need help with carb painting

[Clark]

I'm looking for some help in selecting a gas proof paint to paint my linkert M-21 carb with. I don't have the $ right now to get it nickel plated like I think it should be, (33VLE) but I want to get on the road. I tired Rustoleum and it came off, then I tried Duplicolor high heat gas resistant engine enamel, it also came off when exposed to gas.

I'd like to go with a rattle can or brush on silver and avoid stuff like Imeron as some time in the future I will get it plated and the paint will need to come off. I currently do not have a sprayer.

Anybody got a good suggestion?

[bmh]

Don't let gas leak on it the next time you rattle can it.

[T. Cotten]

I use Series 530 Omnithane by TNEMEC, mixed with bronze powder to match the existing nickel, and apply it with a cotton swab and a cheap paper towel.

Even resists spray carb cleaners...

....Cotten
PS: If the day comes that you choose to alter your piece irreversibly, please specify electroless process, not electroplate!

[tomfiii]

carb painting

another choice is to go to a large hobby shop and see what colors they have in motor powered model airplane fuel proof paints high heat types

[T. Cotten]

I used to use Aerogloss,
but model airplane fuel doesn't have injector cleaners and detergents, Federally mandated Intake Valve Deposit additives, nor ethanol for its synergistic effect...

....Cotten

[Clark]

Here's what I did

I tried the paint the Cotton suggested and the guys I spoke to said it would be perfect, but it is $85.00 a gallon and that's the smallest size he would sell me.

I found plastic-kote Wheel Paint for plastic or metal wheel covers. The color is Steel. It is a resin paint.Once it set up I had to scrub it pretty hard with gas to get to to start to come off. So far it is handling the heat fine and the gas that leaks out.

The color is spot on, but it is not as glossy as it should be to look "nickel like".

Thanks for the input....and I'll try not to spill any gas on it! :-)

[Chris Haynes]

I'm looking for some help in selecting a gas proof paint to paint my linkert M-21 carb with. I don't have the $ right now to get it nickel plated like I think it should be, (33VLE) but I want to get on the road. I tired Rustoleum and it came off, then I tried Duplicolor high heat gas resistant engine enamel, it also came off when exposed to gas.

I'd like to go with a rattle can or brush on silver and avoid stuff like Imeron as some time in the future I will get it plated and the paint will need to come off. I currently do not have a sprayer.

Anybody got a good suggestion?

They were not nickel plated. It was a nickel wash This is a totally different thing. Nickel plating is a bright hard plating while the nickel wash is a dull, flat appearing process. Looks like a soft cadmium plating.

[T. Cotten]

Chris and All!

The term I heard and read was "flash" nickel.
Attached is a portrait of three unusually fine examples, showing that the reflectivity depends entirely upon the finish of the casting itself.
The DLX pictured is quite sand-cast and dull, whereas the Linkert examples are as bright as toilet plumbing.

It is a delicately thin layer, how ever it may have been applied, and preserving it takes utmost caution.
Even darkened and tarnished examples should be spared destruction in a blast cabinet or dip.

I believe small hardware and findings were often 'plated', 'washed', or 'flashed' with a heavier layer for a much brighter appearance. Some of it to the point where it could peel on the edges.

It cannot really be faked, any more than modern paints can reproduce original paints: only the real thing reflects light like the real thing, to the trained eye anyway.

So you can spend heavily and have your hardware electroless-ly 'plated', and then go to great artistic ends to tarnish and age the piece, or you can smear it with watertower coating and bake on some stoveblack. At least the urethane will preserve what original finish is left for the next generation that appreciates it.

....Cotten