Battery Box Repair

The battery box shown in the picture below has the hole rusted through it in thebottom left corner on a 1970's lawn mower that I'm repairing and painting, and I was wondering what yall thought might be the best way to go about fixin this. Should I try to fix the one I have, try to fab a new one, or try to find a good one to purchase, or just leave it alone? The battery box bolts to the frame through 4 bolts, 2 on either short end. I do have a MIG welder, and some slight welding skills, but wasn't sure if such a thing could be repaired this way and I didn't want to try to without at least inquiring. Thank you for your time.

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If you want to go to the trouble you might sandblast the metal and then put it in a pan with a baking soda solution. This should kill the acid. Rinse and let dry and paint. An epoxy primer would be good to use. Then level out the corrosion of the metal with bondo and epoxy prime again. Then paint and you shouldn't have any more problems with rust. If you don't want to use epoxy you might go ahead and smooth out the metal with bondo and then prime and paint. Epoxy is just really good at killing rust.
 
Forgive me for such a dumb question, this epoxy primer would literally be called "epoxy primer" correct? I have to make a run to TSC tomorrow for a 2" piece of pipe tomorrow and could look for it while I'm there. I think I still have some bondo leftover somewhere around here. Thank you.
 
(quoted from post at 22:57:37 03/01/19) Forgive me for such a dumb question, this epoxy primer would literally be called "epoxy primer" correct? I have to make a run to TSC tomorrow for a 2" piece of pipe tomorrow and could look for it while I'm there. I think I still have some bondo leftover somewhere around here. Thank you.

Tractor supply won't have it. You will have to go somewhere that sells paint supplies not "implement paint" if you want to use epoxy. Or order it online.

Sandblast the piece and get another picture for us. It is too hard for me to see what is going on.

Generally speaking with a simple flat piece like this it's orettt easy to patch with a piece and welder.

Messing with baking soda is a waste of time. Wash the piece well with soap and hot water and degreaser before blasting. Wash with wax and grease remover before spraying or sticking anything to it.
 
I don't think you will find epoxy primer at tractor supply. You would be more likely to find it at a place that sells automotive paints. The primer is a two part thing just like the glue. You mix up just what you need and discard what is left over. I think someone makes some in a rattle can that you pull something which internally puts the two parts together but I've never actually seen it.
 

You want to use one of the many phosphoric acid rust converters to get the rust down in those pits. Epoxy paint does nothing to "kill" existing rust, but it is great at slowing the spread of the rust because of the superior bond to the metal.
 
I got a rattle can of epoxy primer from a S-W store. 20 oz. can with what looked like a valve stem on the bottom. It was a two chamber can and you press the cap on the bottom stem to release the hardener and shake. It was enough to prime all the cast parts of a six cylinder engine.
 
I've heard of epoxy in a rattle can but have never seen it so I couldn't say exactly how it works. I've always bought primer and used it in a paint sprayer.
 
(quoted from post at 14:02:31 03/02/19) I've heard of epoxy in a rattle can but have never seen it so I couldn't say exactly how it works. I've always bought primer and used it in a paint sprayer.

Go to Eastwoods website. They have aerosol 2K products with plenty of explanation as well as buyer reviews.
 
Okay I've taken your advice and mulled over it. Bein that i need to do an this lawn mower, another lawn mower and eventually an Allis B I think its time to invest in a paint gun and start learnin how to paint.
I don't wanna spend a ton of money but I've linked some items that I'm very interested in but before I order wanted thoughts. Even though I don't want to spend a bunch of money i want to have good equipment because even though I'm a beginner i want to learn technique not have to worry about my equipment not workin. I am going to attempt to sandblast that tomorow but some unexpected house work came up and I didn't get to it today. Whenever I do I will post a few pics. Again, thanks for everyone's help.
Eastwood Concours 2

Eastwood Epoxy
 

Never, because of this forum I have bought two paint guns at Harbor Freight. There have been many threads about paint guns and that the ones that Harbor Freight work just fine. For your paint, I like Stephen and Yakob recommend finding a local paint jobber. In my area one of the local auto part chains carries a good selection of paint and they will mix whatever color you want, and they even look up the code for you, and set you up with compatible base primer, primer surfacer and base clear. This store carries the Nason line which is made by PPG and is good quality 2K paint with hardener if desired and is way cheaper than the really good automotive paint, so it is much better Han implement paint but way cheaper than the expensive automotive paint. I will love the admonishments about using hardener to others.
 
(quoted from post at 00:39:14 03/03/19) Okay I've taken your advice and mulled over it. Bein that i need to do an this lawn mower, another lawn mower and eventually an Allis B I think its time to invest in a paint gun and start learnin how to paint.
I don't wanna spend a ton of money but I've linked some items that I'm very interested in but before I order wanted thoughts. Even though I don't want to spend a bunch of money i want to have good equipment because even though I'm a beginner i want to learn technique not have to worry about my equipment not workin. I am going to attempt to sandblast that tomorow but some unexpected house work came up and I didn't get to it today. Whenever I do I will post a few pics. Again, thanks for everyone's help.
Eastwood Concours 2

Eastwood Epoxy

Not a fan of the harbor freight spray gun advice here unless you are using them as throwaway primer shooters. They simply do not compare, and don't let anyone convince you that they do. Yes, they work and are super cheap. I'd recommend looking at the devilbiss flg5 or the finishline 4 setup since you seem willing to spend a bit.

Eastwood is easy to use because they have full lineups of basically every product start to finish. They tend to be a bit high on prices for tools in my experience though. You also can't get custom mixed colors from them that I'm aware of. "Custom" in this case being things like JD greens that they do not carry.

Make sure you budget for some way to keep the air circulating, the correct safety gear, and have an air compressor that can keep up. For a lawnmower size project you can get by with a little garage 30 galloper but that isn't going to cut it if you want big batches of tractor parts getting squirted at a time.

Nason is not a PPG product and never was. If you have a oreilly close a lot of them actually job nason. Also NAPA has criossfire/ Martin senior. I don't like buying paint from auto parts stores simply because the guy behind the counter usually knows NOTHING about the products.
 
(quoted from post at 06:07:56 03/03/19)
(quoted from post at 00:39:14 03/03/19) Okay I've taken your advice and mulled over it. Bein that i need to do an this lawn mower, another lawn mower and eventually an Allis B I think its time to invest in a paint gun and start learnin how to paint.
I don't wanna spend a ton of money but I've linked some items that I'm very interested in but before I order wanted thoughts. Even though I don't want to spend a bunch of money i want to have good equipment because even though I'm a beginner i want to learn technique not have to worry about my equipment not workin. I am going to attempt to sandblast that tomorow but some unexpected house work came up and I didn't get to it today. Whenever I do I will post a few pics. Again, thanks for everyone's help.
Eastwood Concours 2

Eastwood Epoxy

Not a fan of the harbor freight spray gun advice here unless you are using them as throwaway primer shooters. They simply do not compare, and don't let anyone convince you that they do. Yes, they work and are super cheap. I'd recommend looking at the devilbiss flg5 or the finishline 4 setup since you seem willing to spend a bit.

Eastwood is easy to use because they have full lineups of basically every product start to finish. They tend to be a bit high on prices for tools in my experience though. You also can't get custom mixed colors from them that I'm aware of. "Custom" in this case being things like JD greens that they do not carry.

Make sure you budget for some way to keep the air circulating, the correct safety gear, and have an air compressor that can keep up. For a lawnmower size project you can get by with a little garage 30 galloper but that isn't going to cut it if you want big batches of tractor parts getting squirted at a time.

Nason is not a PPG product and never was. If you have a oreilly close a lot of them actually job nason. Also NAPA has criossfire/ Martin senior. I don't like buying paint from auto parts stores simply because the guy behind the counter usually knows NOTHING about the products.

Ouch Yakob, hitting kind of hard this AM aren't you? Sorry I meant Dupont. Still the same deal it is a price line but still quality automotive. The store chain that I deal with has a paint specialist in most of their stores.
 

Hitting hard? Not really hitting at all...just sharing some facts and different advice for someone new. That's why we are all here is it not?
 
Okay I appreciate the advice and I'll post more information and questions. I have a 60gal compressor and should have appropriate moisture filters also, as far as air circulation and safety is concerned I can budget appropriately for that. Regarding paints, I already have a gallon of JD classic green, would it be wise to see if JD carries an epoxy primer or could you use Eastwood etc. then shoot the John Deere paint over it. Not sure how the adhesion would be. Thanks yakob and everyone else for the advice. (Checking at deere is not an extra step there just right in town and can go tomorow if I need too)
 
Welllllll, since you asked, that's a waste of time, go get some flat piece of stainless, bend the edges and paint it and be done with it. It sits under a battery, who will ever see it?
 
As long as you follow the instructions it shouldn't matter what brand epoxy primer you use. Epoxy primers have a recoat window which means you have a certain amount of hours to put the finished paint over the top. If you exceed that window then you would need to scuff sand and put another coat of primer on.
 
If you were going to start painting cars for a living the Eastwood gun would be better. For what you are doing I would use a Harbor Freight gun which I get for about twenty bucks with a coupon. I painted this tractor with Nason including the stenciling with a HF #97855 sprayer. It comes with a larger tip so it doesn't atomize the paint as much but if you work it right doesn't show up in the finish. You just have to thin the finish slightly more.

The Eastwood Epoxy primer should be fine. The primers are enough alike I don't think you need to worry about brand.
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(quoted from post at 10:38:28 03/03/19) As long as you follow the instructions it shouldn't matter what brand epoxy primer you use. Epoxy primers have a recoat window which means you have a certain amount of hours to put the finished paint over the top. If you exceed that window then you would need to scuff sand and put another coat of primer on.

I don't know of any primers that DON'T have a recoat wibdow...or paints for that matter.

Deere won't have epoxy primer but they do have enamel primer. There is nothing wrong with it especially if you are spraying their paint over it; They are in the same price category. Someone on this forum put some good advice into words and that is to spend on products according to how much time you spend on prep work. If you are going all out with body filler and down to bare metal, it is likely in your best interest to go with a epoxy primer and something like Nason or another urethane for paint unless what you spend TODAY ONLY is of utmost importance.. If you use Deere's paint absolutely do not skimp out on hardener for it for dirability. It will work perfectly fine over the epoxy.

I wouldn't buy that Eastwood gun. Eastwood doesn't make a gun, nor does Mac, Snap on, Marco, Husky, Kobalt, DeWalt, and so on. Harbor freight doesn't either, for that matter. All of these companies are just label slapping someone else's product. Companies who actually manufacture and label their own guns build a far superior product, but you still need to watch them in their cheap lines for relabeling. Ie the "starting line" guns from devilbiss .

The cheap guns like to hold paint behind the air cap and in their internal passages. They are much more finicky, and in my experience atomized horribly and don't move paint fast enough. They just don't have the "feel" to them either. They are good for what they are for but spending $200 on a good gun for a hobby is by no means a waste of money. It's like comparing a harbor freight angle grinder to a Milwaukee...sure it will cut a piece of exhaust pipe, but which one would you rather use?
 
This is the battery box cleaned up somewhat. I was still working on the house today but here it is with the damage in the bottom left corner. Thank you.
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That's pretty bad. To what lengths do you want to go to to fix it? A person could cut the corner out and weld in a new piece of metal but that is a lot of trouble. An easier fix would be to prime it with epoxy and then put a patch over it with some fiberglass resin and cloth. Then it could be leveled out with bondo. Once painted you wouldn't know it was there. Of course you would be beyond the recoat window with the primer by the time you patched the spot but you could scuff sand off of it and put a second coat of primer on it.
 
(quoted from post at 20:18:53 03/03/19) That's pretty bad. To what lengths do you want to go to to fix it? A person could cut the corner out and weld in a new piece of metal but that is a lot of trouble. An easier fix would be to prime it with epoxy and then put a patch over it with some fiberglass resin and cloth. Then it could be leveled out with bondo. Once painted you wouldn't know it was there. Of course you would be beyond the recoat window with the primer by the time you patched the spot but you could scuff sand off of it and put a second coat of primer on it.
well the second option sounds better and may be the preferred route, I have a welder but by no means can I make pretty welds, they hold, but they ain't pretty. I'll have to see what I can get done this week. Thanks for all the help everyone.
 
(quoted from post at 23:37:37 03/03/19)
(quoted from post at 20:18:53 03/03/19) That's pretty bad. To what lengths do you want to go to to fix it? A person could cut the corner out and weld in a new piece of metal but that is a lot of trouble. An easier fix would be to prime it with epoxy and then put a patch over it with some fiberglass resin and cloth. Then it could be leveled out with bondo. Once painted you wouldn't know it was there. Of course you would be beyond the recoat window with the primer by the time you patched the spot but you could scuff sand off of it and put a second coat of primer on it.
well the second option sounds better and may be the preferred route, I have a welder but by no means can I make pretty welds, they hold, but they ain't pretty. I'll have to see what I can get done this week. Thanks for all the help everyone.

If it can't be seen then the easiest option is to clean it up, prime it, paint it, and move on.
 
It's all up to you. If your not in a big hurry it can be a good learning experience, cut the bad piece out and weld in another, would be easy to make one using two pieces of angle iron in a vice with a vise grip on each end, poor guys sheet metal break, I've done that a lot. E bay probably has a pile of them or Craig's list too.

Two years ago I spent all summer rebuilding my 1966 Wheel Horse, had been rolled over a few times, hood and fenders were junk, tires too. Got it out of a junk yard in about 1980.
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I would either cut it out and weld in a patch or stitch weld it shut. Stich welding is how I would weld it the patch. Stich welding is to weld in a small round bead that is welded all the way thru. In patch welding the small patch it is stitched on all four sides making sure it is flat on all the way around with a 1/16" gap. After spot welding a stitch holding it in place you would alternate making the stitch half way into the first stitch. You would continue alternating the stitches until the gap is all filled in. You should end up with weld above the surface on both sides that can be ground down smooth to where you would never know.it was welded. On small jobs I don't use a hood so I can make sure the wire is pointed in the right direction and held with both hands before I close my eyes.

Filling in that hole is done in the same way except your only welding to one side until filled in.

I stitch weld the gates I make out of thin wall conduit. I don't always have a good fit on the corners and have to fill in by stitching one side until the gap is filled in.

It is not hard to learn and with a little practice you will do fine.
 

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