Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[steely dan]

A wee tip for anyone using or buying Hammerite paint .
Next time Aldi are listing their " metal paint " in 1 lt tins buy it as it is their own version of Hammerite /Smoothrite paints at a fraction of the cost of the branded product and as good if not better than the original.
The green , black and white are smooth drying and the silver has a hammered finish.They can be thinned with white spirit and sprayed if required.
I've used them all for several years now and cant fault them at all.

[spraydav]

Just a quick point to note when brush painting, the highest quality, pure bristle paint brush, well 'broken in' will give the best results when applying these materials, cheap throw away brushes are false economy.
I started my apprenticeship 30 yrs ago as a coach painter and if anyone used or abused my brushes there would be hell to pay!!

Check this link for more info:

http://coachpainting.info/brushes.html

[baconsdozen]

Personally I've never rated Hammerite. The 'dimples' are where the paint is very thin and exposed to salt water they start to rust very quickly,worse the rust goes deep and then lifts off the paint around it.
It might look nice but as a rust preventative I found it pretty hopeless.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[Ashley]

[petermeachem]

I painted the engine bay of my Midget in white hammerite and all of the interior in black. Both smooth if that makes any difference. They were the only bits of the car that didn't rust and I just wire brushed the loose rust off and slapped the hammerite on. What's more the interior had no trim or mats of any sort and the paint stood up to being kicked around for years

[baconsdozen]

The smooth stuff is different.
The 'normal' hammerite isn't smooth. Try it on a piece of shiny steel and if you look closely where the dimples are (which look a bit like silicone 'fish eyes' ) you can see the metal through the paint. Let it get wet and it rusts quickly and the rust penetrates deeply. If you take the same sheet of steel and dont paint it at all and treat it the same way as the hammerited panel it will rust but just a surface coating (for a while at least) that doesn't really go that deep.
I cut loads of metal squares and did my own (admittedly not that scientific) rust test a few years back as I live 50 yards away from the sea. They were left outside where sea spray and rain soon soaked them.I found waxoyl or fluid film to work well (but not if they got dirty) old engine oil worked but not for long,the best of all for bare metal was to coat it often with thin coats of waxoyl or fluid film. After a year these were the only panels to have no rust (under a dirty,messy thick film). Painted panels lasted quite well especially ones that were waxed.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[Desert Fox]