Sunday, August 3, 2014

Painting the Frame & Parts

Painting is an area that I elected not to tackle. The finish of a vehicle makes or breaks its value. Not only do I have limited skills in this area I am not interested in investing the time and money necessary to be successful in it. I enjoy the mechanical aspects of restoration and will stick to that. Precision Motorcycle Painting in South Bend Indiana advertises with the International Norton Owners Association which I have been a member of since 1989. I have had good luck using sources that work with my fellow Norton club members and thought I would give them a try. The work on their web page looked good too.


The Hornet was purchased from a family of very successful demolition derby car drivers. They won events all over the mid west and dominated our local fair 18 out of the 20 years in which they participated in it. The reason this is brought up is that the bike must have been in the barn where they sprayed their cars. It had a tint of many colors with gold, green and blue being the most prevalent.  I cleaned all of the oil off of the painted parts and sandblasted those that needed fixing. Most parts were still painted when taken to Precision Motorcycle Painting.  They sandblasted, primed, and then sprayed all parts with three coats of paint. Overall I am very pleased with the paint work. It looks as good as or better than new. The Hornet has matching numbers and the frame number is visible through the paint. One of the reasons I elected not to powder coat the bike was that I did not want to cover up the number as I figured this would reduce the final value of the bike. People who have gone the powder coating rout also told me it is difficult to touch up. They also said not to go the powder coating rout if you are after an authentic restoration.  Painted parts are on the shelf and ready for reassembly this fall.



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