Copper lines and painting

So I am in the process of painting a truck right now and debating about what to do with all the copper lines for air and fuel.

I may or may not replace the lines themselves with new, but whatever I do, the lines will be spotlessly clean when I am done.

So I have several questions and would like to hear your opinions.

1. How were the trucks from the factory? Were the copper lines painted? My truck has the factory red primer and OD on top of it, then MERDC, but I saw no primer on any of my copper. So was the frame painted, then the lines installed bare? Or were the lines painted without primer, then installed in the painted frame?

2. Can you make primer/paint stick to copper?

3. If the answer to #2 is yes, what would I need to do to ensure strong paint adhesion to the copper if I decided to paint them? This is a dump truck, so it will get dirty and thus will get pressure washed. Painting the lines makes no sense if the first pressure washer blows the paint off. I'd rather leave them bare.

Thanks everybody.


C

I'd paint everything with an Epoxy primer then coat with Gillespie.

Take them off and clean individually. Then have them powder coated.

In picture #2 the bolted mount should have been mounted 90 degrees clockwise to avoid kinking the tubing in such a sharp and unnecessary bend!

gimpyrobb said:

Take them off and clean individually. Then have them powder coated.

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Shouldn't it be " I drive therefore I am dangerous" ? (In you current Avatar)

hndrsonj said:

I'd paint everything with an Epoxy primer then coat with Gillespie.

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What do I need to do prep the surface? Clean and scuff it?

I paint our copper booster pump packages we make at work! I clean the copper good and spray it right on. Use a scotch bright pad!!!

Danl M915A1

if your copper lines are new and clean and you are going to put them on after you paint the truck , while the copper is off the truck use oil base Varnis, this will seal the copper stoping it from turning green it will bring out an redes tint alittle but they will stay clean for a long time and power washing won't harm the new finish . I like this look on a truck it kinda keeps it looking new not old and used up try it you might like it if not you can alway paint over the varnis and have a ****ty looking thing

gimpyrobb said:

Take them off and clean individually. Then have them powder coated.

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This ^^. Would be great, but how would you clean your copper tubes? A big concern I have about powder coating is the coating getting in and around the flares, and potential leaks in your tube couplings.

The old school way to paint copper is really the best, and simple as well.

1. Remove your tubes.

2. Clean your tubes. This involves removing the Verdigris. Did you even know you had Verdigris? While circular scrubbing is recommended, rubbing your copper tubes longitudinally with a Scotchbrite pad will get that pesky Verdigris off. You should glove up while doing this, and use an alcohol solution to degrease. Make sure when you are done that your tubes are bright, shiny, and grease free!

3. Next, rub your tube with cloves of garlic. I know, it sounds midievil, and it is. This is the method that the Dutch Masters used to prepare copper for paint. Are you smarter than the Dutch Masters? I thought not. They were nerdly chemists. You see, one of the active components of garlic is a cysteine based sulfur rich aminoacid[SIZE=+1][/SIZE]compound called Allicin. When you crush a clove of garlic on your tube it releases Alliinase which converts the compound to Sulfenic Acid. The Sulfenic Acid pretty quickly converts to Ajoene which helps prevent oxidation while waiting for the paint. Also produced is Cysteine, which cross links with the blue copper proteins in Verdigris on the surface of your tube. The etching process described above will result in stains on your tube. This is a sign of sucess and you can apply paint to your tube after that.



So really? I'm not kidding. You want the paint to stick to your copper tubes, hit them with scotchbrite, clean with alcohol, and rub them with crushed garlic to etch the surface and convert any oxidation. Rinse that off with water and when dry, paint it with an oil based primer, then topcoat with Sherwin Williams Harmony.

Clinto, the copper lines on my '69 xm757 were not painted, but covered with black tar impregnated cotton type (fabric) wire loom. It used to be available from Del City Wire among other places.

I replaced it with corrugated split nylon loom (image #2).

Bjorn, that sure looks sharp, but I have heard of the split ducting rubbing holes in copper. Keep an eye on it.

Why not use polished stainless steel?

I'm with DH on this one. Polished stainless looks awsome and is way more durable than copper. Not to mention if you don't like how it looks, you can ruff it up with some Scotch Brite or lite grit sandpaper and paint it to match and the stainless won't wear through with vibration chafing nearly as fast as copper will.

I would paint it all with black Chassis Saver, which is similar to the old POR 15. If it is oil free, it will stick. This stuff dries hard and holds up to salt and corrosion. When it dries, it is chemically neutral, so you can paint over it with most paints.

clinto said:

What do I need to do prep the surface? Clean and scuff it?

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anytime you do metal, you want to make sure it's clean and has some tooth to accept a new finish

scotchbrite is good steel wool works too.

Bump for updates...lots of good advice here. I like the Dutch Masters response...lol.

Danger Ranger said:

Bump for updates...lots of good advice here. I like the Dutch Masters response...lol.

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I got tired of messing with it. Cut it up for scrap.

Price of copper being what it is these days, it was probably worth more than the truck.