d2gary wrote:

I got the old grease out of the shaft by heating it up and blew the grease out with the air hose. That was some nasty smelling stuff but it all came out.
Weather was good so I was able to sandblast the rust and old paint off. The question I have is should the area under the caps where it clamps to the finals be painted or left bare. It's a pretty tight fit and it's not really exposed to the elements. Maybe a thin layer of primer would protect it without causing it to bind on the caps. Unsure which direction to go.

A thin coat of primer would be fine.

I like to use Rustoleum Cold Galvanize Compound spray paint in areas like that.

D2 Gary,

I'm sure you've answered this question 20,000 times (+/-) in this thread, but I'll ask again, anyway. What paint are you using?

And FWIW, the logo is awesome. You should have it chrome-plated to bling things up.

Thank you for the good information, I just happened to have a partial can of the galvanizing paint on the shelf so that's what I used. It seems like a very thin build up of paint. I didn't see any evidence of paint on that area but felt like it should have something.

sheddcanyon wrote:

D2 Gary,

I'm sure you've answered this question 20,000 times (+/-) in this thread, but I'll ask again, anyway. What paint are you using?

And FWIW, the logo is awesome. You should have it chrome-plated to bling things up.

I started out trying the single stage urethane and it turned into a train wreck. It didn't cover well and is fairly expensive, and the color match wasn't good. So after considering whether to go on or just start over i decided to bite the bullet and start over. I am going to go to the tried and true enamel and repaint what is done and finish the rest with enamel. Its not fun to redo but I'm so far in now I just want it to be right.
I know Cat still has paint and I've had good results with Krylon paint in the gallon cans.

d2gary wrote:

I got the old grease out of the shaft by heating it up and blew the grease out with the air hose. That was some nasty smelling stuff but it all came out.
Weather was good so I was able to sandblast the rust and old paint off. The question I have is should the area under the caps where it clamps to the finals be painted or left bare. It's a pretty tight fit and it's not really exposed to the elements. Maybe a thin layer of primer would protect it without causing it to bind on the caps. Unsure which direction to go.

nickel or copper anti seize a very light smear will stop it rusting in a smear of high temp bearing grease would work too. anti seize is best though as it will give some galvanic protection.

zinc rich paints only work for a little while and if it moves while tightening the bolts the paint cracks and no protection as the moisture follows the cracks.

A little cosmetic work getting done. Not my favorite thing to do, but it has to be done to give that finished look.

your doing a great job with the old girl keep up the good work. thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

mog5858 wrote:

your doing a great job with the old girl keep up the good work. thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm pretty committed to see smoke from the stack by this summer