Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Best rust covering paint ?

While I've got my engine out I want to clean up some of the rusty brackets and crosshead ends etc.

I'm doing to give them a good wire brushing and was then going to use Hammerite paint.

But there might be something better at covering old metal because no matter how hard one works there will still be some contamination and some paints simply don't adhere well.

Any experience based thoughts please on how to finish "old metal" would be appreciated.

Thanks

I always use a rust inhibitor/remover first such as Kurust, also a Hammerite product. You can see the rust has gone then before you apply protective paint.

I'm told that full fat Coca-Cola as a pre-soak is good, but I've never tried it..

Yes that has phosphoric acid in it which will work wonders on your stomach rust

See if you can get the engine bay steam cleaned the a good brushable synthetic enamel should do the trick.

My local paint factors does a litre for 18 quid.

Hammerite is i) expensive ii) pin holes very easily

Arwyn

I have always had good results with "Rustoleum" paint.
I have found it to be better than Hammerite because it is not so brittle when it dries and is therefor less likely to chip or flake off.
It is also available in a wide range of colours.

To clear the rust I would go with Bilt-Hamber Deox-C for the brackets, and Deox Gel for the crosshead, then B-H Electrox for the primer and finish off with Eastwoods extreme chassis black. I would personally avoid Hammerite.

As Arwyn and Brian have suggested Hammerite is best avoided in terms of the hammered enamel finishes, the pin holing Arwyn mentioned is down to the chemicals used to create the Hammered effect which causes the paint to be very thin in places allowing corrosion easy access.... However I do use Hammerite PRODUCTS to resist rust and their "ordinary" enamel paints to protect metal. It is best to get rid of rust and down to the bare metal rather than try to "cure" it, though I appreciate that is not always possible.... Good luck with your choices.

AHHHH , Been in the paint trade since 1964 when paints had lead . one thing that gets us is 99% of public want an easy job with magic paint and its done in a flash . Well it won't work . The more you put into a job AND I MEAN MORE . The longer its going to last preparation preparation preparation is the main thing . You can pay through the nose and it make little difference .

I've never rated Hammerite..had much better results with old fashioned black iron gate paint from our local ironmongers. Frosts do one that might be worth checking out as its often recommended on the classic car forums.