Painting aluminium

v8_mopar, Oct 4, 4:33pm
Any tricks to keep the paint on, type of paint, prep etc
gunhand, Oct 4, 4:42pm
Good prep, better cleaning, correct product, follow the instructions. Every auto paint maker has its own system and they all work well. What you paintingmay have a cunning plan for ya.
wellabolla, Oct 4, 4:44pm
A light blast to profile.key the alloy is always a good start.If ya can do that then ya really need to sand the shiny finish off and a good etch primer
.as above.What is the part ya wanting to paint!
poppajn, Oct 4, 4:44pm
Etch prime first
gunhand, Oct 4, 4:46pm
Shouldnt you at least clean and scuff the surface and clean again first!
v8_mopar, Oct 4, 4:47pm
Land rover panels and the paint is that bad it needs to be stripped right off
gunhand, Oct 4, 4:50pm
You want a real good job of or just off the gun type job. there is a product out there that is cost effective two stages once prepped and walk away.
v8_mopar, Oct 4, 4:51pm
Was thinking gun but keen to hear anything
gunhand, Oct 4, 4:57pm
once you have keyed you panels and cleaned it 200 times there is a system called leklur (not spelt right but thats how it sounds lol) You need the primer which is excellent for alloy and you spray it on leave for a good hour or two then put the top coat on. The trick is to reduce both primer and top coats more than the instructions say.
Goes on well and sticks like shit to a blanket. Ive used this system on large alloy covered in race car trailers, a glider trailer and a huge model aircraft trailer plus other things. they all look just fine years later.
v8_mopar, Oct 4, 5:36pm
Cheers I shell look into that
aj254, Oct 4, 5:39pm
Thick paint+large brush
gunhand, Oct 4, 5:41pm
Its sold via the Smits Group, ie Spies Hecker and Metalux products. Either that or you go down the etch, prime, sand and paint road. or get a good 2 pak primer suitable for alloy and have to sand as well. The Leklur i explained stops all the sanding.
attitudedesignz, Oct 4, 5:54pm
gunhand, Oct 4, 5:55pm
Cheers, got some in the garage but its cold out there and warm in here lol.
Have you used it before!
attitudedesignz, Oct 4, 5:59pm
Just some of the 2 pack fleet stuff, wasn't too impressed, just seemed to be yet another "average" paint product that NZ gets flooded with every couple of years.

Geee, i guess i'm getting a little cynical as i get older lol.
gunhand, Oct 4, 6:05pm
I wouldnt go painting my hot rod with it but for a quick and easy job it seems fine. as I said Ive done work with it and years later it hasn't flaked around any chips and still has good gloss. If you reduce it another 30% or so it goes on quite nice.
I have seen lots of flaky alloy trailers about to, someone didnt follow alloy painting insructions lol.
pico42, Oct 4, 6:09pm
Sounds like it is perfect already!
michael.benn, Oct 4, 8:46pm
Looks cool :)
bm4, Oct 5, 5:40am
landrovers are not aluminium!
they are birmabrite
my first landrover resto was with the etch prim and then a good prime paintlooked really good until first foray into the bush left scratches all over it
second landrover resto sprayed it with a etch prime then primer and a fleet enamal was 1/4 the price andheld up better than the "proper" paint
v8_mopar, Oct 5, 1:59pm
Yes it is Birmabright and that is 93% aluminium
brad166, Oct 5, 3:38pm
PPG DP40. Sand the panel and wet on wet with this stuff. Far superior to other products on the market.
Have a lot of opposition paint company painters who will put down a coat of DP40 before top coating with their paint.
warthogs1, Oct 5, 4:39pm
Dont paint it. Scrap it and save your self a future headache. A true saying-country garages went broke when the landcruiser became common.
lil_miss_moo, Oct 5, 8:00pm
V8_mopar ----> about time you got rid of that old rover! been sitting round for years looking a bit sad. Typical man having 7 million unfinished projects on the go! ;)
Just you know that i be keeping an eye on you :P

Love - your missus :D
v8_mopar, Dec 11, 12:56am
Hey Moo.

See you found one of my hide outs :/.
Its a big hobby of mine you know, collecting projects that is hehe.
If you want tho i could paint it pink and give it to you for christmas lol

:p