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New paint job - sea jade

7K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  ScottyAmen 
#1 ·
When i purchased my 78 T140 last summer the tank paint job was in pretty bad shape and the tank had a dent in it about the size of a quarter. I am also 100% certain the paint was not the original factory paint job.

I was not crazy about any of the colors from 78' so I decided to go with what I believe is a 76' TR6 paint scheme, Sea Jade over Silver Sheen with Ice White. Rather than the gold pin stripe I went with silver. Don Hutchinson supplied the paint and a local friend and painter did the actual work. I am so happy with the results I had to share them with you guys. I also thought I would put this out there for anyone trying to find the Sea Jade color in the future. I only found a handful of pictures when i was selecting the color and none were up close of the tank.
 

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#8 ·
If you look at the before pics it is identical as the scallop in the after pic, the painted made templates before removing the old paint. Doing a google image search i see just as many tanks with the line short of the corner as I do ones that are on the corner or very close. I also checked 78 brochure and the black and red tank appears to fall well short of the corner (http://www.motobrit.com/motc2/mphp/.../tri/tri78bro.jpg&title=1978 Triumph Brochure)

http://s149.photobucket.com/user/flamas_racing/media/1978bonnie2.jpg.html
http://www.classic-british-motorcycles.com/images/x78TriT140V-brn-R.jpg.pagespeed.ic.z33ffixo8J.jpg
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8598042502_d3c0f42720.jpg

My assumption is that like many things Triumph, it was up to the flavor of the day as to where that line fell on the tank.
 
#11 ·
I was up in the air on which way to go, i did think about it when going over the job. My thought was that even though the black and gold was not the factory paint job, I had assumed the last painter either made a template of the factory paint before removing the paint or at least made a note of scallop measurements.

I actually have some photos of tanks that Mike Wombold did and the scallop is short of the badge corner as well. My assumption in talking to Mike and talking to Don Hutchinson about Mike is that he is a extremely knowledgeable painter and knows Triumph layouts and colors very well. That combined with a lot of the tanks i see fall short of the badge corner made me decide to go with the scallop being off corner.

I was going to have Mike paint this tank but he had a pretty long lead time and I did not want to be without the tank that long as I was (and still am) working on the bike and ocasionally running it to see if i sorted out whatever big I am chasing.

You pointing it out certainly has me questioning my decision though! :smile2:
 
#14 ·
great looking paint ...I think thats a UK only color ( the only one Ive seen was a UK breadbin tank ) ...I may use that combo on a bike which may need paint
 
#15 ·
Hi Jordan, Great paint!!! I think it's just stunning. I love that you followed your heart & did what you feel looks best. Every time you ride it will make you smile.

My taste is bikes with a bright clean look. Makes me happy when I see it. Goes so nice with chrome. Regarding the white flash I don't agree with Grandpaul. I think the full wide flash looks too chubby for shape of tank. Each to their own.

Triumph experimented with several paint colors & sometimes they picked some odd combinations. Triumph should have done your scheme.

The way factory did it was not exactly willy nilly. They had a "mask" that sat over tank. It had "rubber" edges that conformed to tank. The painter sat the mask on the tank & wiggled it around until the edges fit tight. Depending on exact shape of tank as well as the eye of the painter when aligning the paint flashes have quite a bit of variation of location. If you start comparing same part # tanks side by side you can see slight variations in shape, like they didn't all come out of press the same. Also on some you can see where welder hammered seam gap before welding like the upper & lower sections didn't line up quite tight. Painted fenders with strips had a mask also. That's why the fenders with rolled ends the strip stops short. They didn't want to deal with the variations of the edge.

Pin striping is another thing that has huge variations. That was all hand done. Seems no matter the variations the striping all looks good.

The book "Save the Triumph Bonneville" has photos of some masks.

Interesting how the pre painted tanks from India can have such bad placement of the paint flashes. I don't how they mask the tanks but some can be a full inch off. Looks silly. Triumph was never that far off.

Don
 
#17 ·
Its quite a striking combination of green and white and not that common.My own tanks are totally wrong colours as i use what i like.Just been doing some final work on the next tank as i am getting a paint reaction with a primer and the paint has rippled since painting a few weeks ago.I may fit this before the next annual run just to confuse the usual watchers,and then use another tank on the run 4 weeks later.
My white tank with purple scallops is completely different from the normal job.Being a large 71 tank,the scallops were originally taken to the edges of the Triumph badges when new.I have seen many variations on these tanks and generally,they all look pretty good.What i dont like are flame patterns.
 
#24 ·
Triumph made subtle changes to the scallop over the years. The bike in question is laid out pretty much as it should be for the year with a more vertical line slightly inboard of the badge tip. It gives a more chunky look than the pre 74 scallop that lines up with the badge tip but curves forward before going back.

Rod
 
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