Final drive colour/finish?????

[Thumper]

Just a quick question, does anybody with a clean original 79f model or ever owned one from new know whether the final drive at the back wheel should be painted silver or polished aluminium.

[buffalo]

I have had 3 78E's, all had final drives painted aluminum. I found a good way to duplicate factory aluminum (non-polished) finish is to spray with aluminum engine paint then with clear coat. This gives it a nice even matte finish but not dull, very much like the factory painted finish. When you first spray the aluminum it will look kind of blotchy and too sparkly, the clear will smooth it right out. I redid my forks this way as an experiment last spring and they turned out beautiful. I use engine paint because it is generally a little tougher.

[Thumper]

Thanks Buffalo, I'm using silver Hammerite (very strong paint lots of fumes) it was the brightness of the silver had me worried that I'd got it wrong. Doesn't look to bad now it's dry. Thanks again.

[Renegade]

I found one that is a very good match. Dupli-Color DE 1615 ceramic high temp engine paint is almost a perfect match for freshly cleaned aluminum. I used it to protect a freshly bead blasted rim, and it was such a close color match that I had to look for light reflection on the wet paint to tell if I had sprayed the entire wheel or not.

And it doesn't require any type of clear coat afterward. After it has cured for a week or so, you can respray to touch up little nicks and scratches without the paint doing anything stupid.