Paint or Stainless strips for your Brutus

[pieper]

Hi Everyone --

I just build my own Brutus (Brutus Buick) and as I didnt go with a stainless stand, I think I may need to add some stainless steel strips on the top so I dont scratch the paint off of it with my kettles.

I plan to pain the stand with header paint (high temp paint) so it wont be effected by the heat but was wondering what you guys have done to combat sratching the paint off the top of your stands.

Thanks in advance,

cmp

 

[Bobby_M]

They also have clear coat for that high temp stuff so I'd just keep building up a nice 3 color, 3 clear. It also helps to have stops on the top to keep the kettles from sliding around.

 

[pieper]

thanks for the reply --- has anyone have experience with this paint?

 

[Bobby_M]

I used the lower temp rated "engine paint" but haven't test fired the stand yet.

 

[shafferpilot]

Here's the deal with high temp paint: header paint is not recommended for this application. It tends to stay chaulky and will rub off on your clothes. Engine Enamel is a wonderfully strong finish. However, you MUST cook the paint in order for it to cure. What you do is wash the metal with laquer thinner to remove ALL welding splatter and oil. Then spray the stuff on and let it dry overnight. Then use a torpedo heater, oven(not the one you cook food in), space heater, etc. to heat the thing up and cook the paint. While it's hot it will turn into a gel and bond with the metal. The time required for cooking relates to how hot you can get it. It takes about an hour with a torpedo heater. When it stops smoking it's done. After it cools, the gel hardens into a very strong finish. Now it can take the heat and abuse. If you don't properly cook this stuff, or get it too hot before it's been cooked, it will burn and flake off. If you don't have the patience to cook the stuff, you might as well get some regular old spray paint, because that will work better than uncured engine paint