I have recently seen some work by Ant at avlmotorsport.co.uk who has a service refurbishing engine cases and can do color matched Ducati grey and silver. Its much more durable than paint and used by some of the specialist Ducati repair shops. Well worth a try.
You will need to contact Ant at AVL Motorsport for pricing. As I said, I have seen the work but not yet had any done myself. his email is [email protected]
It isn’t cheep. Clearly the higher throughput, the cheaper individual parts are. I used a gunsmith local to me and he charged £200 + the Cerakote for 2 fork legs. Andy
Further enquiries at AVL suggest that his price for a set of fork legs would be about half what you paid Andy. I believe Luigi Moto have been using his services if that gives anyone any confidence. Before anyone asks - I have no direct connection with AVL. I am just suggesting an alternative to normal paint.
Cerakoting is the way to go but as has been mentioned on this forum many times is not cheap, but it is bombproof. I have had many parts done over the years including the engine cases on my wife's Monster 620 and both the swing arm and frame on my 1199, 1299 and V4S, all colour matched to the magnesium engine casings, as well as numerous other parts (plenty of pics on my V4 thread if you want to take a look). I can whole heartedly recommend Hi-Spec Coatings in Sussex, who frankly are a joy to deal with. More info here: www.hi-speccoatings.co.uk
I saw the engine that Louigi Moto had done down at his workshop on Saturday, looked fkin beautiful to be fair. I’m half tempted to get mine done
i wish there was a mouth watering emoji, i would have hit it a dozen times, can i be cheeky and ask how much? no worries if you dont want to spill the beans
Done 3 years ago and looking great still. It was around £700 back then. He has a load of other bits awaiting the lockdown easing, so I can pick them up. He is based just outside Horsham in Sussex. but I don't want to hijack this thread as it was recommending another guy. (But Topolino might have already mentioned him ). One thing to note is that there are engine surfaces that should NOT be soda blasted, so make sure you choose someone who knows to spend time masking. That's why I chose Wesley, from the other Cerakote people around south london and Surrey/Sussex area.
I'm pretty sure soda blasting is safe on crankcases as the media dissolves when the cases are cleaned as part of the prep process. Glass beads or walnut shells or vapour blasting are not safe since particles often get stuck in threads, oilways and water galleries which can then work loose at a later date and circulate in the oil causing untold damage to bearings and machined surfaces internally. The only downside with soda blasting is it is not as effective at removing surface corrosion and oxidisation on castings and it is more expensive than conventional media blasting with fewer companies offering it as a service.
