Paint for sills

[Davd56]

I am just starting rebuilding the sills on my GT

They have already been done before.

So what is the best paint to paint the new ones before fitting them

Hammerite, POR. Red Oxide or Something else?

Any advice welcomed.

[Ian F]

First of all you have to know what the replacement panels are already painted with.

#give them a wipe with cellulose thinners, if the paint comes off it is cheap cellulose and should be removed completely. If it stays on it is probably good quality primer and could act as a satisfactory base.

# you will be removing paint to weld, so at least some primer will be required. I would use an acid etch primer on bare metal.

# are you spraying the repairs yourself? If so you have to decide what system you are going to use. Cellulose is the easiest, safest, and most forgiving for non-professionals. If using cellulose then after an etch primer I would use a primer/filler followed by top coat after rubbing down.

Ian F

[Bumpa]

I assume David is asking about the inside of the sills. My advice would be to paint them in whatever takes your fancy, but you can't paint along the welded edges. Far better is to liberally spray inside them after fitting with something like Dinitrol cavity treatment ML. I drill two half inch holes on the bottom edge of the outer sill, one right behind where the front wing overlaps, and the other right in front of where the rear wing overlaps. I then use Dinitrol in a Schutz can with an air line sprayer which comes with a plastic hose and nozzle so you can reach right the full length of the sill. The holes are then plugged with a rubber grommet. The photo shows where I drill.
https://www.dinitroldirect.com/product/ ... y-tool-hs/
If you haven't got air equipment they sell aerosols. With the straw on the can it should reach most areas.

[Ian F]

Thanks Mike, yes, good advice. I use Dinitrol as well, there are different formulations for different jobs - good stuff I think.
You could also try "weld through" primer along the joints, but I don't bother, just give a good soaking from the inside with Dinitrol.

Ian F

[David Witham]

You can get injection tools with tubes that are fine enough to go in through the preformed drain holes in the outer sill.

While the new outer sill, membrane and castle section may come in high quality E-coat primer, if you are reusing the inner sill it is likely you will need to clean it up and paint it. In that case I would use mechanical means to remove any rust. Then I would tape the flanges where you will be spot or plug welding before coating the inside of the inner sill with epoxy primer. After removing the tape I would spray the flanges with weld through primer.