Paint and petrol

[miken]

When painting a small model petrol engine.
What type of paint is most resistant to fuel splashes?
Railway enamels or Halfords type spray cans?
Thanks

[weary]

Hello,

I found that Halford's spray paints are quite rapidly softened by petrol, (i.e. 'petrol-pump' petrol; I have not tried it with some of the exotic fuels used in small i.c. engines). This softening was solved by a top-coat of 'Petrol Resistant Lacquer' also from the Halford's range which gives a gloss finish and 'cured' the issue.
I guess that the Petrol Resistant Lacquer will work with all acrylics and that there will certainly be similar products from other sources.

I cannot comment on how Railway enamels stand-up to petrol.

Regards,
Phil

[jasonb]

I use Halfords sprays but also give the engines a coat of their clear fuel proof lacquer though I mostly use Colemans rather than pump petrol on the hit & miss engines though the 2 & 4 strokes are petrol.

www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/specialist-and-decorative-paints/halfords-petrol-resistant-lacquer-300ml-768697.html

[miken]

Thanks for the replies.
I didn't know about petrol resistant laquer i will give it a try.
Jason; I haven't heard of Colemans. I've just Googled it and read what it is on Wikipedia.
What is the reason you use it?
I'm about to start re-comissioning my E T Westbury Aveling DX road roller that I built about 20 years ago. It would never run for long before fouling the plug and I lost interest. Time to have another go at it.

[mbrown]

I am sure that Craftmaster do a range of paints that are fuel-resistant.

Malcolm

[JonL]

I used Halfords Post Box Red on my Lister D fuel tank. The paint dissolves very easily with the slightest splash.... doh

[jasonb]

"Post box red" does not sound like one of the automotive spray colours which are usually something like "Ford Forrest Green" or "Audi Cream"

Main reason I use the Colmans is that is does not smell like petrol so if like me you keep your engines indoors you don't get the smell of petrol hanging about for days after a run. Same reason some people use Aspen fuel.

I've also used VHT engine enamel on a few engines that run a bit faster and I was worried about heat on the painted heads, that is fuel resistant and I've not had signs of heat or fuel affecting it

www.frost.co.uk/engine-paints-enamels/?filter_brand=vht

[rrmrd66]

Hi miken

I have found Craftmaster coach enamel (in an aerosol) excellent and highly resistant to almost everything.

On the other hand Edding paint sticks whilst producing a fine white line and particularly poor with any contamination and smudge however dry you think you have got them.

Cheers

Malcolm

[92220]

Apr 8, 2023 8:37:22 GMT miken said:

When painting a small model petrol engine.
What type of paint is most resistant to fuel splashes?
Railway enamels or Halfords type spray cans?
Thanks

Vehicle enamels are petrol resistant. They have to be otherwise there would be major problems when filling a petrol tank on a car. Halfords paint should be vehicle enamel, and Phoenix Paints definitely is. I think Craftsman Paints are too.

Bob.

[weary]

Halford's vehicle paints are acrylic based. Scroll down here on on a random example to see the description. I can assure you that the apparently hardened Halfords vehicle paints soften with direct petrol application. This is exactly why they also sell the Petrol Resistant Lacquer.

I would guess that spillage around petrol-fillers onto external paintwork is relatively rare and most amateur touch-up is not in this area so most users do not notice!

Phil

[miken]

I think I've just come up with the best solution to my question. I was tidying the garage and found a 5ltr can of grey epoxy primer and a 2 1/2 ltr can of "racing green" 2 pack epoxy which I had forgotten about. Epoxy is definitely resistant to petrol and a lot of other solvents and also very tough. Also it's not nasty like 2k isocyanide used on cars. Although it's not suitable for long exposure to the sun. But I don't think that's a problem in this case. I had forgotten I had them.
The green is quite a nice colour although "racing" isn't a word often associated with road rollers.

[92220]

Just as a silly bit of info....did you know there are 33 different "British Racing Greens"!! Every car manufacturer/racing team, that used or supplied cars painted in the colour, had their own version of it. Some were very close, but some were quite a different shade to others, though all were mid to dark green.

Bob.

[andyhigham]

Even with paint that is petrol resistant, never paint up to the inner edge of the filler cap gasket face. Petrol will creep under the paint and lift it from the metal

[chris vine]

Hi Mike,

Your epoxy sounds very tough, but try a bit out in the oven at the sort of temperatures you think the cladding will get to.
I found that epoxy paints were not particularly good at high temperature - they went brown much earlier than the coach enamel type of paints.

However, they are fairly bullet proof otherwise!

Chris.

[jon38r80]

There used to be available a clear varnish like coating available for painting models over the colour scheme to protect the cellulose paint from diesel or glo plug fuel. Cant remember what it was called but I expect you can still get it.

[mbrown]

In the far-off days when I made model aircraft, it was sold as "fuel proofer". But as I recall, Humbrol enamel stood up to both kinds of fuel pretty well without it.

Malcolm

[millman]

Jon38r80 I seem to remember two fuel proofers from my model aircraft days, one was Humbrol fuel proofer, basically a single pack polyurethane varnish and Ripmax Tuffcote, a two pack varnish. A mate of mine used to work for Ripmax and he told me that it was Furniglass Hardset varnish just rebottled and re badged, don’t know if you can still buy it nowadays but it was used a lot by the furniture trade back in the day.

[SteveW]

Having tried to remove Hamerite paints with various types of Nitromors paint stripper I can confirm Hamerite paint is pretty impervious to Nitromors paint stripper.

Thing is neither Hamerite nor Nitromors is the same as they were. Certainly the newer version of Hamerite solvent does not work with the older Hamerite paints and I guess the reciprocal applies to.

I still have a tin or or two of Trimit paint that I inherited nearly forty years when I bought this house. It was old then. Think it uses some long since banned solvent, beautiful finish when applied by brush, takes days to go off and nothing seems to shift it once dry. Not tried petrol yet.

[oldnorton]

It all depends on what type of petrol.

Today's forecourt petrol usually contains 5% or 10% ethanol. That ethanol inclusion makes it much more potent in attacking paints, polyester resin, and some epoxies. I know only of 2K isocyanate paints and 2K clear lacquers to be ethanol fuel resistant. But there might be other coatings advertised. Motorcycle painters are well aware of the new fuel problems.

You can still get ethanol free pump petrol: Esso and BP super grades, but only from the central England refineries. That is why Colemans fuel is recommended for a model, being ethanol free, and there is another very clean petrol sold for garden machinery. Using those fuels you can keep painting with traditional enamels. But I would avoid all aerosols from car shops or Halfords, etc. as these are likely to be acrylic based (but possibly fuel tolerant if you want to test them). If you want a spray can of enamel I think Phoenix supply it. Search the web also for Smith and Allan, and Paragon Paints, and Craftmaster to see the engine grade enamels they do.

Norm

[92220]

Any vehicle enamel SHOULD be petrol resistant. The paint is formulated to use on vehicles without knowing what fuel is to be used, and which can be splashed on during refuelling. If it isn't fuel resistant it shouldn't be called a vehicle enamel.

Bob.