I need to clean up and primer my wheel collection. i'm talking several hundred to pick keepers from the rest. I din't want to make this a drawn out process and thought of dipping them in reduced red oxide to prevent further rust. What will stay on top of the primer to prevent evaporation? Any other ideas?
That sounds like a monumental task. If they are already primered, and rusting through, they will have to have all the rust sanded down and reprimed, might be easier to just spot prime with an aerosol can. If you want to prevent further rust, find someplace that is clearancing large amounts of paint, even if it is clearcoat, and spray it over the primer. Primer does not seal, unless you spray a sealer/catalyzed primer. A good seal is the only way to prevent the inevitable.
I think I read somewhere that back in the 60's they ran new cars thru a tank to prime the lower parts of the body. The tank was full of water with paint floating on top. Dip the car in, and pull it out like a DQ Ice cream cone.
I don't think you can put anything that will float on top of the paint, to hinder evaporation, that won't mess up the paint sticking to the wheels.
Yep, that way the whole tank wasnt full of primer yet big enough for the car. Cheap bastards, look at how the rust. Now as far as a dip tank and evaporation of primer, what you will loose is the solvent not the primer. Red oxide primer will need to be top coated because its porous and will let moisture to the steel. Epoxy primer is better but has a pot life and a lot more dough. There would be waste in a tank I think Id spray them with epoxy. There are some industrial DTM single stage primers but I think they have extended dry times.
I'm in the swamps of Florida and the humidity makes everything rust INSTANTLY. A commercial sandblaster is going to blast them but won't think of priming the wires;too time consuming. I'd hate to but the excess ones may end up at the boneyard.
I would consiter power coating them. I can't paint rims as cheap as they can be powercoated. I'm sure that you would get a good price on several hundres of them.
The primer you speak of will only stop rust for a short period of time (likes been stated already) If you want your thinner to not evaporate …. don’t they have lids for barrels in Florida?
296 V8 has a point, just cover the barrel when not using it. Or pour the paint into 5 gallon pails with tight fitting lids. In many places around the country they have recycling or hazardous waste drop offs where they will give you left over paint that people have dropped off. You could get all the Rustoleum, mix it together then thin it down with paint thinner or gas. Then dip your wheels. You may need to dip them 2 or 3 times and hang them up at different angles, to get a halfway even coat of paint. But this will preserve them, and if you want to give them a nice paint job later just sand them down and spray paint. If the above is not clear... you have to thin the paint when you dip something and it does not run off evenly... so give it a thin coat, let it dry, then dip again and hang it up from a different spot so the paint runs in a different direction.. do this 2 or 3 times and you get a fairly even paint job. I can see you on the bayou surrounded by hundred of drippy old wheels hanging off the live oaks like Spanish moss LOL.
Friend of mine painted his shop this way. He made a pole barn out of old tin of various colors mostly rusty. He got all the exterior oil paint from the recycling place for free. When he mixed it together it came out light gray. He spray painted the tin and it looks great. I liked the idea so much I did the same thing with a fence on the back of my property, painted it with a Wagner electric spray gun. There is another idea, get one of those electric paint sprayers and spray paint them in the back yard. Might be quicker and easier than dipping them. The electric sprayer doesn't seem to make as much overspray as a compresser.
Think yellow zinc chromate plating. Inexpensive, little to no prep work, acid dip eats most rust. Probably no need to sand blast.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com: /><o></o> <o> </o> Had my whole frame done, plus front axle and rear axle housings, lever shocks, panhard rod, torque tube, pedal assemblies, etc.<o></o> <o> </o> Makes a moisture proof barrier and is paintable as desired.<o></o>
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