Weather Resistant Coating

[farmerden]

My daughter had a Ford Escort with polished Aluminium wheels.Looked Great!! Then the salt got under the coating and started to corrode. Did not look great-Looked awful! Sold car!

[farmerden]

All the brass on my boiler is uncoated and the heat of the steam discolors it,and the salt dulls it-Soooo get the deck hand to polish ,polish,polish. Hint for those happily married,don't suggest to the wife that she's the deck hand! Don't ask me how I know!! Den

[Bob Cleek]

Point well made Bob ! I guess my concern about trying to do anything by hand on this pump is that it has so many bolt heads, studs etc. that polishing it by hand seems almost impossible. Take a look at the pictures in the "Southworth Pump" thread. These little pumps are really neat, Ron did a great job of putting them together. Remember when you are looking at them, they are only about 12 inches tall !

Jon

Yes, the nuts, bolt heads and so on can make polishing a challenge, however, if you've ever been around really well maintained marine yellow metal, you'll note that a patina will develop in the "nooks and crannies" where the polishing is difficult. That produces a "look" that bespeaks loving maintenance. A completely polished and lacquered piece just doesn't look the same.

Alternately, a nice piece of bronze left to develop its natural patina looks quite nice. Brass, on the other hand, will "go to green," which isn't all that good looking. If it's "shine" you want without the tedious polishing, you will have to consider plating the parts with nickel. That'll give you a chrome look. Or... if you really want the yellow metal look, gold plating is the answer. (Hence the nautical term for a fancy yacht as a "gold plater.") There are still a few maniacs who have their brass ventilator cowls and so on gold plated. It works amazingly well. No tarnish or weathering at all. Surprisingly, it's not necessarily all that expensive to have electroplating done in lower carat grades of gold. It's a very thin coating, so there's very little gold involved. Of course, if you are going to be putting a wrench to gold plated bolt heads and nuts, they aren't going to hold the plating as well.

[DetroiTug]

I think you're misunderstanding what we're talking about. These pumps are rough casting and machine finish, there's little at all to polish and even if one could it would only be a few small areas. If it was buffed, there is so much linkage and plumbing in the way it would be very difficult to maintain. Take a look at the pic, at the same pump that has been used a few years. Notice the discolorations. We are attempting to seal the surface to keep it from oxidizing and turning colors - which mine has already started to do. Some of the brass on my engine, the deposits in lake water are cooked on it and very diffcult to remove.

I have no idea if this coating is going to work, but I'll find out.

[Bob Cleek]

No, I had seen the earlier posts in the thread about the pump construction. (Beautiful work, BTW!) I thought you had certain parts that you had polished with the intention of keeping them bright. Obviously, a rough casting surface wouldn't polish.

I'd say that a coating wouldn't have to remain so "perfect" if it were on a rough surface. That said, some of these coatings aren't intended for parts that get hot, so you might want to experiment there a bit.

I should mention another option. Bronze patina can be cleaned fairly effectively using an oxalic acid solution. Oxalic acid crystals are sold in paint stores as "wood bleach.' It's a mild acid, slightly stronger than vinegar. (Rubber gloves should be worn when working with it because if you soak your hands in it, the stuff finds its way under the fingernails and attacks the soft tissue of the nail beds and will cause extreme pain for a couple or three days. Voice of experience here...) Mixing a fistfull of oxalic acid crystals in about a quart of warm water and going at the bronze with a Scotchbrite pad will may quick (well, fairly quick) work of surface oxidation on bronze. (Beware, though, the run-off will stain light paint surfaces, such as topsides, so flushing the work area with fresh water is wise if it's going to end up anywhere other than the bilge.)