Hi folks, I am starting a restoration project on a 55 Tiger, but a long time since I did anything like this. Last time I had the barrel stove enamelled, but now it seems that powder coating is used. Has anyone done either recently, and if so do you have any comments to make? Btw, in Bristol in the UK, so if you happen to know anyone who will do a good job ... Thanks Lee
Hi, I've never tried powder coating on something as hot as the barrels but I've had great results using it on elements of the bike that are prone to damage in use i.e. lower forks, heel plates etc.
Powdercoating is only any good to around 200⁰C as that is near the oven temperature used to "cook/bake" it. There is a slightly higher temperature Powdercoating but I would expect the colour range is somewhat limited. My youngest's TZR 50 exhaust ( 2 stroke) has been done in high temp satin black but as yet its not running so durability is currently unknown. It might be an idea to go probing around a hot engine with a thermocouple, so you can see what you are up against
Hi Lee, welcome to the forum. If you are going to try and make t he bike look authentic I would hesitate to powder coat any of it. In my experience powder coating tends to be quite a thick plasticy coating and bikes of the 50's were never finished like that. Personally I would paint or stove enamel. I don't know of any powder coating specialists in the Bristol area but when you are looking for chrome and nickel plating I have had good results from Doug Taylor at Banwell. Best of luck with your rebuild, let's see some photos!!
Have you come across Cerakote before? I've had several hot parts Cerakoted and they've been bob on: https://www.cerakote.co.uk
Stove enamel every time, if done properly it is very hard-wearing and looks more authentic. I did it by brush application once,takes ages but once it had properly hardened and then gone over with metal Polish the finish was excellent. Powder coating is only as good as the firm doing it....there are some pretty poor examples around.
Please bear with me for a moment. I have used POR-15 on exhaust manifolds. Not an air-cooled cylinder but exposed to significant heat. I like the brush on technique.