swiftstu Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 Hey gang, I’ve proved once again why I’m not a mechanic... I spent a lot of time cleaning a gearbox, getting ready for a manual conversion. It’s now amazingly clean.. I’ve popped a few coats of VHT paint on now for some protection and it looks lovely. BUT, the paint now needs curing as it’s all rubby offy. Any ideas as to how I could do this??.. I just didn’t give it a thought. I thought about building a sacrificial fire and getting it to confess, but I have no serious ideas. thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, swiftstu said: Hey gang, I’ve proved once again why I’m not a mechanic... I spent a lot of time cleaning a gearbox, getting ready for a manual conversion. It’s now amazingly clean.. I’ve popped a few coats of VHT paint on now for some protection and it looks lovely. BUT, the paint now needs curing as it’s all rubby offy. Any ideas as to how I could do this??.. I just didn’t give it a thought. I thought about building a sacrificial fire and getting it to confess, but I have no serious ideas. thanks!! The first thing you did wrong is paint in this weather. Lost of moisture in the air. Then how many coats and how heavy? I believe VHT needs heat to cure once applied to engine parts to Edited January 11, 2021 by evinX (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiftstu Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 7 hours ago, evinX said: The first thing you did wrong is paint in this weather. Lost of moisture in the air. Then how many coats and how heavy? I believe VHT needs heat to cure once applied to engine parts to Hey, thanks for the reply. it was painted and dried indoors, so moisture should be a minimum- around 19 degrees I believe. 3 coats- a dusk coat and 2 further. Not sure how to describe how heavy- I’d say sufficient with appropriate drying times between coats. ultimately that is my question, it needs heat to cure and I wonder if anyone has any idea how to do this off the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 No booth/ oven to put it into. The next realistic option would be a heat gun. In my opinion hammerite would of been best for the gearbox as it does take some good heat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiftstu Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 5 minutes ago, evinX said: No booth/ oven to put it into. The next realistic option would be a heat gun. In my opinion hammerite would of been best for the gearbox as it does take some good heat Thanks. I may look at hammerite and strip the vht... ta 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rider Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 (edited) I wouldn't have thought VHT paint was required for a gearbox but some VHT paints need a primer and some don't. I never painted my diff fins because paint adhesion onto aluminum or alloy surfaces can be a bit flakey especially if the surface isn't super clean. As evin says you do need to cure these ceramic paint after they have gone touch dry. A curing oven for 30 minutes is usually recommended but if you don't have a oven large enough to accept the casing then a heat gun is going to be your only solution. With a heat gun you will struggle to get to the required temp over a long time across a large surface area so its not ideal. If you read around with this kind of paint they talk about sticking in ovens at 180C for the curing process. A heat gun runs a lot hotter than this at the tip so you can get there but it'll take a good amount of time to cure an entire casing worth of paint. Edited January 11, 2021 by rider (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy442 Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Youre painting onto Aluminium, you need to etch prime it first to give the paint something to hold on to 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiftstu Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 8:18 AM, rider said: I wouldn't have thought VHT paint was required for a gearbox but some VHT paints need a primer and some don't. I never painted my diff fins because paint adhesion onto aluminum or alloy surfaces can be a bit flakey especially if the surface isn't super clean. As evin says you do need to cure these ceramic paint after they have gone touch dry. A curing oven for 30 minutes is usually recommended but if you don't have a oven large enough to accept the casing then a heat gun is going to be your only solution. With a heat gun you will struggle to get to the required temp over a long time across a large surface area so its not ideal. If you read around with this kind of paint they talk about sticking in ovens at 180C for the curing process. A heat gun runs a lot hotter than this at the tip so you can get there but it'll take a good amount of time to cure an entire casing worth of paint. Sorry, missed the update- thanks! It’s all off now, and hammerite on. Looked to be the wrong solution, so stripped it- it’s all a learning curve.. looks fab now, and the hammerite has adhered really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiftstu Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 5:34 PM, Swampy442 said: Youre painting onto Aluminium, you need to etch prime it first to give the paint something to hold on to Thanks @Swampy442- good advice, I did do a test patch to see if it would adhere at all. As you say, definitely needs primer. But now looks pretty bloomin amazing, and the paints dried well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiftstu Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 Finished product 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc92 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Nice finish on that 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiftstu Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 19 hours ago, mc92 said: Nice finish on that You mean the work bench, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Looks great mate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPG Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Looks good to me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh42 Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 Excellent job, glad to see a positive outcome in the end. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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