apparently striping depended on how the bloke doing it felt on the day. "Hmmm, I think today is feeling like a red on the outside day". So then I started looking at as many 30's photos as I could find and sure enough there is no right or wrong way. So what do you feel like today ?
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I should add that although…
I should add that although the tank and panel are painted the striping and name on side of tank are actually stickers which I guess is a much cheaper way to go than having striping done. I've painted a numberplate for the front guard the same colour as tank and have tried 3 times now to pinstripe it myself using paint with red outside black. I'm still not happy with it. I must say when it comes to mechanical stuff I have a lot of patience but have none when it comes to painting. Needless to say the plate is going to a sign writers now and will just have sticker striping like the tank with year and model inside that.
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A lot of the difficulty wi…
A lot of the difficulty with pin striping is using the correct brush. If the bristles are long (very long maybe 2 inches long) then a) the brush holds enough paint to do a full length line and b) minor nervous trembling of the hand gets damped out. Once I did an old LandRover following advice from a friend who'd done some Gypsy caravans. He gave me a brush with bristles cut from the beard of his goat. It becomes sort of calmly therapuetic in the end - once you have plucked up the courage to go for it. Not sure where to buya 2 inch goat hair brushin London, but specialist artists suppliers sell slighlty shorter lining brushes for about £7 to £10. Not from Halfords...
I think that slightly imperfect brushed lines look better than perfectly parallel ones but of course it's a matter of personal preference.
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The 1936 brochure states t…
The 1936 brochure states that the tank-top panel was dull chromed and lacquered. I can't see any lining but Norton catalogue illustrations of this period tend to be heavily retouched, and / or the previous year's model.
[IMG]http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg164/commando16h/NOC/1936-04.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg164/commando16h/NOC/1936-05-1.jpg[/IMG]
1938's brochure has an even less detailed image and by 1939, the panel was no longer mentioned.
[IMG]http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg164/commando16h/NOC/1938p5.jpg[/IMG]
I've tried to load three scans at once onto this post...If the site Gremlins do fo them then I'll try separate posts.
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Richard Thank you very muc…
Richard
Thank you very much for all of this information - greatly appreciated.
I have removed the panel and the underside is naturally in better condition than the top. Tomorrow the paint stripper...fingers crossed...
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David, I have scans of the…
David, I have scans of the 1936, '38 and '39 brochures. I have a feeling that I pinched the '36 from somewhere on the web but I have originals of the later ones. If you'd like a copy, you can mail me via the board.
Rich.
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Thanks, Richard - I might…
Thanks, Richard - I might take you up on that for 1936 - my bike is 1937 which as far as I can work out is much the same. Build date Jan '37...I need to check what paper work the current owner has (I'm taking it on as a project).
Paint is now off (modern paint stripper is SLOW...) and as I thought the plating is too shabby to be re-polished. Lots of fine surface rust patches but not deeply pitted, most of the original nickel under-coat is still in place but rather less chrome. I might have been able to have it polished and plated but there is one small patch of filler (d***n). So it's going to be painted. But the chrome is lifting with fine corrosion beneath so it must come off. I've been advised on how to remove chrome electrolytically - but there then remains a horribly poisonous bath of caustic soda plus chromium 6. I might try oven cleaner - less residue - but any ideas welcome. I imagine if I just attack it with wet+dry I'll risk taking away surrounding steel before the remaining chrome - and the same applies to bead blasting etc. Probably.
The central panel has fine rust in patches spoiling what looks like it must have been a very attractive 'dull chrome' finish - a pale satin look. I'd like to get this re-plated even if nothing else is.
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Brilliant pictures Rik, I…
Brilliant pictures Rik, I would also love to see the rest of the brochures if you're sending them out please
Hi David, your tank can still bere-chromedand the dent removed. I have had this place recommended to me because my ES2 tank should be chromed and a friend has used this place a few times with great results. It might be worth giving them a call.
David Taylor Metal Finishing Co
Unit 10
Knightcott Ind Estate
Banwell
North Somerset
BS29 6JN
01934 820454
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I've used Collin's Chemi…
I've used Collin's Chemical Blacking for dull chrome plate and they achieved the best result that anyone has for me to date. Nothing major in my case, a rear brake pedal and a few small bits and pieces - on the pre and early-war WD bikes, all the normal bright chrome parts were dull plated. The finish that they can achieve is not quite as 'blue' as the original but it's very close.
Others I've spoken with have had some good and some not so good dull work from them. I suspect that using modern materials, it's a bit hit and miss whether it comes out looking like the finish from eighty-odd years ago.
Don't use anyone who talks about satin chrome - it's simply a brushed effect and nothing like the dull finish that we need.
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Here is the bike- I said the tank was shabby...
Attachments IMG_5750-image3.JPG