Advice on cleaning vintage crackle coating?

[argonaut]

I'm not sure what the proper term is for the stuff, but I've run across many old units (pa's & radios) using it. It's different than the hammered finish. Most of what I've come across has been in poor condition. Recently, I found an old pa w/ steel cage in really nice, but soiled condition and would like to clean it up.

I was thinking of dabbing it with a soft cloth with plain warm water. Any advice/thoughts?

Thanks

[selloutrr]

sounds like you are on the right track. you might want to try a soft toothbrush to get in the grooves just test in a spot that is not the focal point. rubbing alcohol might help break up some of the harder gunk.

[Structo]

Yes there were wrinkle paints and hammer paints.

That finish looks more like a hammered finish to me.

Are you sure that isn't rust and not just dirty?

If you want, you can still buy that type of paint.

Rustoleum sells hammer texture paints and VHT sells the wrinkle type.

The nice thing about the Rustoleum is that you can paint over rust after it is cleaned up.

[argonaut]

Right on, thanks selloutrr!

Tom, it's definitely wrinkle (your term is much better than mine) and it's very dirty.


Will report back later. Thanks!

[Structo]

Here is what the black paint looks like.

I think there are other colors as well.
Antique Electronics Supply sells this one but I bought some of the black at Autozone and used it to paint the valve cover on my Honda. Matched perfectly what was on the cover and looks real nice.
THere is a trick to spraying it to get the right amount of wrinkle but the instructions are pretty good on the can.

[img:161:500]http://www.tubesandmore.com/cemirror/inv/S-F227.GIF[/img]

http://www.tubesandmore.com/scripts/fox ... 02=2009123

[selloutrr]

if you are going to clean it for painting you can use industrial cleaners to help break down the rust.

I really wish I knew what it was called, but I got this pinkish liquid in a generic bottle from a janitor who used it to clean toilets. It literally stripped away 40 years of rust in under a minute and washed off with soap and water.

[selloutrr]

you might want to consider taking it to a sand blaster and having it walnut shelled to get off all the rust and paint. so you can start fresh.

[Dr-Joned]

Sellout, the pink stuff is Naval Jelly and it will clean the rust. We used it as teenagers to clean the rust off of bicycle rims, etc. Work great if you let it sit up awhile.

I also saw some of the wrinkle finish at my local Lowe's store yesterday. You may not have a Lowe's, but maybe a Home Depot.

[selloutrr]

awesome I was curious what it was called, it sure works great!

[dynaman]

I've used the same stuff from Autozone that Structo mentioned. It works great and matched my other vintage crinkle very nicely.Might have to strip/sand the unit to get it to work properly. I've only used it on smooth surfaces. I'm not sure about spraying it over existing crinkle - you might wind up with too much crinkle!

As he mentioned, it is a PIA to spray consistently and get an even finish. It's time consuming, so I baked mine in the oven. Yes, the same oven I occasionally cook in. Cuz I'm a divorced bachelor and I can roll like that.

Alternatively, if the original crinkle finish is in decent shape and just dirty, I'd recommend just doing what you asked about. Clean it with a mild agent. Chances are, you aren't going to get all the dirt off. If that bothers you, LIGHTLY rough up the surface with a pad of some sort and LIGHTLY spray with paint. It is possible to recoat crinkle and still retain the definition of the finish. I've done it many times.

If you do try to recoat, I wouldn't fret over the dirt too much. Seriously, it's been stuck on there for 50 years and it's not going anywhere soon. I've never had a problem with paint sticking to "permanent" dirt, so long as the surface was dry, film free and slightly roughed up.

Or just rock the original vintage finish and spend your time "aging" the other parts to match.

[Structo]

Another thing you could do is if the original texture of the paint is still good you could just paint it any color you want.
As I said you can usually paint right over the top of it with Rustoleum as long as it is clean and grease free.

dynaman, when I re-sprayed my valve cover, I didn't really do much to it besides clean it. There were areas where the wrinkle paint had worn or been scratched off.
These areas I sanded to take down any abrupt edges, then sprayed my wrinkle coats until it looked good.
Since it is a high heat paint I left it to dry in the sun. I wouldn't normally do that because it can bubble but this paint worked great like that.

And, since this is a high heat paint, it has to be heat cured before it is durable.

[argonaut]

Thanks again for the suggestions, fellas! I'll keep the autozone paint in mind for future projects as I really dig the wrinkle look.

It didn't take long, after a few attempts to remove the stains, to realise that I could be doing something much more effective with my time and energy. So I ran to the store and fetched some paint. A few light dustings with Rustoleum silver Metallic Speck and it turned out better than I could have hoped.

[Structo]

Looks good!

[dynaman]

Still looks "crackly"! Awesome!