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Norton 650SS Fuel Tank Colour

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Lots of discussion on this in the past but I was wondering if anyone has the latest information on this.
My 1963 650SS fuel tank was repainted in the late 1980s in what I thought was Ford Siver Fox. I  have nearly finished the bikes rebuild but on putting some fuel into the tank recently to give it a clean found that I had a pinhole leak in the tank. The tank had been unused for many years and I found that there was rust inside. I used a Tank Care kit to clean and seal the tank but some of the chemicals used leaked out of the filler hole and damaged the paintwork.It will need a repaint. 
The Clubs info says that Ford Silver Fox GM 25411 is a good match for the original Norton colour. I have a touch up pen in this colour but it is much darker and more metallic than my tank colour (see pic). Annajeannette in a post on Access Norton back in 2014 said that GM 25411 was no longer available and that RAL 9022 is the correct colour match. This is described as Pearl Light Grey Met and the  samples of this shade from suppliers look more like a light grey than the silver on the original tank.
My repainted Siver Fox shade may not have been correct although it did look about right or the touch up pen may be wrong. I'm not looking for complete originality but would like the paint to be approximately right. I'm not sure whether to go with Silver Fox ,if this is still available or try the RAL shade. 
I don't think anna posts any more. Anyone else got suggestions as to which way I should go.

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Allan, Ford actually has two colours called Silver Fox which makes it very confusing! The older one used around 1969-1972 for Capris etc., is the correct one for us, the one similar to Norton Silver. The current one is indeed a light grey, not metallic and is not suitable. I am about to respray my 1963 Atlas tank which got damaged by ethanol fuel and I was able to get 1/2l of 1K Silver Fox mixed by a local autopaint supplier (code Ford A2P). I used Silver Fox from a rattle can (code Ford XCF352) a few years back and there is a definite difference of shade between this and the new mixed paint which is a little colder, but probably more accurate. I assume with all metallic paint there can be a difference in shade from different suppliers. Hope this helps.

 

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If you search Amazon, you will find Ford A2P Silver Fox in 2,5l tins. But it is a gloss finish, not a base coat, so maybe you have seen that and it is not for you?

2.5L is a bit too much paint. I only want to do the tank. I have found a 2K kit on Amazon from TriStar consisting of 1L Basecoat, IL Clearcoat plus 500mls hardener. It's a German company and I don't know about quality or colour matching. If A2P is the right code it might be the way to go. Can anyone comment on Anna's post a few years back when she said that RAL 9022 was the correct code?

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1/2l of base coat would be more than enough for a tank, you will get at least two out of that... I got 1/2l mixed by motorcolour.ie. I am not sure if they do ship to the UK, but I am sure you find an auto paint suppliers near you. Not sure about the RAL reference - I never heard about that standard being used for car paints.

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Hi Allan,
I had my 650ss tank redone in BMW Titan silver, which was a great match and readily available.
kind regards 
Cliff White 

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Great looking bike Clifford. Hopefully I can get mine looking similar and back up and running in the not too distant future. The tank paint does look good and appears to be a close match to Ford Siver Fox. The BMW paint seems to be much more readily available than the Ford and I think I will go down that route. Thanks for the advice.  

Allan

I agree with Allan, beautiful bike. Thanks for the info Clifford, I'll use the same paint in aerosols on my Atlas tank which give excellent results with care and patience.
Is that a clear topcoat over the Silver?  

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Hi Neill,
yes the tank was professionally painted with a clear topcoat.
I'm very pleased with the result.

cheers,
Cliff

 



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