Engine Cover Respray

[nice2day]

Just thought I'd show the cases I sprayed. Acid Etch Primed and then baked on ceramic engine enamel.
I'm quite pleased with the result.
Double click any photo to see the surface finish

Les

[DAVID THOMPSON]

when you get it done lock it up
so someone does not relieve you of it with no payments

[Blurredman]

Looks lovely

[Puffs]

Looks great Les!

[nice2day]

Thanks Chaps...it actually looks more silver in real life. The paint was an aerosol VHT SP995 Engine Enamel. I have used literally hundreds of cans of spray paint over the years but this product is really excellent as it sprays particularly well with a steel pin spray nozzle which never drips or clogs and produces a very even spray. The real bonus is that you bake it at 100C for 20 minutes and it becomes very hard wearing. I am tempted to spray the tank and side boxes/panels with it too. My original choice would be to spray a base colour and finish with a 2K clear coat noting these GENUINE 2K finishes are available in a single aerosol tin nowadays. You do have to use a mask and body protection as the contents contain a cyanide based compound but you won't get a tougher glossier finish anywhere...after buffing down that is....Les

[Puffs]

Ta for the extra info.

I like silver much better than the original black, and painted mine too (with an engine enamel rattle can), some 20+ years ago. Still OK, but by now it could do with some renewed TLC.

[Blurredman]

I'm not sure whether painted side panels are 'original' or not. I think they were either painted black, or not at all. I've noticed a lot of pictures on the internet have varying combinations of black sides or not. I think the lighter coloured tanks tended to get the black engine side panel.
But never is the crankcase itself painted- too much hassle there. All I know is, both side are either black or not- and that the builder just chose to match- it would be a bit silly looking to have black one side and unpainted the other.. Like mine currently is

I will say that I never liked the way that people painted the 'circles' ie the pump cover and tacho drive a different colour- I always thought that looked ghastly. Mine are only a different colour now because the original side cover was painted black (and therefore the covers).. But the paint has nicely worn off them so it's not too bad

[nice2day]

Hi Blurredman...just to confirm that the ETZ engine covers were always painted and usually silver. Nowadays many ETZ covers are painted silk black just out of preference by the owner but it was not original as far as I am aware. Usually I am a fan of bright polished aluminium ** but somehow it does not look that good (IMO) on MZ's...plus you have to keep polishing them or they go very dull or corrode. Many of the later MZ's had the black covers but there was a problem with the paint blistering underneath as aluminium is never that easy to get paint to stick too which is why I used an acid etch primer or simply brush the surface with phosphoric acid and leave for a few minutes and dry with a towel and hot air...never wash the acid off as the phosphoric coat washes away with it, unless it dries first then it's fairly tough.

By the way I have an excellent example to show here how a phosphoric finish resists normal rusting so well....maybe I'll do it as a new topic...

Les

**

[Blurredman]

Okay, I hear you on on the side cover paintings- Indeed, If I recall my brother's '85 etz 250 has silver painted side panels.

Maybe only the later ones were officially painted black.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J70JChZ9e4&t=1525s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J70JChZ9e4&t=1525s


From what I can see, the earlier videos producted to advertise MZ's seemed to have silver paint- but the later videos (as above) that are much later (maybe 8 to 10 years I think) you can see they use black.

[nice2day]

From what I can see Blurredman, I think the ETZ 251 range came in with the black engine covers and carried on with them right through to the end with the Saxon Range. I was tempted to go for black but then decided to keep to the original silver, albeit my silver is a touch more sparkly, not by intention, but just because the paint I chose is more metallic. I also thought that if any paint did get chipped off it wouldn't show as much compared to black paint over aluminium.
The ETZ 251 barrels & heads are often black too but not always. I suppose the black finish does give the engine a slighter " tougher" more modern look

Les

[Puffs]

Nice Norton... Part of me still craves for a classic Brit bike - maybe once.

[nice2day]

Hi Puffs....Just the once....and maybe never again.... . I can understand!
Yes the Norton is my favourite I suppose (Don't tell the other ones ) It was just a pile of corroded metal and it took me a period of 6 years to restore.
Most of it is original apart from the slightly oversize "peardrop" silencers which are a slightly poor copy but I had no choice, however the sound of the bike is awesome.
It gives me a great deal of pleasure rescuing something that was wreck and is now nearly 70 years. It's a wonderful feeling being carried along by such a living relic from the past. I love it.

Les

[Puffs]

Removed

[nice2day]

Thanks Puffs that's kind. Perhaps the best British single is the Velocette Venom...I WILL get myself one ...I promise myself all the time, but some of the others MUST go.
Then again the bikes you mention might be somewhat temperamental especially having close ratio gears.
I suggest/ recommend you get a trusty big side-valve single like the BSA M21 or, as I've got, an Ariel VB 600. The low down grunty urge of that long stroke, low compression piston with its big 600 cc capacity is a wonderful feeling, perhaps like a horse lurching forward. They don't need high revs and they have less BHP and less speed than the wonderful MZ 250's but the feeling they give out is addictive. They lurch away from a standstill and "dig-in" on steep hills, free from the shackles of lugging around a huge side-car for which they were mostly bought for. When I ride it, it's like an old cart horse released from its daily burden and romping free in a beautiful grassy paddock and saying weeeeee!...lets have fun I feel wonderful today and it makes me feel the same, every mile of the journey

Les

[Puffs]

Removed