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BJ8 Air Cleaners - correct finish?

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I believe the correct color/finish for the air cleaners was a silver "hammertone". Hammertone is like a finish obtained from painting over an oily surface -- lots of "fisheyes". I've seen hammertone paints in spray cans at the local auto parts store, but I just painted mine a flat silver.
 
Not sure about a BJ8, but my BT7 had a silver hammertone finish. I repainted with Rustoleum silver hammertone paint and they looked correct to me.
 
Hammertone Silver is the best modern replacement for the original finish. When the paintings done, complete your project with the correct Coopers water transfer decal, not the cheap looking white/blue sticker many suppliers carry.

https://www.britishcarspecialists.com/pdf/austin-healey-rare-hard-to-find-oct2010.pdf page # 21

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I was told that Rustoleum Hammered Metal Finish Spray, Silver is an almost exact copy of original finish. I just bought a can at Lowes for around $8. I have not yet cleaned and painted my BJ8 air cleaners. So I can not verify this as of yet.

jjs64bj8
 
Well:
Probably not correct but chrome plating them solves a lot of problems with these original filter units.--FWIW
 
thanks I will look for that finish. Does this paint require primer or just straight on to clean metal?

And I do have the correct water transfer decals. In the past, I found these require some skill in installing, so I bought 3 - one to learn on the other two for the air cleaners.

steve
 
I didn't prime before the Rustoleum when I repainted mine 10 years ago. I used the water transfer decals and found that after a few years of normal wear and tear and power washings, the lettering on the decals faded quite a bit. Maybe they have improved them.
 
Rob Glasgow said:
I didn't prime before the Rustoleum when I repainted mine 10 years ago. I used the water transfer decals and found that after a few years of normal wear and tear and power washings, the lettering on the decals faded quite a bit. Maybe they have improved them.
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Rob, did you use the Rustoleum Hammered Metal Silver spray as recommended above? if so, how did it come out?
thanks,
Steve
 
Yes that's what I used 10 years ago and will use again on this complete restoration I doing now. It looks very 'correct'.
 
Hey Steve , I know we all like to stay with original but when I cleaned the air filters on my 65, I buffed them out on a wheel and they came out awesome . After buffing, used a good polish, and they still look great. You have to clean them anyway to paint. Polishing the carbs and linkage really lights up the engine appearance too. Just a thought.
Bobby R
 
Hey Rob, I tried the Rustoleum finish. Excellent recommendation - this paint covers well, gave an even finish and looks very much like the original.
thanks,
steve
 
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FYI Hammerite brand hammered silver has a bluish silver grey cast

Rustoleum brand hammered silver has the silver grey cast ( I prefer ... and correct for Jag XKE air cans and trumpets )

with both you can go over cleaned bare metal or I would prefer PPG DP epoxy grey (thinned out) as a good base

the thicker you make the coats the more it will crater try it out first to get an idea how it sprays ( factory did have had runs and large areas of unevenness so if you let your children paint them for you they would probably pass for concours ! )
 
Just another option. Tiger Drylac makes a "Silver Hammertone" powder coat. I first bead blasted them, soaked them in gas washed them good with soap and water to get as much of the oil & bead dust out. Then I hit them with carb cleaner let them dry out good then baked them in the oven at 250 F to burn off any grease. Applied the powder coat looks brand new. Kind of a long process, but I am hoping I do not have to do again for a long time.
 
Painting the outside is all well and good, but what are you doing to restore the business end of these 50 year old air cleaners? That 50 year old steel wool ain't what it used to be. There was an article in Healey Marque some time ago about how to open them up and then seal them up again.
 
Legal Bill said:
Painting the outside is all well and good, but what are you doing to restore the business end of these 50 year old air cleaners? That 50 year old steel wool ain't what it used to be. There was an article in Healey Marque some time ago about how to open them up and then seal them up again.
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Chrome plate them this gets the wool inside clean and makes cleaning them easy.
However your plater may hate yau it is a bit of a process mine told me.--:glee:
 
Today i used the Rustoleum "Hammertone" on a 70 degree day and the finish was just a solid silver. There was no hammertone to it. I could have just as well used regular silver paint. Is there some special trick in spraying this stuff, of do I have a bad can. Yes I did shake it up a lot.

As for cleaning the air cleaners, what I did was to soak them in a mixture of Gunk (not the spray can but the liquid) and diesel fuel (can use kerosene) for several days. Then soaked in gasoline for a day or so. Dried them and then soaked in Pine Sol and water mixture (1:3) for a few days. The steel fibers inside came out looking very clean.

Now if we can just get the finish correct. Any suggestions?

jjs64bj8
 
I've found Hammertone wants to go on thicker than normal paint. There is a balance between too light where the colors don't separate and getting drips.
 
I agree with Greg. I've painted several pieces with hammertone last week and you need to put it on ticker than most paint. After you've sprayed it wet, you should see the hammertone effect appear quickly. It takes a bit of practice to get it right. To thick and you will have lots of 'hammertone' effect, to light and it's just silver. Try if on a scrap piece of metal. Once you find the right wetness you like, you should be able to spray right over the current silver only coat and still get the results you want.
 
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