Well I thought come lockdown I'd get on to my Vapalux 300x that I posted quite a long time back (Vapalux fettling) but other things seemed more pressing. But all change now and currently the remaining paint on the tank is turning to goo and I'm thinking about paint. Somewhere in the house is a can of Damask red waiting for it and the cage. I know the collar should be painted - there was one small fragment of maroon on it to prove that but what about the rods. These seem rarely to be painted in restorations and my thought was to leave them in their current blackened brass state (no shiny on this Vapalux!). However, that is a mild faff to mask which makes me think that they were probably painted maroon at the factory; what I assume worked for Vapalux would equally work for me. As they are rivetted in underneath, for the factory to leave them in unpainted finish would require either they were added after the collar was painted which seems a recipe for multiple rejects or they were masked which seems a pointless effort. I am struggling to find original condition pics that clearly show painted rods (aside from some MOD 300s). Someone no doubt can confirm categorically...……?!
Hi I have restored a number of 300Xs and never found evidence of paint on the frame rods or the brass top collar. I would assume the bottom collar is painted prior to assembly, also given that the later frames where screwed together.
