Hey guys, I want to buy a wire wheel / buffer for cleaning up part and then painting them

Any wire wheel, right? But how about some sort of a softer wheel/buffer etc ?

Paint? Mostly in the engine compartment for now? I have some black flat spray paint, is that ok or am I ruining the originality or something? Should I primer first?

Please advise

Thanks Bill v

Wire wheel on a bench grinder is good for cleaning small parts like hardware and brackets smaller suspension parts. Make sure you use some sort of degreaser before priming and painting.
For larger areas and and larger parts you on can use a wire cup wheel on a hand held angle grinder. They also sell a scotch Brite type of wheel that works great for cleaning and stripping paint.

You talking a bench grinder setup with a wire wheel?

Bench grinders and buffing motor are two different things. I used an old 1/3 hp sump pump motor and eastwood buffing kit on my car. I had great results.

Some wire wheels are tougher then others. Some can really gouge things up.

Best black paint I have found for engine compartment stuff is the SEM Products 39143 Trim Black Aerosol.

I usually strip parts down to bar metal by either media blasting, chemical stripper or wire wheel. I soak rusty parts in tub of Evaporust(harbor freight) or phosphoric acid(Home depot). Wipe the part down with some surface prep and finally sweat the metal out with a propane torch before I spray it. Works pretty good for me.

Depends on the part..

If old rusted bolts no grease or oil on them, I use a mix of phosphoric acid and water. If greased or oily, I use paint thinner or mineral spirits first, then derust.

If large parts rusted, I made a derusting bucket with rebar anodes and washing soda and water. Hook up to a battery charger and let it do its work.

As far as paint, I use cold galvanize rattle can and or zinc chromate primer then top coat after thorough degrease and dry. I put my cleaned parts in oven for an hour at 300 to dry.

As far as topcoat, different parts, different glosses of black. depends on what you feel appropriate at the time. You can always correct it later.

Thanks guys. Just trying to do things right the first time

I never thought about using solutions for paint and/or rust
I'll check out those paints

Thanks. Bill v

Rust Removal

This is what I used....Made it in about an hour after picking up supplies. Used some 12-3 wire I had laying around. Washing soda (specifically) can be found at grocery store...Arm and Hammer. Rebar Home Depot, Lowes was $5 for a 10 foot length.

All in, less than $20 and works great.

That is very cool Tom!

If you are painting small parts you might go to a resell shop and buy a toaster oven( i paid two bucks for mine) and bake the parts after they flash off for awhile. Helps make them a little more durable. I would set mine about 250 for about an hour.

I actually installed a oven in my shop (Habitat for Humanity - $20) and use it to cure regular paint and also do some powder coating. Bought a cheap powder coating unit from Harbor Freight, actually works really nice.

What temperature you need for the powder coat?

Its like 400 degrees. No problem for the oven. Size is the biggest issue. Even a large kitchen oven is not all that big.