Carburetor Paint Follow Up Question

[Charger Too]

When spraying paint on a carburetor, how do you keep all of the small holes covered, so paint does not clog them up? I assume you don't paint down in the throat and on the bottom. Thanks!

 

[dadsbee]

Why are you painting a carb?

 

[WileERobby]

Wut ? Why ? Huh ? Please explain.

 

[lemondana]

Won't stay on long.

 

[Aron Gleason]

Never heard of anyone paint a carburetor

 

[Kern Dog]

 

[493 Mike]

Never heard of anyone paint a carburetor

I never saw a restored tractor without a painted carburetor. If you want color, have it powder coated. Paint and gasoline do not work well with each other.
Mike

 

[bandit67]

Ive have a carb guy out of state rebuild several Rochester carbs for me and I am sure he spray bombs the main body. They look good still after two years in service and I run regular 10% ethanol gas thru them. So, I m pretty sure the paint must be somewhat fuel resistant but sure it will dissolve on the outside if cleaned with any carb cleaner. Ill post up a pic if anybody want to see.

 

[Rishi]

I see some painted carbs on epay, presumably to make them look better. I would not buy a painted carb for restoration. Painting is NOT the way to restore a Carter carb, in my opinion. If you want a concourse restoration, there are better ways to go. The pretty Carter carbs we see that are shiny and nicely restored are not typically painted. The varying parts are either natural cast aluminum, or plated (in various ways) steel.

Even Holley carbs (from the factory) were plated and not painted.

If you insist on painting it, you're right asking questions about masking and protecting areas you don't want to paint. It's not easy without significant pre-cleaning and disassembly. Not only is over spray onto non-aluminum or non-silver parts a worry, but also gumming things up with paint, so linkages don't move as freely as they should to function correctly.

If you don't really care about show quality, I recommend simply cleaning it, and leaving the natural patina. If your goal it to make the aluminum brighter, and remove some of the natural aluminum oxidation, one method is using an acid. I've used CLR (a kitchen acid) and also straight vinegar with decent results.

 

[bandit67]

Here is a pix of a painted rebuilt Quardrajet carb and here is one that was installed last February. See the paint rubbing off at the air filter horn. As Rishi said, it's paint, it will rub off, scratch off or be dissolved off. There is a reason they did not come factory painted. So, don't get any inside where it could affect function of the carb. I understand it costs big bucks to get like a Holley redyed, and then carb cleaner applied can greatly reduce its new irradesant sheen. So, go where you want.

 

[AR67GTX]

That looks a lot like the Eastwood carburetor paint they used to sell. - maybe still do. They also had a silver cad tone carb paint too. Can’t see how they could be very durable.

 

[Canadian1968]

Here are few pics of my carb I did last year...as you can see the inside of the main body wasn't not painted ... everything else was

 

[Rishi]

Some of these (above pictured) painted carbs do indeed look very nice. And some restorations don't get driven much. So who's to say what will last and what will not?

When faced with the costs of detailing aluminum and all the nooks and crannies we see on a Carter AVS (for example) and plating things anew, paint is not an unreasonable shortcut.

Sometimes, our budgets warrant a shortcut. And I don't want to tell anyone they are wrong. I've taken shortcuts and I may continue to take them, as need and situations dictate.

When cost and time are less an issue than making it look factory new, many things are possible. The restoration in this photo is one example.

Just because painting a Carter AVS carb isn't the way I would go, doesn't mean it's not the best option for the OP to go. Sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do to git 'er done.