Hi All,
I'm in the early stages of a partial resto of a later model 260 ATM. It has a few issues (mostly due to ignorance and abuse), one of which is that the paint needs a serious tidy up in a few areas.

DISCLAIMER - If you don't really care that much about an original, or pleasing to the eye finish on your 260 lathe stop reading now, the information below will probably just annoy you! Just head down to bunnings and grab whatever paint you feel inspired to buy.

If you are looking for a durable, quality finish, with the correct colour and gloss level - read on....

It seems that freight cost is a real issue in obtaining paint from the original supplier (unless you live in South Australia in, or not too far from Adelaide). I know much of the information is actually out there on this forum and others, but I thought it might be helpful to have a summary in a thread, as well as the additional information that I obtained today. Key points below:

1. The OEM supplier for the paint until production ceased (with one little break in the middle) was Topline Paints in Lonsdale SA. They actually manufacture paint, not just supply.
2. The colour (should you wish to obtain some from Topline) is known as 'Hercus Vista Green'. This will not be news to most people
3. Grant at Topline explained that the paint type is an 850 nitro-cellulose lacquer (more on this later) with no clear coat on top. That's it, no other special additives or tricks! The gloss level is run of the mill for the 850 lacquer.
4. The process Hercus used on the lathe (not cabinet) was application of primer, spray putty, then the lacquer.
5. Not sure if it is that relevant, but the cabinets seem to be just hit directly with the lacquer, skipping steps 1 and 2
6. If you live in SA then a good option is to have Grant (at Topline) mix up some paint for you (although the minimum he can do in a batch is 4 litres. Might pay to co-odinate with a few others on this forum as I'm guessing 4L would be more than double that which you would need to paint a complete lathe and cabinet. BTW, cost is approx $90inc GST for 4 litres.
7. For those of us that don't live in, or near SA and can't afford the $80-100 freight cost (for 1 litre due to paints being categorised as HAZCHEM); there is another good option. That is to use a similar and compatible paint. What Grant (the paint chemist guru) suggested is to use an automotive acrylic lacquer (what most cars were painted with up to about 20 years ago). He suggested that no clear coat will be required, and the finish should be virtually identical to the OEM 850 lacquer. Of course if you want more gloss, and a little extra durability you could also apply a clear coat, but that is unnecessary. Be a little wary here, different paint types can react with one another, so if you don't use the 850 nitro-cellulose lacquer, your other option is identified in point 8 (acrylic lacquer). If you want to use anything else (such as a two pack) there's a high probability of a reaction (or 'stability issues' as Grant put it) between old and new paint; so you would need to go back to bare metal if you want a decent job.
8. Colour matching - Any good automotive paint supplier that does colour matching should be able to match to an item you provide that has the OEM colour on it. While Topline would be happy to provide the paint formula, the 850 lacquer isn't an off the shelf product (inferior in durability to the newer tech of acrylic lacquer) and the tinting process is completely different. However, if I'm able to get a good match done here in ACT for automotive acrylic lacquer I'll post the formula to this thread so that it's easy then for anyone to order from their local auto paint shop.
So, the good news is that you should be able to get the same colour, same gloss level, better durability; available in all states of Aust!
Hope this helps someone, and debunks some of the folklore out there.
Cheers, Craig.


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