Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have a 10 year old single stage snowblower that's undergoing a full restoration this winter. I got the snowblower bucket disassembled from the chassis and engine. The bucket has been completely stripped down to bare metal. I want good adhesion and abrasion resistance and I'm willing to put in the time and money to get the best paint job that I can do myself without sending out.

What do you guys recommend for primer and paint? Any preparation techniques in addition to stripping down to bare metal and roughing up the surface?

I've had good results over the years using Tremclad rust paint. Usually available in a lot of colors. If my wife isn't looking, I'll also slip parts into the oven to bake. It seems to produce a smoother harder surface.  My goal is to remove as much rust as possible and not worry about the smoothness of the final finish except for the inside of the auger housing, where I will spend a bit more time smoothing.

I have also used muriatic acid. That stuff eats rust for breakfast. BUT, be very careful to use all the safety equipment, gloves, old clothes, eye & breathing protection. I usually use it outdoors with a fan to blow the fumes away. You also need to get some primer on asap as things will start to rust almost right away. Oh yeah, store the tightly closed acid container inside another tightly closed container. The fumes from the acid can cause rust on your tools and other exposed metal stored in the same room.

Powder coating would be the way to go, I've had experience trying to sand powder coated parts, very tough stuff.

Cheers

whitetail wrote:
I have stripped the paint down to bare metal with a wire brush.  There were very little surface rust, no pitting, and I have removed all rust.   Would the etching primer improve adhesion?

Don't powder coat it!

I'm currently restoring a 48" Case Snocaster that will be my primary snow removal machine. After disassembly, I took a look at the inside of the bucket and decided I would not be able to do a really good job with a wirebrush, so last week I took it to a local guy who powder coats professionally, as my compressor is too small. He sandblasts most things before powder coating and has all the equipment for that.

We were discussing the type of finish I should use to get maximum durability and rust protection. He mentioned that he had powder coated a plow for a friend and after 3 years it looked horrible. Powder coat sounds great, it's very hard and very smooth, but it does not penetrate seams at all. What happens is you get a little bit of water in a seam or a scratch elsewhere and you get rust underneath the powder coat, which then peels off. He told me to not even ask him to powder coat it. Since he's a pro, I took him at his word. That night I was googling to see what else I could do and by chance happened across a discussion on an auto body forum where a guy tried having a frame powder coated as part of a restoral project. His story of the powder coat failure matched just what the pro had told me. Powder coating is great but not for everything.

Sandblast it, wirebrush if you can't, clean it, then treat the rust with a phosphoric acid product, then use an epoxy primer. Warning: it's not cheap and you need a spray gun. Then cover with a few coats of enamel with hardener added.

Since I don't have a spray gun and I'm stuck with rattle cans, the epoxy is out. I'll use self etching then hi fill to smooth out the little pits, and rattle can enamel. I'm doing my auger and bucket the same color so I can touch up any scratches as they appear. I don't want to go through this whole process again.

Bill_H wrote:

That was the type of claim made by POR (paint over rust) for auto chassis. It is very common on low-moderate cost restorations (I don't really know the details of high end restorations).

Looks like I'm leaning towards the epoxy primer and paint option.  Powder coating is tough, but I am concerned about the issues Bill_H just brought up and also proper masking of areas that I don't the powder coating to cover.

Can epoxy paint applied with a brush or foam brush?  I don't want to buy spray painting equipment for this one off project.

Dare I ask....why go all out when it will just get chipped anyway ? The bottom does scrape no. I would prime, paint, paint and then clear. Maybe wetsand and add some Weatherpruf just to top things off. When the season is over, the bottom where there is minor scrapes, just scuff, sand, prime and touch up spray. I get the whole resto. thing but the duty of a SB will inevitably get chips. FWIW, a decent powdercoater will be able to mask what you want...

The old girl is going into retirement as a garage queen, only to come out on nice warm days to blow powder snow.  No salt, no sand, no slush, just fresh fallen pure snow. 

There will be a younger, better, and faster one to take on her duty.   I just couldn't bear to let the old girl rust, she's going to age gracefully.

That's my story and sticking with it. 

Hey There

Imron is an epoxy paint made by Dupont and is what airplanes are painted with.

The stuff  is tough as nails as long as you prep correctly and is readily available at pretty much any automotive paint supply.

The only caviat is once you mix it you have to use it up in about an hour because it dries exactly like a two part epoxy.

Also you need a mask that takes in outside air. You can't inhale this stuff  when you are spraying. It will kill ya. 

Starwarrior

How is this applied?  Brush or spray?

I am also looking at a tough product to use to repaint my bucket, but this stuff sounds real nasty and not to be used casually unless you take a lot of precautions. Read what this fellow has to say.

http://www.bronkalla.com/upkeep/spray_imron.htm

A quick look at the MSDS for Imron on the Dupont site reinforces what he says.

Cheers