What paint to use on counterweight

[JeremyS]

I’ve got an old Vixen cwt that I want to spruce up as it’s seen better days.

I don’t want the original Vixen green. I’m thinking black or silver. Perhaps white.

Which type of paint should I use? I want something that won’t rub or flake off. I seek a nice finish.

 

Edited April 19 by JeremyS

[dweller25]

Looking forward to the responses as I have one that needs sprucing up …

[Peter Drew]

Give it a good sanding down and then a coat of silver-grey Hammerite.   Available as a spray can     🙂      

[mikeDnight]

P.S.

Had a great time on the moon tonight!

[Elp]

The thing with rust which I presume is on it, if it's on the metal it is extremely difficult to get rid of without some sort of real surface grinding and pre treatment, hammerite is supposed to cover the rust and metal but does it continue to rust underneath?

When I painted an area on a previous car, even when sanded down to bare shiny metal, a few coats of primer and a few coats of spray paint and lacquer, it still continued to rust a few months after. I suppose this application it isn't so exposed to the elements.

With paint you usually want a good keyed (textured) surface so there's something and more surface area to adhere to in the absence of an electro static process. Maybe use a coarse grit sandpaper to finish the surface prior to coating. You can always sand down with wet and dry to smooth it off afterward but needs a few coats of paint prior.

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

I’ve got an old Vixen cwt that I want to spruce up as it’s seen better days.

I don’t want the original Vixen green. I’m thinking black or silver. Perhaps white.

Which type of paint should I use? I want something that won’t rub or flake off. I seek a nice finish.

 

I'd give it a clean up with some steel wool then wash off any dust. You can use warm water and fairy liquid, then dry with paper towel and allow to dry on a radiator for a few minutes. Duraglit wool is also good to help clean up any bare metal but also needs cleaning off afterwards. Rust-Oleum sage green spray paying gives a nice finish. It's not an exact match but its close enough not to be obvious. It's also pretty hard wearing once completely dry. It's also cheap, so weights etc can be resprayed whenever necessary.

[pipnina]

2 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

Give it a good sanding down and then a coat of silver-grey Hammerite.   Available as a spray can     🙂      

I've used hammerite at work, sadly they bought it in paint pots and we were painting onto paint (valve handles needed to show what the valve carried by colour)

Brushing it on wasn't most effective... They looked a bit like a red tar monster when we were done haha.

1 hour ago, Elp said:

The thing with rust which I presume is on it, if it's on the metal it is extremely difficult to get rid of without some sort of real surface grinding and pre treatment, hammerite is supposed to cover the rust and metal but does it continue to rust underneath?

When I painted an area on a previous car, even when sanded down to bare shiny metal, a few coats of primer and a few coats of spray paint and lacquer, it still continued to rust a few months after. I suppose this application it isn't so exposed to the elements.

With paint you usually want a good keyed (textured) surface so there's something and more surface area to adhere to in the absence of an electro static process. Maybe use a coarse grit sandpaper to finish the surface prior to coating. You can always sand down with wet and dry to smooth it off afterward but needs a few coats of paint prior.

Bare mild steel will corrode very rapidly in wet environments. Rust is also supposedly self-perpetuating and a small amount of rust formation will crack or bubble paint allowing more oxygen access to the metal.

I suggest completing rust removal, preferably by wire wheel (you can buy them for home electric drill chucks, flapper wheel may also work). If you want to ensure it's moisture free in the cracks or pits you could always stick the metal in an oven at a skin safe temperature for a few minutes.

I need to think about all this myself, as my HEQ5 is starting to look a bit shabby with some parts of it rusting up and the counterweights losing their paintwork... Eventually it just catches rust and there's nothing you can do about it I guess. I suspect modern cars can avoid rusting on bodywork much more easily since they can control the conditions and state of the bare metal much more easily in the factory before applying multiple layers of rust protection below the paint.

[Elp]

Cars have extensive multi stage pre treatment done to the metal as prep prior to paint including galvanisation where applicable. Once the surface gets rust or the bare metal is exposed it's pretty much guaranteed to rust again. Even aluminium goes through similar pre treatments. The best you can do is advised, use a mechanical means to grind the rust off if present (dremels are useful things to have lying around, or a 4 inch angle grinder) unless the corrosion is not too much of a concern.

Edited April 19 by Elp

[wulfrun]

Step 1: sandpaper or paint stripper the existing paint off.

Step 2: kill the rust. My preferred method is phosphoric acid. Nasty stuff, must be used with a lot of care. Proprietary rust-killers are also available.

Step 3. primer, from local motor factors.

Step 4. enamel or similar topcoat in colour of your choice, also from motor factors.

 

Edited April 19 by wulfrun
clarity

[wulfrun]

17 minutes ago, pipnina said:

I suspect modern cars can avoid rusting on bodywork much more easily since they can control the conditions and state of the bare metal much more easily in the factory before applying multiple layers of rust protection below the paint.

It's down to one thing in reality: electrocoat. The bodyshells are chemically cleaned in an acid-dip then electro-plated with an epoxy basecoat. This being electro-plated means it achieves 100% coverage, inside and out. It's the layer under the primer and unless it's damaged it'll outlast the vehicle's lifespan.

Edited April 19 by wulfrun

[Elp]

Also depends on the OEMs QA requirements including salt spray test specification as to what methods they use.

I find for DIY spray paint works well, ensure its done in a ventilated space, if outdoors try not to do it during a breezy day and in an enclosed area as spray travels far in the air (be sure to mask areas if space is limited). Do it in a reasonably medium temp, too cold and there's risk of moisture being present, too warm and it doesn't set (finish) as well but dries quicker. Spray lightly in a few passes intially (say moving 30cm in a second, over again say 3-5 times), then do a thicker slower one time pass on top being careful not to cause drip marks (too heavy/slow with the spray movement). Two or three times with this method leaves a nice even finish as without the quick pass layers the heavy layer is uneven and dries as such. I've done this to match original powder coat quite well as well on vehicles.

[mikeDnight]

I've an even better idea Jeremy. Give your old counterweight to me, then order yourself some nice polished stainless steel weights. Problem solved! 🙂

Edited April 20 by mikeDnight

[ollypenrice]

I'd just use Hammerite. No real surface preparation needed. They only seem to do the liquid form here but the trick with Hammerite is to put it on warm. This is easy with a counterweight, which can just be put in the oven till warm (not hot) and its large thermal mass will let the paint flow nice and evenly after application.

Olly

[Stuart1971]

11 hours ago, Elp said:

The thing with rust which I presume is on it, if it's on the metal it is extremely difficult to get rid of without some sort of real surface grinding and pre treatment, hammerite is supposed to cover the rust and metal but does it continue to rust underneath?

When I painted an area on a previous car, even when sanded down to bare shiny metal, a few coats of primer and a few coats of spray paint and lacquer, it still continued to rust a few months after. I suppose this application it isn't so exposed to the elements.

With paint you usually want a good keyed (textured) surface so there's something and more surface area to adhere to in the absence of an electro static process. Maybe use a coarse grit sandpaper to finish the surface prior to coating. You can always sand down with wet and dry to smooth it off afterward but needs a few coats of paint prior.

The rust will not continue if both air and water can’t get to the metal…

now on a car when you treat the rust and sand it down to bare metal, then treat, you are only doing the outer surface, a lot of rust on cars comes from underneath or the back of a panel, so really you need to treat both sides to stop it altogether..I found this out when I renovated my first car 40 years ago, I spent 18 months on it, only for 6 months later it to be just as bad and all the paint I had put on was bubbled back up with rust form underneath…☹️☹️ learnt my lesson

[Stuart1971]

22 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I'd just use Hammerite. No real surface preparation needed. They only seem to do the liquid form here but the trick with Hammerite is to put it on warm. This is easy with a counterweight, which can just be put in the oven till warm (not hot) and its large thermal mass will let the paint flow nice and evenly after application.

Olly

Very useful tip, I have used this loads and never got the finish that they show…👍🏻

[ollypenrice]

56 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Very useful tip, I have used this loads and never got the finish that they show…👍🏻

I discovered this when painting a steel handrail in front of the house. On a hot day it flowed out nicely.

Olly

[pipnina]

13 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I discovered this when painting a steel handrail in front of the house. On a hot day it flowed out nicely.

Olly

Might explain why my hammerite application went so badly... It was 5c at the time!

[900SL]

Blast clean SA2.5 standard

75 micron epoxy primer

Intermediate coat 75 micron polyeurethane

Top coat 50 micron polyeurethane

Nothing else will be acceptable if it is being used with a Tak

If not, Dulux white gloss out of the old tin

You're welcome!

Edited April 22 by 900SL

[Mr Spock]

Fluorescent orange. You can see it in the dark and it won't spoil your night vision