What paint do you use and 111 info needed ?

Hi fellow avocados
What paint do you use for restoring things like the Optimus cases? It needs to be reasonably heatproof, resistant to petrol and meths.
I realise there are such things as VHT, which will stand red heat (I have successfully used it for the bars on a Turm Sport) but the colour range is very limited indeed.
I had considered engine enamel from Frost (UK) but again, colour range is restricted to car makers' engine colours.
Wotcher fink?

 

Who're yo calling pear-shaped? It'll be woosie next!
When I did the paint job on my 111 earlier in the year I used a regular touch-up aerosol can of automotive body paint over similar grey primer on the case. It stands the heat tolerably well but scratches quite easily. I think colour match is more important than durability and it's not such a big job to re-do it. I suppose I could have varnished it but I couldn't find a varnish which i knew was a) compatible & b) gave the not-quite-gloss/not-quite-flat finish that the stove originally had, so I left it as it was. The aerosol has enough left in it for any number of resprays.

 

Ian; that is a really great repaint. I wish I had the talent / paitence to produce such a great paint job. I usually get in too big of a hurry and try to do it all in one "shot". I know one is suppose to apply several light coats, not an "all in one".

Your, not shiney not dull, is called a semi-gloss and can be achived using a semi-gloss polyurethane type finish. You can bake your paint in a warm oven (not hotter than 150 deg f.) for about a half hour to toughen up the paint. It is easly scored because the higher end vapours are still evapourating. Give them a few months, and instead of scratching easily it wll take to chipping, just like your car does when subjected to rocks and gravel from the road.

Lance

 

Ian
I remember seeing your 111 at the collectors gathering and you did tell me the colour of the paint. I seem, due to lack of brain cells, have fogotten. Could you possibly tell me again.
Also does anyone know of a paint spray colour for tilley lamps?
Henry

 

Henry,
The paint I used on the 111 is Ford Cosmos Blue & I bought it at Halfords.
As for Tilleys, or any other job for that matter, if there is still some of the original shade on the fount I would suggest you take it into the shop with you. That way you can compare the original with the replacement under the same light. It seemed to work ok for the 111.

 

I've recently spray painted the frame of my Optimus 182 range. I took the frame to the auto paint shop where they colour matched it and made up a can of enamel spray paint for me. A bit pricey, about three times the cost of a standard colour.

Looking at my Optimus 8R, the (lifting) paint looks like ordinary automotive paint to me.

Dave.

 

Ah yes - I really meant 'afficionados' but had just spent half an hour on ebay, so I was still talking in ebayese.
My 8R had been painted by the previous owner with a Toyota met blue aerosol, but the paint does not seem to like hot meths and bubbles up, also it tends to soften and come off, hence my question. I have more of a useability than concours originality angle on these things - if the latter can be achieved as well as the former, even better.

 

At the time of posting these pictures are about 15' old. Functionality is also an important consideration. The 111 is my car stove of choice and lives in the back of Elaine in a box with other items of hardware, so it gets bounced around quite a bit. It also gets used at least once a week. As Lance said, the paint has now hardened up and is bearing up pretty well.

 

It looks very good, Ian. I think I will try the same paint and see how it goes. Thanks for the info. Just for interest, where in W Yorks are you, and what make/model/year is Elaine?

 

Elaine is well off-topic, so I've posted her details in Club House. You should find her easily enough.

 

Henry, as others here also do, I usually go to Halfords and match up the remaining paint with whatever car spray paint they have available off-the-shelf. If you let me know what colour it is you're after, I'll let you know what I've found the best match to be. Alternatively, they will mix and match an aerosol but it will be around ?10 per can as opposed to ?5 per can off the rack. They've an offer on at the moment where you get 3 cans for 2 so that's about ?3.30 per can - you can get primer, colour coat and clear lacquer for a tenner.

The exception to this is the gold colour Tilley used. The best match for that is obtainable from either Halfords or B+Q and is found on the Plastikote stand, Odds and Ends, No. 139, Brass. It looks a bit bright but I have it on the best authority that's what Tilley gold looked like when new - on your Tilley, it's just got dirty and darker over time. Cheers, David

 

Halfords sell acryllc paint in aerosol cans. I found Toyota Light Blue Metallic to be a close match to the colour of the Optmus 8 and 111 tins. The paint is designed to be lacquered but the original paint had an eggshell finish. Lacquering the paint produces a gloss finish so it is better to miss it off if you are trying to copy the original finish as well as the original colour. Whilst it is not heat resisting it seems to tolerate the heat that it gets. I have aways had reservations as to whether the original paint was heat resistant.

You need to remove any rust before you start painting and prime the surface. I have not found it necessary to remove the original paint but it needs rubbing down to feather the paint edges into the bare patches.

 

When I did the 111 I took the whole shebang down to bare metal, although I didn't really need to. My thinking was that it would avoid any possibility of discrepancy between old & new. I'm also of the opinion that not repainting at all is a better choice than touching-up, from an originality point of view.

 

When you apply the primer you see whether there is a reaction and if so you can strip down to bare metal. You are not really touching up but repainting over a mixed background. Up to now this has not presented a problem to me. The even colour looks much better than patches of bare metal or rust and paint. The foil labels can be masked with insulating tape and are not affected by the repainting. Insulating tape does not allow the paint to creep under the edges like masking tape does. You cannot mask the water transfers on stoves like Primus 71s by conventional means as these simply pull off with the masking material.

 

I have been photographing and scanning good stove transfers. Printing them lifesize, covering them with clear Fablon and then sticking the photo to tins without labels. Obviously they are not as good as original labels but thet look better than no labels at all. Initially I was sticking the photo to the Fablon and then trimming both to the same size as the photo. I am now cutting the photo to size, sticking it to the Fablon and trimming the Fablon slightly oversize. This is to prevent mosture getting into the edges of the photo. I have only started doing the photo labels recently so I cannot tell how long they will last

 

For the 111 sticker I prited the label reversed onto an acetate then stuck it to apiece of kitchen foil with 2x sided clear tape then stuck foil backed label to tin with 2x tape again.
I'm currently experimenting with BJ transfer papers when other things don't get in the way, and will report in due course.

 

Replacement stickers! Where? I've got two 111's and a 71 in need of some stickers.

-franco

 

Yes, where? :o

 

Thanks for this you guys, I should be able to sort something out after all this advice.
Henry

 

I'm sure I have some original, modern 111 ffoil stickers - I'll look later.

Henry - I haven't forgotten your panring.

Franco - is your 71 Hjorth or Bahco. I have made some front stickers for these but can't remember which at the moment - will check later. Inside sticker is still in progress.