Re: [VAL] Refinishing the tongue

[John Sellers <sellersj@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Michael,

I don't really have much to add to Tom Waugh's advice.  I repainted the
tongue and bumper of our '60 Pacer last summer and am happy with the
results.  Since I have an air compressor I did sandblast them, and spray
painted them with Rust-oleum primer and aluminum paint. (The brush-on
product, applied with a spray gun.) I believe the regular (non-hammer
finish) Rust-oleum aluminum paint comes pretty close to the original
factory finish.  It's not a real high gloss paint like an automotive
paint, but from what I've heard, the original factory paint job wasn't
high gloss, either.

My steelwork had some rust pits so I used Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty
after the primer and before the finish coat.  It took two (sprayed)
finish coats of the aluminum paint to obtain a uniform gloss; the gloss
of the spot puttied areas was different from the un-puttied areas after
the first coat.

If I didn't have the facilities to sandblast the steel work I would
start by wire brushing it with a power wire brush and then sand as
needed.  Sandblasting is a wonderful way to prepare steel for paint, but
a lot of work on account of the need to mask off all the polished
aluminum nearby and clean the sand out of every nook and cranny
afterwards.

The Rust-oleum spray paints work well, or I believe you could get
acceptable results painting it with a brush.  I have had good luck with
both spray-can and regular Rust-oleum paints, but be aware that they are
not the same formulas.  The brushable stuff is an alkyd enamel and the
spray can stuff is lacquer.  My feeling is that the brushable paint
holds up to weather longer, maybe just because of the thicker paint
film.

Good luck with your refinishing project!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year,

John & Barb Sellers
WBCCI/VAC #1587
1960 Pacer
Dayton, Ohio