The dreaded hammerite

[cumbriasteve]

The customer won't pay for that

But I bet he will still expect the work you do to look good.

I learnt a long time ago that customers who want to cut corners and not do the job properly are the main one's who will go about pulling you to bits.

Why give yourself a headache due to his lack of funds, I would simply tell him you can't do it with the engine in situ.

 

[Welderpaul]

Someone once said to me 'the jobs that make you the most money are the ones you don't do' As i have become older and wiser, it began to make sense.

Quite apt for this job i would think.

 

[brightspark]

if hese so good tell him to do it himself. if your getting crap before starting your going to get more when its finished -so end it now

 

[Jim Davey]

Not all customers or their jobs are worth having, however the ability to inoffensively decline risky work is always worth learning as the guy might have a better job next time.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Not all customers or their jobs are worth having, however the ability to inoffensively decline risky work is always worth learning as the guy might have a better job next time.

its always good to be able to talk someone out of a job they want doing...i usually direct them to someone else that im not massively fond of, or is daft enough to take the job without having a decent look first...either way the customer gets the job done and its not my name on it when it looks S**t

 

[Jim Davey]

I get this with plant quotes.
"So and so welding from tinternet tells me I need a 180 amp MIG for welding 8mm plate all day, you're too dear with your 300 amp set you're trying to sell me"

Ok, you'll find out the hard way, shame though as if you come back you'll have less to spend than the first time you came in.

 

[steveo3002]

But I bet he will still expect the work you do to look good.

I learnt a long time ago that customers who want to cut corners and not do the job properly are the main one's who will go about pulling you to bits.

Why give yourself a headache due to his lack of funds, I would simply tell him you can't do it with the engine in situ.

yeah spot on ..dont let them call the shots

customers are all ears and smiles when theyre after a cheapie job "oh yeah mate that'l do" then once it all goes pear shaped they will soon tell everyone you bodged it up

a hammerited engine bay doesnt sound like the sort of job id be begging for , let some other mug take it on

 

[cocker]

Sounds like your on a hiding to nothing , shot blast the fooker - you've nothing to lose .

 

[brightspark]

Sounds like your on a hiding to nothing , shot blast the fooker - you've nothing to lose .

apart from a vast amount of money and time. the guy wants it for nowt virualy

 

[colnerov]

If he wants it for nowt virtually, then that's the amount of effort you should put into it.

 

[steveo3002]

just remember when its peeling off , bubbling up or whatever , he wont say oh yeah its cus i asked him to bodge it up cheap he will just say yeah mr xyz did that

dont get talked into bodge jobs it will turn around and bite you , its either £££ to do your usual good job or leave it as is

 

[Chris Stevens]

What would you guys do in this situation.
Got an engine bay was brush painted in hammerite many years ago.It's flaking in places and is also the wrong colour for the car.
Removing the engine and stripping off all the paint is not an option.
I will remove as many cables,ancillaries etc as I can to make the job a little easier.I have 150mm and 75mm da sanders but there's going to be areas I can't sand,the bulkhead for example has a kind of rubber insulation attached to it and that's been painted too

Has anyone tried using a solvent to remove hammerite or used a paint that might go over the top and seal it in ?

Or is the only real safe option to use hammerite again? I have actually contacted hammerite and they were of no help whatsoever
Cheers

Powerwash to remove any grease or oil, when its dry mask off as best you can, spray the whole mess with stone chip, and then spray that with body colour, or neutral as customer requires. Quote price 40% higher than you would do the job for, as this is really the type of thing to be avoided, as the owner sounds like someone wanting a Rolls Royce job, for Mini money..............

 

[Kent]

Not a way to loose a customer, if a job can't be done properly it's often best to politely refuse the work than take it and the problems upon yourself.
If the job goes bad you're more likely to loose him anyway.

darn right and I bet he bad mouths you about your shoddy work behind your back to boot. I know its harder out there for many but doing things you really shouldn't is something we have to make a call on

 

[steveo3002]

no one has mentioned the wonders of barcoat yet lol

but yeah..dont do it

 

[Jim Davey]

+1 for Barcoat, got me out of the p** a few times on stuff that just won't stop reacting. But as the OP hasn't come back on for a while im guessing he's decided to plough on with the job as best he can. Best of luck.

 

[Daz2012]

No,I haven't ploughed on with the job yet or told the customer to do one
I'm just reading the different opinions.

The customer is someone I've known for a long time and done a couple of jobs for.He's a decent bloke who's not going to bad mouth me if it comes out crap because it's already crap lol.
I've got the car in for a while as I have a list of jobs he wants doing.....he doesn't expect a concourse job for peanuts but he does have a budget,like everyone does and this budget won't stretch to an engine out and a bare metal strip of the engine bay.
I've investigated different paint options with my supplier and talked to other painters locally.At the moment I'm leaning towards redoing it in smooth black hammerite,as I can spray the easily accessible areas and brush the hard to reach but I'm still open to suggestions.
Barcoat I'm pretty sure won't work,it's very old technology,it's something we used to use 25 years ago or more to seal synthetic paint when overcoating with cellulose.
As for stone chip,sorry butthat would look even worse than hammerite in my opinion.

I did thinking of using Lechler Tecnogrip as it supposedly goes over anything but the data sheet says not to paint over solvent paints

http://www.versatileproducts.co.nz/site/versatile/files/Technical Data Sheets/Lechler//29130 tds.PDF

I've only used it over bare metal in the past,with excellent results I might add

 

[steveo3002]

yeah i think a tidy up with more hammerite is probably the only way , then suggest when funds allow its engine out and strip it off time

 

[brightspark]

old hammer sh,,,ite crackle finish paint has silicone in it generaly paint over it and it- fish eyes if its been on for ages though scrape off the loose crap and a quick sand over the -sound paint and do a test piece with the smoothrite u -will find it may take --with no bother thinning it may be a different kettle of fish depending what thinner u are using I generaly use celly thinners on smoothrite and its ok -

 

[awemawson]

If it's old Hammerite it's formulation will not be the same as the stuff you buy now, as it's been dumbed down by the EU like everything else that used to work and now doesn't (example: paint stripper).

There are industrial sources of hammer finish paint that do have the original solvent Hammerite used to use (???? Xylene ????) - I bought some a few years back on ebay from an outfit in Hull who were very helpful when I was re-finishing a combination woodworking machine .

 

[brightspark]

-the army used to use the original finigans hammerite. u either had to use there thinners or carbon tetrachloride would thin it. both substances banned