Hi

Does anyone know if the amal carbs fitted to the WM20 were painted silver or were they sent out plain?
Brandon

They were painted pink with white stripes,ya Turkey.

Ignoring the above, Brandon, Amal carbs were originally finished in a lacquer.....this practice continued until about 1941 - 42 when discontinued, with carbs and components going out from the works in a bare, non-lacquered finish.....

The actual finish is difficult to replicate today....but studying original NOS components reveal the finish to be a kind of "milky-light grey" without any metallic sheen to it....this might be difficult to reproduce today with spray-paint, but you never know..!

Pink with white stripes. Excellent. That should be perfect.

Thanks Steve.I just purchased a 276/014R and it has a light silvery finish on it. Not silver paint, not grey. Hard to describe. Was just wondering what the standard was.

It's a lacquer Brandon, not a paint.....no doubt a long-lost technique...?

I will post a pic tomorrow of my 276c/1b compared to the 276/014r. The 1b is grey the 014r is slightly silvery/light color. Perhaps its just some thin layer of paint from a previous owner.Was just wondering if Amal ever coated the carbs...

It's possible that a previous owner has painted the carb, but Amal's original finish was a lacquer....and very durable and fuel-proof too...the difficulty nowadays is finding a suitable product that looks right with the same degree of durability....

I know Lex has painted some carbs! I think he used a 2 pack silver. If I was thinking of painting any, I'd pobably experiment with a 2 pack mat clear lacquer and add some silver to taste. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Hi

Below is a picture of a motor and carb, the finish on the carb has rubbed off in places.



Below is the carb i just bought, it seems to have the same finish.

Nice photos Brandon,

I have the same silver paint on some of my carbs and also on the Cutaway BSA Motor that I am rebuilding.

email (option): unpob@yahoo.com

Here's a tip from a Vincent restorer..The carbs can be sprayed with a 'mixed' two pack paint to match the original colour. Then apply a coat or two of 'Super Tufkote'...this is a laquer used for model aircraft to seal them against fuel damage. (model aircraft use Methanol based fuels).
Super Tufkote is available in both matt and gloss finishes....Ian

here is the racing vincent website that supports Ian's comments:
Finally, I went carefully round all the main castings, carefully removing any blemishes, and (of course) ensuring all mating surfaces were absolutely flat.
Many modern restorations of racing motorcycles are in my mind spoiled because the carburetors are given a highly polished finish. Although very pretty, to me does not look correct, as they did not come out of the factory like this. I had one carburetor body in my spares that looked to still have some of the original paint attached. This is an unusual yellowly-green colour, which I had also seen before on other racing carbs. I went to my local car paint specialist and had a 0.5 litre tin of automotive paint made up to as close to this colour as possible. It turned out to be a colour fitted to very early Volkswagen Beetles!
After masking and applying a 2-pack alloy etch primer to all the castings, I then used my small Devilbiss MP gun to apply the silver topcoat.
I spoke to the owner of Autocycle Engineering about this paint. He too said he knew it had been fitted originally (although he also told me he had seen many different shades over the years). However, he was not able to recommend a type of lacquer that would stop the paint being removed by petrol. Because of this, he does not paint the items he makes himself.
One of my other hobbies is flying Radio Control planes. Like on my racing Norton, the glowplug engines fitted to these planes use methanol fuel, often mixed with high percentages of Nitromethane (rocket fuel!!). To protect the engine bay of these planes I use a specialist 2 pack lacquer called Super Tufkote, which is totally fuelproof. I have now lacquered the completed carbs with this lacquer, and although they are yet to be tested I am quietly confident.
http://www.racingvincent.co.uk/01%20Web%20Frames/WD-pvn05a_carburetors.html

By the way, I have one of those green shade carbs.

email (option): unpob@yahoo.com

Well done Henri, but I wonder how much of the yellow factor is actually staining from the fuel or ageing?

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Thanks Ron, this one is definitly green under a heavy lacquer and it is a Birmal carb, 75A/1A. Forget now what I once knew about it.

By the way Ron, here is a photo of a small lamp that maybe you can ID.

Markings, B-WD-SI

Size is same as those on fenders of sidecars.

email (option): unpob@yahoo.com

Yes Henri, it's the standard British Army vehicle side light. the 'B' denotes manufactured by BUTLER.'L' would be for LUCAS. I expect the 'SI' is probably to do with single filament installation. Although what I have done on my Morris here and also my Tilly, is to solder some wires to double filament stop/tail light bulbs to give me some hidden indicators. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Two things Ron,

Thanks for identifying that lamp. Let me know if you need it. And I think you were correct on that "Yellow" shade for the carb, took it out in the sunlight and here it is. Not really green.

Henri


Any lead on carb parts for the XA, need a few jets only for the left and the right M17.

email (option): unpob@yahoo.com

I can always use a spare lamp Henri.
The carb in the picture looks to be a type 75 or 76. These long neck carbs were a necessity on Triumphs and Enfields... to name a couple! To be able to clear the mag. I would hazard a guess at pre/early war Triumph for the one you have?
I'll get back to you on the XA carb spares. I know they are readily available in the States. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Check your email Ron for more photos of the lamp and XA comments.

email (option): unpob@yahoo.com

I strongly suspect that the "yellow", "green", etc carb finishes are simply the result of ageing effects on the original lacquer finish......it's all down to the composition of the original finish, where and when stored, etc, etc......don't read too much into this..!!!

Have several New old stock carbs that have the original silver paint on that was used up to the end of the pre monoblock 1955. Have others that have a yellowish color that are ex WD and were covered in brownish inhibitor grease hence the silver has gone yellow.
John