Richie's Mk1 Restoration

[George McKenzie]

Wonder what powder coating would be like ? It would be tougher than paint

[ajmac]

Powder coating is a waste of time for anything that you intend to use in anger! I powder coated a Triumph Spitfires front suspension componants and a Land-Rover Petrol tank and both rusted very badly as the coating holds in the damp in perfect corrosive environment! I would have thought that if tracks were coated at all (which I guess they were) that a type of chemical black would have been used. It is still done in the UK, I had a No4 Mk1 Enfield acid dipped and re-blacked about 10 years ago in Stourbridge, West Midlands.

[kevin powles]

Hi Rich, What I did was clean the track up with a rotary wire brush, I figured grit blasting would trap alot of grit in with the pins, then i sprayed the track in zinc rich primer, gives a grey finish, then i dipped the track in gallons of what we call at work 'reactor black', which is a high carbon heat resistant primer, we use it to paint all surfaces on the two nuclear reactors here at Sizewell A and associated machinery, It gives a semi gloss black finish and is non-flaking, used it because its free.

But like most people have said a few runs out in mud and on the road, it soon disappears on all the contact surfaces, but the zinc tends to stay in place.

It looks nice when you first paint it. I have attached a pic with the track freshly done, you can compare to one track link which isnt painted at the front.

Kevin.

[The Bedford Boys]

Originally Posted by ajmac

Powder coating is a waste of time for anything that you intend to use in anger! I powder coated a Triumph Spitfires front suspension componants and a Land-Rover Petrol tank and both rusted very badly as the coating holds in the damp in perfect corrosive environment! I would have thought that if tracks were coated at all (which I guess they were) that a type of chemical black would have been used. It is still done in the UK, I had a No4 Mk1 Enfield acid dipped and re-blacked about 10 years ago in Stourbridge, West Midlands.

I agree with this entirely. Powder coating really isn't a good idea for exterior automotive applications. Powder coating is crap for vehicles because it chips easily, then flakes and water gets in and rots the piece out. I wouldn't even bother putting it anywhere near carrier track!! I've got a list of things you could waste your money on instead if your looking to do that... I don't think they would have bothered with any rust-preventitive at all to be honest. The track would've been well worn out before rust became an issue to them. As has been said, carrier track polishes up nice when you run it through grass etc.

[George McKenzie]

I am just finnishing up a 1930 A Ford car and the club guys tell me to power coat the spoke wheels . In the trucking we use Endura on the trailers .It doesn't chip and is a tough paint .but is hard to remove if you want to do a different color . As far as the tracks go, The only time you would paint them is for a static display . On our constriction track machines the paint is gone on the tracks in just a short while .

[RichardT10829]

i know i know but it would look really good for like 3 minutes..

[George McKenzie]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

i know i know but it would look really good for like 3 minutes..

If you were to paint the tracks I would recommend ENDURA paint Dupont sells it .Its like porcelain enamel ,really hard paint , but hard to take off .

[RichardT10829]

Well been busy in the garage the past few weeks, lots of welding and drilling, slowly but surely getting through the boring stuff, i am struggling to get the pedals out i cant get in to cut the bolts with grinder, the bolts too rotten to undo and as they are countersunk into the plate, they cant be cut from the outside....i am considering drilling now

finished the frame rails on the front drilled and tidied, also patched up the glacis plate. there are some holes in the floor which have been burnt in possibly to facilitate drainage which i will weld up.

seats, steering column flangey brackety thing and gear gate all removed now along with steering bell cranks... all are stripped down for cleaning painting and rebuild.

bulkhead is welded up now, need to weld up a small burnt hole where the passenger seat mounts and drill the angle bar holes back in, then she is good....that will be done tomorrow. i have all the armour lying about the garage waiting to be mounted properly (been dry fitted a few times now) all that remains are the intake ducts then that is the primary hull just about done. i have the shutters just need to drill the plate and countersink it....also need the spacers for the shutters.

Iam toying with shot blasting the hull but its bloody expensive. may just go over it with wire wheel (the hull is pretty good not much pitting at all)

anyways here are some pics.