Obviously you've never talked to my wife.
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Painting Tins. No really...
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
Jus' when you thought you'd seen it all...
Early side cover plated (clad... whatever) in copper. That's right... plated in copper. I've seen chrome before, not copper though. Shame it isn't in a bit better shape, I'd swap William one of mine, polish this one and hang it in the garage.
Oh, and the tanks down to bare metal.
Early side cover plated (clad... whatever) in copper. That's right... plated in copper. I've seen chrome before, not copper though. Shame it isn't in a bit better shape, I'd swap William one of mine, polish this one and hang it in the garage.
Oh, and the tanks down to bare metal.
Do they copper plate before chrome? Seems an odd thing to have there.
Didn't put two and two together, but y'all are prolly right. As a guess then.... prolly plated the copper, found a flaw they didn't like and pulled it off the rack rather than waste a chrome step on it. Interesting.
Yeah, flat black will hide a bunch of sins.
The back of that cover is also clad in copper, but unpolished. And then covered with grey primer for some reason. The unpolished back implies that someone went to the trouble of polishing the front. So maybe that was the final look, with no further plating intended?
I've already completely forgotten where that copper cover came from, but it was the only piece in the pile like it.
An early steampunk XS?
It’s my understanding that in triple chrome plating the copper layer is applied heavily and then polished. The slick chrome finish is dependent upon the copper finish.
The copper serves almost like a primer/filler. Copper is applied, sanded then reapplied if necessary to fill any imperfections then nickel for color and chrome for gloss and hardness. In the case of pitted pot metal pieces, they will fill the pits with solder, sand it smooth then plate it as described above.
Tank, side cover and shock covers got their first prime.
The headlight bucket is gonna need a little TLC though. Pitting on the bottom went through the metal
JB Weld to the rescue!
Still need to clean up and prime the ears, so I'll do the bodywork on the tank and covers... and then prime the rest on the second tank and covers prime.
The headlight bucket is gonna need a little TLC though. Pitting on the bottom went through the metal
JB Weld to the rescue!
Still need to clean up and prime the ears, so I'll do the bodywork on the tank and covers... and then prime the rest on the second tank and covers prime.
Looking good. Bummer on the headlight. I have another if you prefer and can wait for it to arrive.
Nah... when I'm done with this one you'll never know it had holes in it. These old bits of tin are too old and valuable to give up on. Never say die.
The J B Weld cured up inside the bucket. The "normal" half of my brain said "it's a friggin bucket Jim... and on the inside no less... let it be."
The OCD half said "screw that, grab some sandpaper!" Guess which half I obeyed?
When the top of the tank has more dings than ya got fingers, there's only one way... a skim coat over the whole area.
Fingers crossed, I should get the second prime on tomorrow. If I'm really lucky, I can seal it.
The OCD half said "screw that, grab some sandpaper!" Guess which half I obeyed?
When the top of the tank has more dings than ya got fingers, there's only one way... a skim coat over the whole area.
Fingers crossed, I should get the second prime on tomorrow. If I'm really lucky, I can seal it.
After doing painting myself and the HOURS I have spent so far, I have an even greater respect for what you do Jim 
I would not have traded the experience to have someone else do it. that has been the theme of my 78 XS650 (do it all myself)
I would not have traded the experience to have someone else do it. that has been the theme of my 78 XS650 (do it all myself)
Primed and ready.
Color tomorrow maybe. Got two rotors in over the weekend to rewind, so maybe do that tomorrow and color in Wed? Decisions decisions...
Color tomorrow maybe. Got two rotors in over the weekend to rewind, so maybe do that tomorrow and color in Wed? Decisions decisions...
Quite the transformation from what you started with. Would look pretty good on a bike as is.
