Club 80-90 Forums

Can anyone recommend a suitable paint for the cab and sliding doors handles? I realise that any paint will do the job, but what paint will best take the constant handling?

Cheers, Reg

When I did mine I took them back too bare ally usual etches and u/coat then 2 pack satin black and a low bake with some other bits, better than new I reckon
well you did ask
mike

Yes two pack paint is very hardwaring...
The only other alternative is enamel that I can think of

I did mine recently i don't have a compressor or anything so had to use rattle cans. The finish i was/am very happy with they look like new. I'l do it in steps;

1) Stripped back with paint stripper (i have loads of paint stripper, it'd be just as suitable to sand back to a smooth/dull/flake-free finish)
2) Apply 2 or 3 coats of primer with 10 minutes in-between coats
3) (i personally) let the primer dry for 4 or 5 hours minimum lightly sand with a scouring pad to remove any high spots
4) Apply 4 or 5 coats of satin black 10 minutes between coats
5) Wait for the satin black to go off. It initially "skins" over so i waited a day and left the handles on the radiator to harden (at this point keep in mind the paint is still delicate its nowhere near hardened! Leave this process longer if possible).
6) (very) lightly remove high spots with scouring pad or fine (1000) wet n dry paper
7) Apply 3 or 4 clear coats over the top of the dulled/flattened satin black paint. Let the satin black harden (24-48 hrs or as long as possible)
08) Buff with a buffing machine, mines an electric car type from Aldi. Buff with a rubbing compound with a fine/medium grit.

The method of this process allows you to buff the clear coat in the final process and not the satin black. Ive buffed the satin black coat before now and its gone through to the primer, this is mainly due to not leaving the paint for long enough (weeks) to harden. With this method you just need some rattle cans and a buffer to achieve really good/robust results. If you miss the lock with your key and tap the handle you tap the clear coat which doesn't chip or dull. I did all mine at the same time and they all look like new - literally! Its been a few months since i did them, and if anything they look better now than when new.

sounds about right to me, only thing is youd have to have the van off the road a while?
mike

Well, that is an option yea, and definitely the easier option, however i took the harder root of taking the handles of the van during the day, watching the van like a hawk, doing the spray work, watching the van like a hawk, and then putting the handles back on the van before night. Must have removed them 4 or 5 times. The bonus is they remove/reattach easily as i'm sure you know.

The only other key thing i have just thought of here that took me ages was removing the lock barrels, this isn't essential as a bit of tape can go over the slot and tuck in round the sides. However my handle needed cleaning up at the same time. I don't know if its the same for everyone but every step from removing the tiny retaining screw, trying to remove the pins, trying to allow the pins to move freely once there put back in the barrel, trying to get the tiny springs to work and trying to reassemble the sliding door handle whilst allowing the barrel-return-spring to work was all a ball ache, if your locks are fine just tuck some tape round the barrel!

However you do have the bonus of all the pins working once the above process is completed, making the barrel harder to force.

Sh*t! and you did that in Manchester only joking, but fair credit for the effort and yes they will be good and free now
mike

Yea. The darker side of Manchester too!

Pray tell, which is the lighter side, Salford the only bit I know
M

Yea your in the right area there! I saw a man pissin in a bin the other day, i thought he must have been peeling an orange into it - looked over and he was pissing, there was loads of people around aswell. Then you wonder why i love the T25 - Gets me outa here!

I thought that they inject the oranges and then eat them whole used to visit the uni as they have one of the finest anechoic chambers in the land, never ever ventured much into the city so cant slag what I dont know, though used to live a few miles outside bradford many years ago
mike

Yea, i'm at Salford uni doing a Digital Broadcasting degree (final year!), the anechoic chamber is stunning u can hear much more than a pin drop. Unfortunately the rest of the Uni is pretty crap, i don't just say this as something to say; its literally an unstructured jelly just about wobbling enough to be noticed!

Hmm makes sense, a close friend used to run install callit as you will the servers there, quit for the same reasons, shyte he said! hes now doing the same thing in , wait for it China, been there for years, good degree your doing and I wish you well with it
mike

Thanks mate.

Who'd have thought a thread containing and 8 step process for painting handles would end here.

Thats what its all about and stuff always comes around, no doubt we will have a drink to it one day
M