Repainting Bridgeport

[rons]

The pictures in your other subject posting look good. A small stainless wire brush dipped in lacquer thinner is what I would do if the head is not disassembled. I would be very careful and not rush it. For the fun of it I opened a can of mineral spirits and dipped my finger in the solution. It has a oil feel between the fingers and the experience reminded me how much I dislike the stuff for cleaning. I keep it in the same category as WD-40.

 

[Sendit]

Ron, I fully disassembled the head however there are one or two items pressed fit in there I believe. The only thing I recall left was the small bearing where you would have to use a slide hammer to get it out


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[rons]

No expert on the BP head, but....

If you allow lacquer thinner to wash into a bearing, the grease will wash out. Even if it is a rubber sealed type I would think it isn't good to expose it to thinner. So forget about soaking the head. I'm sure now that you will be careful.

 

[goldenfab]

For mine I used diesel to get the bulk of 30 years of grime off followed by purple power to decrease. Then lots of sanding, body filler, and primer using acetone followed by a tack cloth to decrease before each coat of primer/paint. I forget what I used for primer. For paint I used a quality urethane automotive paint from NAPA, reason being I plan to re-paint my truck someday and wanted to have the experience using automotive paint. I used just under 1/2 a gallon. It turned out great and has stood up (almost two years now) to the oil and whatnot.

 

[Sendit]

No expect on the BP head, but....

If you allow lacquer thinner to wash into a bearing, the grease will wash out. Even if it is a rubber sealed type I would think it isn't good to expose it to thinner. So forget about soaking the head. I'm sure now that you will be careful.

Ron, this is the item still stuck. Needle bearing.

Item 37 http://www.icai-online.com/quill-housing-assembly-assembly-view/

 

[mach2]

I use citrus paint stripper for most all paint removal. Despite it being user friendly it has always worked. I use a disposable brush to apply the paint remover. The citrus paint remover is thick helping it stick to vertical surfaces better. Put it on an let it do the work. When ready I scrape it of with single edge razor blade scraper. If done right the paint will be soft enough come right off. Keep a pan to wipe the scraper on, be orderly and there will be little mess. Work areas of about 2 sq. ft. Right after scraping rub with steel wool or abrasive pad and wash off the residue with a rag and mineral spirits then the acetone. Repeat if necessary.

I for bare metal use a self etching primer, then fillers followed by filler priming and topcoats. Best to talk to your paint supplier to get all the correct paints.

 

[rons]

Ron, this is the item still stuck. Needle bearing.

Item 37 http://www.icai-online.com/quill-housing-assembly-assembly-view/

If I was in your place I would work around it rather than mess with a good bearing. I would devise a wood plug or something to keep the bearing internals clean. If the lubrication is from oil then I wouldn't worry about it. If you don't mind some advise about the base:

You are in a perfect situation to decide about options for a rolling base and/or leveling feet. Over the years I collected pictures from PM and about a year ago I posted them for somebody. I can dump some of them in here if you like.

Here is a link to the paint I use. Would you believe that I buy it at a NAPA auto parts store. I know it sounds non-professional but the store is one half auto parts, the other half is paint & supplies. Lots of autobody shops use them.
http://www.colormatch.com/uploads/pdfs/DIC_Brochure_Final.pdf

 

[swatkins]

Ron, this is the item still stuck. Needle bearing.

Item 37 http://www.icai-online.com/quill-housing-assembly-assembly-view/

Lots of items in a Bridgeport head need to be pressed on and off.....

 

[rons]

I looked up that needle bearing. I wouldn't worry about it being flushed out with any type of cleaner. Eventually the bearing will load up with filler and particles that can be flushed out with thinner with a small blast of compressed air.

 

[Sendit]

I looked up that needle bearing. I wouldn't worry about it being flushed out with any type of cleaner. Eventually the bearing will load up with filler and particles that can be flushed out with thinner with a small blast of compressed air.

Got the base sanded down. Read for bondo.

Ron, for giggles I use some Goof off "pro stripper" it states that it will remove paint, expoy, etc from metal. I hug the head casting using the engine hoist and painted it on (paste like). It didn't hardly do anything. Fail! Lacquer thinner did soften the paint. Lacquer will not each bronze will it? Like how purple powder will eat alumin if given time to.

 

[M.B. Naegle]

Thinner shouldn't etch the bronze. The only concern I would have between thinner and bronze bearings is if they're the kind that have oil particles embedded in them, It'll probably wash that stuff out of the pores but fresh oil should soak back in during assembly and use.

 

[rons]

Ron, for giggles I use some Goof off "pro stripper" it states that it will remove paint, expoy, etc from metal. I hug the head casting using the engine hoist and painted it on (paste like). It didn't hardly do anything. Fail! Lacquer thinner did soften the paint. Lacquer will not each bronze will it? Like how purple powder will eat alumin if given time to.

That stripper is for spray can paint. Since that stripper did not react much on your existing paint/primer you can be assured that a quality product is on the surface.

I suspect you meant to write "etch bronze". You are safe with that. But use the right gloves. Lacquer thinner is absorbed into the skin and that's not good.

The primer I use:
http://www.axaltacs.com/content/dam...Documents/tds-eng/GI-TDS-Corlar-2.1ST-Eng.pdf

When I get to the stage you are at I use filler and block it as best I can. Spray a flash coat of primer, let sit for 5-10 minutes, then top coat. Use a good light and notice imperfections. I use following coats of primer to build up low areas. Block it out and repeat. Takes a long time but I don't mind.

 

[Sendit]

Sorry, I meant eat/ damage bronze. Was typing from my phone.


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[themurphguy]

The "blue" you are seeing is definitely body filler. We completely stripped, repaired, and repainted our bridgeport about 2 years ago. If there are any imperfections in the filler you can fill it using some Evercoat Metal Glaze Ultra 30.

As for paint we used Rustoleum HP 7400 System DTM Alkyd Enamel (450 VOC). We didn't even spray it due to worry about overspray (it was winter so we couldn't do it outside). We just rolled it on with a "hot dog" roller. Came out looking fantastic.

As for using stripper, you will have to apply multiple coats to get the paint off and scrape in between each coat. If you really want to get down to bare metal (like we did) a good stiff SS Wire Brush on a RA grinder is really your only option. It will take all of filler and primer right off. Just make sure you wear a dust mask and safety glasses at the very least (I prefer a good respirator with a P99 cartridge and a full face sheild)



Pic of the finished paint job