FAIL - cookbox paintjob

[TonyS T-Bone]

This weekend I have a big push to get a Genesis JR restored. Broke it all down, and started cleaning.

Oven cleaner and a good power wash cleaned the inside of the cookbox "like buttah."

Everything washed and degreased, and parts head to the paint shop. All going well until the cookbox. JR had a flat black exterior, and during initial interior cookbox cleaning, I had the usual drips and dribbles of oven cleaner or other chemicals that ran on the exterior. I gave exterior a good power wash, degreasing and a bath in Dawn followed by a good rinse. Dried box in sun, and started to paint w R.O. High Heat. Assumed I'd have good coverage despite the "stains." But after a coat or two of flat black I started seeing bad flash in the paint job.

Ive done plenty of restores and never had this flash so badly. I wound up stripping down the entire cookbox to bare aluminum, a 2 hour detour that was a pain.

My QUESTION is where do I go from here? Is there "high heat" primer and do I need it? On my fab'd z-bars I use self etch primer and it works great under R.O Dura Heat, but on a cookbox not sure. Do you think going right to the R.O. High Heat flat black will adhere well to the aluminum?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Ralph Meyer]

Rustoeleum makes a high heat primer but the instructions for the black specifically state that priming is not recommended. 1st paragraph in the link. I used primer under high heat ultra OK, but it was on z-bars which wouldn't get any heat.

https://www.rustoleum.com/~/media/D...Specialty/7778830_0107_SPC_12oz_HighHeat.ashx

 

[Bruce]

Yah, I have stripped cookboxes and painted them with the Rustoleum High heat matt black and it works fine. Those drips are common and probably from burned on grease drips and not necessarily a bad prep job by you, but I would recommend wiping it down just before painting with a solvent like Xylol or rubbing alcohol in a pinch. If you care to next time, you can paint it with the high heat ultra black with is nearly a gloss black. It won't show the bleed through on those drip stains and other stains like the matte black will. But, then your cook box will be a shinier black. I haven't tried it, but maybe you could do first coat or two with the gloss black and then finish with the matte using the gloss as a kind of primer.
But, yah, Rustoleum does make a 2000 degree gray primer. But as Ralph stated, Rustoleum doesn't recomment primers for their High Heat ultra paints.

 

[Bruce]

Oh, I forgot to ask. How did you strip the outside of that cook box?

 

[TonyS T-Bone]

Thx Bruce. I brushed on Strypeeze gel paint remover (15-20 min) and then power washed. Twice. Then I used steel wool and Simply Green and washed with Dawn and rinsed. Can’t wait to lay that paint down.

 

[Bruce]

I havent found a paint remover that did much to the original weber cookbox paint. Ineresting!

 

[TonyS T-Bone]

It would have been awful to strip that paint w/o the power washer, and the 360 rotating tip. Rags and steel wool? No way. Messy job either way!

 

[THyde]

If that's a Junior (which it looks like it is) I'd save my change for a few months and have it sandblasted. Those are rare. And awesome. Propane? I would LOVE to find a little Junior Natural Gas for those nights when it's only a few burgers, or those even better nights when it's just the two of us.

I'm not coming on to you Tony, I'm talking about the wife

 

[TonyS T-Bone]

Lol, yeah yeah. And it’s a JR. alright. Bought it in an antique shop. I may keep it for rotisserie cooks only. I’ll try laying down paint Sunday if no rain. Stay tuned.

 

[Jeff MA]

Tony,
Nice find on your JR.

I will be following your restore.

Jeff

 

[LMichaels]

Even drying in the sun that aluminum was not dry. It takes days for it to dry out enough for paint to work properly or you have to get the gas to it and get it HOT. Cast aluminum is like a metal sponge. Water will ruin paint adhesion. Also I see again Bruce recommending rubbing alcohol. Again not a good choice because most are 50% water to 30% water. Mineral spirits are bad as well since they're nothing but kerosene/diesel that "knows somebody" They don't evaporate cleanly and leave oily residue. That's why you'll never find them in an automotive paint shop. a good product is Prepsol (IIRC it's the name of it), or plain old lacquer thinner or enamel reducer as well. If you've used any kind of water on the cook box let it dry a few days in a dry environment or put the burners in and get it HOT. Wipe it down with a good (NO WATER) solvent and paint away