jameslwt Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I am in the process of painting my NATO hitch, and in the quest to get a nice durable finish I suddenly though about baking it to get the paint nice and hard. We used to do something similar with model boats. So am thinking - if I whack it in the oven for a bit - what temperature should it be (not too hot presumably) and for how long? Don't want SWMBO getting too upset! Any ideas? Cheers James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I don't think normal paint would like bveing in an oven - you would have to use a heat-proof paint, such as Sperex or possibly engine enamel. I stripped mine and painted it with yellow engine enamel and it came out fine. Best not let Walfy read this - he doesn't approve of NATO hooks being painted. Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Painting recovery pintles . Mutter mutter grumble. Shhh say nothing, mind the blood pressure. Walk away from it now before it upsets you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameslwt Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 I don't think normal paint would like bveing in an oven - you would have to use a heat-proof paint, such as Sperex or possibly engine enamel. I stripped mine and painted it with yellow engine enamel and it came out fine. Best not let Walfy read this - he doesn't approve of NATO hooks being painted. Les It wouldn't be very hot at all - more of warm! Much along the lines of if you have a car resprayed, the good places will stick it in the warm 'oven' or whatever you want to call it to finish off. Will probably just leave it by a radiator for a while. I understand what you mean walfy, but previous owner had soaked it in petrol and set light to it apparently to remove all the old paint/whatever. Which means it nows rusts quite badly in places. Hence the painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muzaz Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 just a suggestion, why dont you strip it off paint, get it to a nice rust free grey casting (or forging, whatever it is) and then oil it once in a while? The paint is bound to get damaged anyway, no matter what you do to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 muzaz, because in the UK it cold, wet and in the winter, salty ! It'd have a life expectancy of 2 weeks Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I painted my tow hitches but only because people didn't see then and would bang their knees on them when trying to cross the road. I painted the 30ton hitch on the back on my 6x6 bright pink to make it more visible as cars parking behind would do it by feel and leave big gouges in their bonnets. Didn't make any difference, nor did painting it yellow on black so I figured car drivers just liked bumping it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Painting recovery pintles . Mutter mutter grumble. Shhh say nothing, mind the blood pressure. Walk away from it now before it upsets you. /serious mode/ Why not paint them Mark? they come "primed" as such, from the manufacturers don't they? is it because the paint could hide a crack or something? or does the paint (somehow?) weaken the metal?? confused of Swindon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 When my XD was rebuilt the NATO tow hitch was stripped, re-primered with the red oxide coloured stuff and repainted in nice gloss black Two years on, I've not towed a thing but have doused the tow hitch in WD40 before the wet/winter seasons started and the red undercoat is starting to show through. Painting the tow hitch is solely cosmetic, it does look good when new, but the paint will eventually wear away with a little surface rust showing through irrespective of whether you tow with it or not. I don't see the paint doing any harm, they look great when all glossy, but those NATO hitches are cast from hard as hell materials and they certainly wont erdoe away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muzaz Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 muzaz, because in the UK it cold, wet and in the winter, salty ! It'd have a life expectancy of 2 weeks Mo Forgot about that in my part of the world its dry and warm, we dont need to paint anything as metal just refuses to rust!!! chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 /serious mode/Why not paint them Mark? they come "primed" as such, from the manufacturers don't they? is it because the paint could hide a crack or something? or does the paint (somehow?) weaken the metal?? confused of Swindon. Yes correct Jim. Paint hides all sorts of defects. Hence same with all metal recovery gear, shackles etc. And why you can't but painted ladders anymore as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacks906 Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 why not get it back to bare metal and either use just that red oxide/red lead stuff or just clear laquer it will help protect it and the other paint drys well on metal dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Or you could have one BZP'd? it's on on eBay... Item number: 250233456461 in case anyone is interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 just recoat it in red lead primer if you can find any, mines only got it's primer coat on & still looks pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacks906 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 i still need to get one before i can paint it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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