McCulloch Yellow Paint Party

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John Tzortzoudakis
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:33 am
Vintage Karting items owned: Bug Sprint, Bug Stinger
01 Margay Brava
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Location: Redondo Beach Ca

Re: McCulloch Yellow Paint Party

Post by John Tzortzoudakis » Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:40 pm

My intent posting this paint work was to show some options when it comes to a yellow we could use that I've never seen posted in the forum before. I was also excited to share the results :D
Like Tom Smith pointed out, McCulloch yellow had variations from the 50's to the 70's. I tried to share these variations with different Original parts and newly painted parts in digital pictures which don't show much difference other than shine from new paint. The point is from what I see is they are all very similar.

Yes I agree 100% McCulloch didn't use primer and I don't want anyone to think they must do things the way way I did. I'm really just trying to help by providing more options and sharing some fun about our hobby.

I used primer and called this post a "Party" as it's not as serious as restoring a million dollar Hemi Cuda or COPO Camaro. I'm sure you could get serious about restoring a mac to the level of obtaining a pint of original touchup paint, but then you'd have to ask if it was the same mix used during the production year of your motor and on and on.

My intent in this paint procedure was different than what you might think :o Read-on if you like....

Many of the parts should have been tossed out, but with the price of MC10 shrouds lately I couldn't see wasting a part that could be used for a "display only" engine in my collection. Pit holes in some of the pieces went all the way thru the metal and looked like swiss cheese. I used JB weld with a metal backing on the most severe areas and then plastic body filler for scratches and dents. All parts got a acid bath (PPG metal conditioners) and epoxy primer before any patchwork began as a method to prevent corrosion in the future. After all the patch work was done I was left with some minor pits and sanding scratches which were smoothed-out with a coat of Primer Surfacer then wet sanding with 400 paper.
The McCulloch factory wasn't faced with what we have to work with today where we want to preserve the metal and keep our engines looking good for shows. Where I live raw Mac metal discolors and in some cases grows a white dusty type of corrosion; thats the reason everything got painted inside and out. I'm sick of opening a point box finding white powder. Maybe in your area you don't have this problem.
I could keep going on and on about reconditioning metal and don't want to bore you. My website has a "John T" special links page on techniques.
Here's a pic during the priming process where you can see the layers of the darker Epoxy Primer and lighter Primer surfacer in the rough areas and some raw parts after metal conditioner.
P1010481.JPG
Pre-Paint Process: 2 part epoxy primer and primer surfacer. Note I'm outside in my driveway; nothing special just lots of air, not an enclosed booth. I still use a 3M mask with charcoal filters.
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John (john t) Tzortzoudakis
McCulloch Championship Kart Racing Engine WebSite
http://www.mccullochkartengine.com

Tom Smith
Posts: 388
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Vintage Karting items owned: 1960/61 Go Kart 800 Konig FA
1961 Max-Torque Special triple
1962 Max-Torque Special dual
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Re: McCulloch Yellow Paint Party

Post by Tom Smith » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:01 pm

The point I was making about McCulloch not using primer was more of a clue that what ever type of baked enamel they did use was some pretty wicked stuff to adhere to die cast magnesium without the need for priming. I've tested DP-40 primer and Dupont Centari acrylic enamel on McCulloch parts. Without adding some flatner agent it comes out too shinny in my opinion. Getting the coat thickness McCulloch used is also hard to do with a multistage paint.

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Ronald Cubel
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Re: McCulloch Yellow Paint Party

Post by Ronald Cubel » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:04 pm

Tom,
I saw an artical in kating world someware that was a walk thru on the mc90 engine line and when they showed paint, they had a picture of them spraying white primer before the topcoat of yellow (it also stated that in the text) I get a much closer match if I use white primer under the sunburst yellow...
I do not have any mags past 1963 anymore so can anyone find this artical please.

Ron

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Scott Kneisel
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Vintage Karting items owned: '63 Rupp Grand Prix, 66 Rupp Chappy, Mc6's, Mc8, Mc10's, Mc20's
Lotsa' other Macs
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Location: Farmington, NY

Re: McCulloch Yellow Paint Party

Post by Scott Kneisel » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:25 pm

I have taken apart some saws from the mid to late 60's that had a brown primer under the yellow. I think it was epoxy because it was bullet proof and almost impossible to get off. I think McCulloch tried a bunch of different things and used different shades of yellow depending on the supplier at the time. Macs come in all shades of yellow.

What works best for me is to make sure I get good adhesion to the base metal by etching and priming or even cleaning the parts well and using acid etch primer. Then I spray with white primer then yellow. I like the Rustoleum enamel from the can like Dave uses. It is a good value and quite tough actually if the surface is prepared right.

ted johnson
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Re: McCulloch Yellow Paint Party

Post by ted johnson » Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:23 pm

Give me the RAL 1023 powdercoat anytime!

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