Steve@Advance
Well-known Member
I'm sure this has been discussed here before, but paint is not my expertise, so please bear with me!
I've been working on an old Cincinnati OD grinder, disassembling, cleaning 60 years of grinding grit out of everything. Getting ready to touch up the factory paint. The existing paint is not too bad, just some battle scars, normal wear areas. I want to preserve as much of the original paint as possible, as it is a very tough, hard surface, better than anything I can go back with.
I've done these before but used rattle cans. The color never matches and it quickly fails due to the harsh environment. This time I bought a quart of oil base semi-gloss enamel, had it color matched. My plan is to use a small brush to spot the bad places. This doesn't have to be prefect, just presentable, it will get filthy again.
My question is, how can I make the enamel dry to a more durable finish? Will thinning it with lacquer thinner help? What about hardener, never tried it, any good?
Thanks!
I've been working on an old Cincinnati OD grinder, disassembling, cleaning 60 years of grinding grit out of everything. Getting ready to touch up the factory paint. The existing paint is not too bad, just some battle scars, normal wear areas. I want to preserve as much of the original paint as possible, as it is a very tough, hard surface, better than anything I can go back with.
I've done these before but used rattle cans. The color never matches and it quickly fails due to the harsh environment. This time I bought a quart of oil base semi-gloss enamel, had it color matched. My plan is to use a small brush to spot the bad places. This doesn't have to be prefect, just presentable, it will get filthy again.
My question is, how can I make the enamel dry to a more durable finish? Will thinning it with lacquer thinner help? What about hardener, never tried it, any good?
Thanks!
