Saving Old Seagulls

No suggestions as to an affordable chrome shop?

Before I bite the bullet and cough up £75 for plating, has anybody got a SJM leg in very good condition they would consider selling me? Cash/swaps etc. ready to go

Tank end cap now re-soldered on. No leaks! Lots of prep now required before paint

Oyster 49 wrote:Tank end cap now re-soldered on. No leaks! Lots of prep now required before paint

A polished brass fuel tank is nice too...

very nice

Leg is now back from the platers. This was done by Stuart Mann at Classic seagulls for £30. It has turned out very well, and good value also. Thanks to Gannet for the lead for the chroming work! I have opted to make a new stainless exhaust for this engine, as the old one had a cracked at the top, plus it had several deep dents. The stainless tube cost £9 on ebay, I then had to dress out the bore a little to make it fit, plus drill the holes. I now just need to cut it to length, then give it a final polish.

Just the tank to prepare and paint, just the job for a rainy weekend A lot of hours required to make these tanks "Just so"

Oyster 49 wrote: I have opted to make a new stainless exhaust for this engine,

I did that on one of my Centurys but did find that it turned blue at the top after use.

Tank is looking good what sort of paint will you use?

H-A

I'm liking your exhaust tube ... what diameter / what seller?
Was "dressing the inside of the tube" just a bit of filing?

I bought some 1.75 inch stainless tube from eBay, but the wall thickness is maybe .020" thicker. So I used a small grinding wheel on a Dremel to dress out the bore to achieve a good fit.

For the tank, I use halfords filler primer 3 or 4 generous coats flattened back with 1200 grit wet and dry between coats. Then 2 or 3 coats of black gloss, again flattened back between coats. Finally a final flat back, fix the decal and then 2 coats of petrol resistant lacquer. It will take all week to do the tank, and I'll leave it to harden for a couple of weeks

Once all that is done i've found that a light t cut gives a nice slightly dull shine. Job done!

Interesting to hear the experience of stainless tube turning blue, will see what happens.

What is the brand of the petrol resistant lacquer that you use? Having trouble finding some down under. Any recommendation from Aussies?

Hugz wrote:What is the brand of the petrol resistant lacquer that you use? Having trouble finding some down under. Any recommendation from Aussies?

VHT, Engine paint (The heatproof stuff) Then go over it with VHT heatproof clear coat.

Excellent. Thanks. Repco are stockists and can order it in for me. Part number SP515.

I have previously used Halfords petrol resistant lacquer but it is fairly soft and takes several weeks to harden, and I've had problems with the spray coming out in blobs. So I'm looking for something else. Has anybody got any experience of this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYCOTE-PETROL ... 20cdb2f8ee

Tank is now finished, once again with Halfords petrol resistant lacquer. 3 coats applied within half an hour, not too close with the spray and not holding the can still. First coat only a mist over the decal. Touch try within an hour, and now curing for a couple of weeks at least. Looks like a decent finish so far.

The only real problem with this stuff is the time it takes to properly harden

SJM218 Now finished. In the end I opted not to fit the stainless exhaust. I realised the original had very little of the original chrome remaining, so I polished up the brass Looks better than chrome I think. I also polished the inlet, which sets it off nicely. Nice little engine, almost as nice as a little 40

Only new parts needed were paint, decal, fuel tube, tap cork, throttle cable, spark plug and HT lead.