Paint for manual locking hubs.

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fjgdk

10 Year
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May 8, 2011
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In an attempt to paint the dial/switch a black/gold combo similar to stock, I've yet to find a good pain that will bind. I've gone through two iterations now and each time, after I complete the painting (and curing in the case of the caliper paint attempt), The paint chips off (caliper paint) easily or is so soft I can scratch it with my fingernail (krylon dual and rust tough enamel combo.

Does anyone have any suggestions? What kind of material are these components - aluminum or galvanized ? Judging by the weight I am guessing aluminum.

I have some high heat primer which I may have to try now (and cure to 600 degrees) followed by caliper paint again(seems hardest).

Any advice would help. In the pics below, I've grouped together the combinations i've used in two attempts left to right, with the hugh heat primer my next attempt (with caliper paint again
 
It's cast aluminum & nothing sticks to it very well. The center dial was anodized, not painted. The central dial also has a groove around its edge to hold an oring. Paint will interfere with that.

Personally I would save up my pennies and buy new hubs. They're kinda important.

Whatever you paint it with, it will eventually chip. It may be contaminated with petroleum or waxes. Try soaking it in lacquer thinner for a while then wipe it off & let dry thoroughly. Then maybe bake it in an oven at low heat for a while to drive off any contaminates before attempting to paint again.

Maybe try model paint (testors) & paint it on with a small hobby brush. Then it will be easy to retouch in the future.
 
Output Shaft said:
It's cast aluminum & nothing sticks to it very well. The center dial was anodized, not painted. The central dial also has a groove around its edge to hold an oring. Paint will interfere with that.

Personally I would save up my pennies and buy new hubs. They're kinda important.

Whatever you paint it with, it will eventually chip. It may be contaminated with petroleum or waxes. Try soaking it in lacquer thinner for a while then wipe it off & let dry thoroughly. Then maybe bake it in an oven at low heat for a while to drive off any contaminates before attempting to paint again.

Maybe try model paint (testors) & paint it on with a small hobby brush. Then it will be easy to retouch in the future.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

I tape off all non-itended-to-be-painted surfaces such as where the rubbber o ring goes before each attempt. The taping takes forever to get it right, but I have the time.

If it is aluminum I will try some sort of zinc chromate primer then and see what happens.
 
Rustoleum sells a primer specifically for bare aluminum. I have not tried it yet but may paint my hubs. If you try it out, let us know how it works.

Partial product description:
Rust-Oleum Professional Aluminum Primer is a specially formulated base coat for aluminum surfaces. It provides a tight bond for the top coat, thus resisting the usual problems of blistering, flaking, or peeling paint.

Full info here:

Rust-Oleum Professional 15 oz. Aluminum Spray Primer-254170 - The Home Depot
 
NMC_EXP said:
Rustoleum sells a primer specifically for bare aluminum. I have not tried it yet but may paint my hubs. If you try it out, let us know how it works.

Partial product description:
Rust-Oleum Professional Aluminum Primer is a specially formulated base coat for aluminum surfaces. It provides a tight bond for the top coat, thus resisting the usual problems of blistering, flaking, or peeling paint.

Full info here:

Rust-Oleum Professional 15 oz. Aluminum Spray Primer-254170 - The Home Depot
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Yes that is exactly the one I am using. I was probably out buying it right now as you were thping the reply.

I will report on the results.

One problem I've noticed in my research on this is that other than the high heat (engine) primers, all other primers including the aluminum one say to not use on anything that will exceed 200 degrees. I was planning on using the VHT caliper paints again on top of the aluminum primer. The caliper pain needs to be cooked at 200 degrees for 30 minutes to get the "proper chemical resistance".

Another experiment I guess.
 
bapmia said:
View attachment 1446184 I sandblasted and then painted with Rustoleum "Gold Rush." The original is on the right. It's very close. High heat paint is unnecessary. I did mine years ago and they still look great.
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That's interesting and sounds good. I've never seen Rust-oleum gold rush at my local home depot. May give it a try if the current attempt doesnt work out.

As I said before, the reason I am trying caliper paint is NOT because of worrying about heat. It is resistant and more durable to some harsh road chemicals, that is why I want it in on. The chemical resistant properties are in effect only if you bake the painted item at 200 degrees for 30 minutes per the back of the can.
 
I use a product on my bass fishing jigs. That you heat with either a lighter or in the oven get it hot and dip into this powder. It covers every nook and cranny and it it extremely tough. Ill post the name. It might be worth testing. Its basically powder coating at home.
 
I had them powder coated all black, which was entirely overkill. I had an order going in, so just tossed them in the box.

But, appliance spray can paint at the home improvement stores is pretty durable. Not sure what's in it, but it results in a hard and lasting finish.

I'll echo what others said, make sure the surface is clean and free of oils.
 
OS is no the right path:

Output Shaft said:
Then maybe bake it in an oven at low heat for a while to drive off any contaminates before attempting to paint again.
Click to expand...

They looked like cast aluminum to me. Any cast material is porous so stuff will get down in there. And media blasting will drive it in deeper. So what I have been taught/learned:

- De-grease before doing anything
- Media (glass in this case) blast
- Bake in an oven to burn off the contaminants (typically petroleum based.) Since I was powder coating I baked at 450F or so.
- Then do your prep and paint. I'm fortunate enough to be able tp powder coat at home. I did get expcellent results with the Harbor Freight gun and paints in the beginning until the gun died.

Basically if you're having adhesion issues on a cast material you likely have contaminants down in the pores of the metal.


Yeah I know wrong color.

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Prairie Swamp said:
OS is no the right path:



They looked like cast aluminum to me. Any cast material is porous so stuff will get down in there. And media blasting will drive it in deeper. So what I have been taught/learned:

- De-grease before doing anything
- Media (glass in this case) blast
- Bake in an oven to burn off the contaminants (typically petroleum based.) Since I was powder coating I baked at 450F or so.
- Then do your prep and paint. I'm fortunate enough to be able tp powder coat at home. I did get expcellent results with the Harbor Freight gun and paints in the beginning until the gun died.

Basically if you're having adhesion issues on a cast material you likely have contaminants down in the pores of the metal.


Yeah I know wrong color.

View attachment 1446306
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.

In particular, I had been wondering if heating aluminum up to 400+ degrees would cause bad things to happen to the pieces. From your experience it sounds as if it does not.

In all three of my attempts, I've blasted the surfaces I intended to paint with crushed glass (bead is nit readily available to me). I haven't tried heating up the pieces to clean them prior to painting. I am definitely going to try that if there is a next time.

The powder coating sounds like the way to go. How do you tape up something that will be powder coated ? Can you use any old automotive masking tape ?
 
fjgdk said:
Thanks for the info.

The powder coating sounds like the way to go. How do you tape up something that will be powder coated ? Can you use any old automotive masking tape ?
Click to expand...

No that's pretty much paper and would burn up. There is a special tape for the purpose - a little pricey but in reality you only use a little. I'm sure it's available lots of places but I get all my stuff at Columbia Coatings and have been very happy with them.

Eric
 
Well after letting the aluminum primer dry about 60 hours (the spray can said to allow at least 48 hours), I went ahead and put the topcoats on. The black outer piece looks good, the gold metallic was NOT a successful application. Of course I will have to let the black dry to determine if the paint ultimately is durable enough.

The gold metallic is my achilles heel it seems. I don't know paint chemistry but I am assuming there are different pigment chemicals for yellow colors ?

I am going to at least have to do the center dial again. I may still go with the aluminum primer, just a different topcoat .
 
Initial results : Despite over-painting the center dial, I think this paint combo I just did is good.
combo =
1) Remove paint with Aircraft stripper.
2) Blast with crushed glass.
3) Paint with Rust-oleum aluminum primer, let dry for at least 48 hours.
4) Paint with VHT caliper paint, let dry for at least 24 hours.
5) Bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.

I just had the pieces cool down and they seem like they are more durable paint-wise than previous attempts. I don't know what will be better at this point other than powder coating or annodizing again, so I am going to stick with this combination.

I previously posted an issue with the metallic center dial paint, as I over-painted and blurred out the lettering on the center dial. I let it dry to see what the results are like just as a test. I dropped the face on a pair of pliers from about a foot high and only once did it slight "cut" but not chip. When I put the pieces together, there was some "catch" with overpainting on the sides. I am going to re-do the center dial again.

Overall an ok result, best I've had yet but I am sure there is better. I am at least not peeling paint with my fingernail anymore.
 
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Here is a pic of the two pieces together. Note the chips on the center dial from dropping it on a metal tool 2-3 times as a durability test. The black paint job doesnt look songood around the screw holes as I filled them with foam earplugs which either blocked some painting surface or stuck to the paint when I removed them after painting before fully drying (my mistake).
 
Getting there. Yeah that paint on the dial looks pretty thick. It might be less likely to chip if it's thinner (being more flexible.) Just guessing though.
 
So I just finished the paint stripping process, and now will be doing the cleaning and blasting for adhesion.

There were some interesting observations I'd thought to share after the stripping.

1) I have a poor blasting setup due to a weak compressor (5.7cfm @90 psi). That being said, with previous attempts at painting these I was able to pretty much soda blast (yes, weak soda blasting) all the paint off and use a little bit of aircraft stripper for some really tough spots. This time around, the soda couldn't really break through, and I simply stopped and went the aircraft stripper route.

Here is a photo of the two pieces after much soda blasting with my weak setup. The fact that this primer/paint combo I had on was as tough as it was to soda blast off gives me confidence in using this combo again. Note that the soda blasting seemed to take the caliper paint off (gold), before even denting the white aluminum primer.

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2) After using the aircraft stripper, the two pieces in particular the center dial, seemed to have a really shiny sheen on it. I am hypothesizing that the aluminum primer does something on the surface that produces that. My picutres may not do it justice, but it looks like the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil. Now to clean and blast everything off....

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I painted mine with cheap appliance (epoxy) paint from Home Despot. No primer. It's held up fine. No chips after 6 years. I did clean the surface well, though.

:meh:
 
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