Repainting a snowblower bucket Original Message Oct 5, 2010 10:49 pm
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?
Re: Repainting a snowblower bucket Reply #63 Nov 17, 2010 7:13 pm
I would leave the plastic alone....u need the right flex agents in the paint in order for it to stay well on the cover.
But do wetsand in between coats on metal just to keep the paint ~flat~.
I've been eyenalling things here and there before making my master parts list. As much as I love mailorder...I hate paying $7 minimum to get a $3 part so I prefer to order all my parts in one shot. .
Re: Repainting a snowblower bucket Reply #64 Nov 17, 2010 7:55 pm
Too late, the paint is already on the plastics. I've used Krylon Fusion paint for plastics. They didn't say anything about flex agents being present in the paint, but only that's made to bond to plastics. We'll see how well it holds up. If it flakes off, I'll just sand it back down to plastic and sand it smooth to a polish shine. The plastic has red colorant in it so with a good buff, it will probably look pretty good.
Location: Michigan - 3 hours north of Chicago on the lake
Joined: Feb 10, 2010
Points: 539
Re: Repainting a snowblower bucket Reply #65 Nov 17, 2010 10:14 pm
aa335 If your still considering lining your chute. Here is a photo of how mine turned out. I couldn't line the whole inside it wouldn't lay at all flat because of the contours of the chute. But from seeing where the paint wears off on the inside of the chute previous years. That center portion seems to be the track where the greatest amount of snow flow and snow velocity takes place. The material is part of a kids roll up sled. Believe it was called a "Wacky Carpet". We'll see how it works. The rest of the inside of the chute will get sprayed down with coat of "Fluid Film"
Location: Marlboro MA
Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Points: 1328
Re: Repainting a snowblower bucket Reply #66 Nov 18, 2010 7:38 am
Borat lined his chute and posted about it (below). I looked around for slippery liners (eastern Mass) but could not find any. Wire brushing, sanding and painting chutes with gloss Rustoleum makes a decent surface. That seems to help but with nasty wet conditions there was still buildup especially on the old shorter chutes that have a sharp leaning angle as opposed to the taller chutes where the angle is much more gradual. Sprays like WD-40 seem to get ripped off very quickly so not very helpful. Borat: I have no snow sticking anywhere. Even wet snow doesn't stick enough to cause any effect on the efficiency of the machine. If it's real sticky, it will stick a bit to the side of the intake housing and maybe a bit will adhere to the gear case but that's about it. Never get enough of a build up to make a difference. As mentioned, the chute is lined with a piece of Krazy Karpet or whatever it's called now. That stuff is very durable. It's on it's third season now and looks like it has lots of life left in it yet. It's showing a bit of scuffing but that's to be expected with all the gravel and sand thats mixed in with the end of driveway deposit. It's a bit of work to make and install, but hey, if it lasts ten years or more and saves damage to the chute, it's worth it.
Re: Repainting a snowblower bucket Reply #67 Nov 20, 2010 10:17 pm
I look forward to your writeup. Curious what did you end up replacing..... And yes, I have to have matching OEM paint for the chute as well....
I just joined the GX160 club myself today. Aside from missing one front cover bolt, def. needs a overhaul on scraper, paddles and belt, I think I just may spring for new wheels and cotter pins..
The housing is not that beat, and would just benefit from a coat or two of fresh paint. I think I'll just taking the basic necessities and deal with the overhaul another day.... It's probably just a extra 1/2 hour to remove the auger and probably easier swapping out the paddles which would allow me to spray.....both the sides and onside the bucket.
