Switchgear restoration

[1GOM]

Greetings all. I'm in the process of "restoring" a Z1A back to Z1A from it's previous owners view of a Z1 I'm well on the way with engine, frame and lots of the other stuff done and am currently rewiring and restoring the switchgear. Now my question I've followed Steve Thomas's article on using Nitromors( I've also used it before) and frankly it's not very good. I've now done the pieces 6 times apiece and they still have black on them. Am I correct in thinking they were originally anodised rather than painted? It would make sense in that the indentations are well defined - unlikely if painted or any other finish. Thanks for any help or advice


1GOM

[tlc]

Sand or vapour blast `em.

Nice thin coat of satin black left to cure................then fill the spaces with yellow or white and clean off residue.

Not saying it is easy but it is certainly doable.

[Davy Doherty]

No they were painted,, best to leave them to cure for as long as you can before trying the infill you have to be really quick with wiping the surplus of though.

[mick znone]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0503638867

here's one i did a few weeks back 1GOM, i sanded the casing back with wet and dry, then painted it as already sugested here. i was please with it. one tip, when you drop the white or red paint on the letters, leave it for a few minutes, then wipe it carefully with a bit of white spirits if you use oil based paint. if you use celulose paint, then wipe it with thinners.

[kas750]

What a nice job you made of that

[Steve Cooke]

I sandblasted mine using a schultz gun then had them stove enamelled in satin black, this gives a very thin finish to keep the definition of the lettering. I used Humbrol enamels for the lettering and found that if you wipe it straight off it takes the paint out, so as Mick said I apply the colour, leave it to tack off, and then wipe across with thinners on a smooth cloth held tightly over a finger. They turned out perfect.

[mick znone]

but be aware anybody, as Steve says, when using enamal paint, use thinners, not white spirits. white spirits id for oil based.

[mick znone]

thanks Kas

[1GOM]

Thanks for all the help - interesting I've left the Nitromors on overnight and there's still loads of black left. At no stage did it bubble as per normal so my deduction is "its paint but not as we know it Jim"

Thanks again

1 GOM

[Garn 1]

Without wishing to distract from 1GOM's initial query. I have a question relating to this early RHS switch block.
For MickZ1A..... Nice job on E-bay switch-block. Could I trouble you to tell me .. What parts are the original Z1A switch-block? .. I can see the top part of the switch-block is original and the turn knob (off-run-off) is after-market. I would be pleased if you could tell me about the other components. I have trouble with original starter button contact. Did you use the bottom half of the after-market assembly? As you would be aware I've been chasing this idea of yours since you mention it some months ago.

RegardZ

[mick znone]

all the insides are fom the z1b,z900 switch block i bought from zpower Garn, all went in with no problems. hope this helps.

[ruffle]

Thanks for all the help - interesting I've left the Nitromors on overnight and there's still loads of black left. At no stage did it bubble as per normal so my deduction is "its paint but not as we know it Jim

I've had the same thing with H series switchgear; Nitromors doesn't really do that much.... so I tried some old Polystrippa (the gloopy gell in a glass bottle) that was lying around on the shelf and that stripped the switchgear paint off PDQ.

[chrisNI]

A friend of mine's a painter and when I had an issue with this kind of thing a while ago he told me that (A) Nitromors isn't as strong as it used to be due to the health and safety nazis and (B) that you need to buy it and use it immediately you open it, it goes off with exposure to air, so a fresh bottle will strip but a bottle you've had sitting on the shelf opened six or even two months ago may well be useless.

I don't know how accurate this is but I can well believe (A) and I have also found fresh stuff to work a lot better than old stuff.

[z2.john]

Have to say the paint originally used sticks like shit to a blanket. I used paint stripper in combo with a brillo pad. As long as you dont go stupid, the brillo works a treat and doesn't ruin the base metal. Honest!!

[gbh]

A friend of mine's a painter and when I had an issue with this kind of thing a while ago he told me that (A) Nitromors isn't as strong as it used to be due to the health and safety nazis and (B) that you need to buy it and use it immediately you open it, it goes off with exposure to air, so a fresh bottle will strip but a bottle you've had sitting on the shelf opened six or even two months ago may well be useless.

I don't know how accurate this is but I can well believe (A) and I have also found fresh stuff to work a lot better than old stuff.

You deleted my post and sent me a PM explaining that it was because you didn't want "embroyonic fascists" to Google Na*ional Front and come across the Z1 comm...and yet YOU use the word nazis. Aren't you the selective one eh.