In a message dated 8/10/99 11:04:28 AM EST, bsimmons@execpc.com writes:
<< he body guy says that I should be acid etching my small parts before
priming, and painting. I have been sand-blasting them prior to priming
previously. What of your opinion? If acid etching is a must, where can
I get some for home use?
thanks,
Bob >>
There are a couple of products available from mainly auto body supply stores
in the general category of 'metal prep' . That actual name is used by one
Mfg. I've used a couple of them. At least one has two different solutions,
one for initial prep and or rusty metal and then a finishing solution.
I find them a real pain in the ass to use. Maybe I'm just not doing it
correctly, although I've been 'supervised' by Stan, Stan the body man
Franosky who has prepared Pebble Beach cars. He says the key is to prep in a
sink with lots of hot, hot water. Apply the prep, we use spray bottles but
watch your eyes. Leave it sit keeping it wet and all the while scrub, scrub,
scrub with one of those 3M pads. Rinse in hot, hot water after the time is
up, a good test of when the time is up besides the passage of the minutes is
when the water 'sheets' smoothly off the metal. Immediately towel dry
completely, being very careful not to touch any part of the metal with your
bare hands. Rubber gloves are a good idea throughout this process. I use a
heat lamp at this point to heat and dry completely the part. There is a
slight 'greying' of the part usually. Prime and topcoat and you're done.
That's the theory. Recently while prepping a number of suspension parts for
the Morgan Three Wheeler here's the way it went for me. I bead blast first,
then spray and keep wet with solution, then rinse. I don't have hot water in
the garage so I used cold and toweled off, then heat lamp. Everything came
out rusty looking. A thin film over everything. Still don't know what I did
wrong.
Bob Paul
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