If you are like me and can't find Dull Aluminum ANYWHERE locally... I was able to get Oreilly's to order it and get it shipped to the store next day for $5.99 a can.

Part # 1403 Line: KRY

 

good info.

i found it on amazon, IIRC it was like $10...funny thing is my local hardware store (new england based) fulfilled the order (DOAH)

 

To bad you didn't live near me, I have tons of it!

 

Have you tried Dupli-Color #DE-1615 aluminum engine paint?
NAPA keeps it in stock.
I think it really looks like new aluminum.
Here's a pic of an intake and x'mission I used it on.
(I media blasted both before painting. I just used this same pic in another thread this morning.)
Donnas%20Engine.jpg

 

I bought it off the shelf at Ace Hardware 3 months ago..

 

Haven't tried that. I was going with the dull aluminum because of many posts of others using it. No auto parts stores or hardware stores or farm stores or grocery stores or walmart carry it here.

 

the dull aluminum is a good to great match for grills and taillight surrounds...IDT it really looks like aluminum that much...

 

This is how close the stuff i use is. The tail light is freshly painted, and the grille on the bottom is original paint.

 

Nice what brand?

 

Looks like Oldsmobile to me. 1970 442.

:-)

 

[QUOTE=Octania;839397]Looks like Oldsmobile to me. 1970 442.

:-)[/QUOTE

Nice

What brand paint or paint code did you use?

 

Industrial Choice made by rust-oleum.

 

Nice, thanks for the share.

 

Thanks

 

Have you changed your valve covers yet they are on the wrong side so switch them before you install the motor.
Gerald

 

They have changed the formula for Dull Aluminum and it's part of the "Metallics" line now. I haven't bought it but others have said it's not as good a match as it used to be. I used the original formula and you can't see any difference between the NOS 68 grill and the headlight buckets.

 

I've used the rustoleum Shane mentioned it was spot on as far as I could tell. I think I got it at Home Depot.

 

Just used 1403 on my re-furb'd front plastics. Picked up 2 cans at an ACE Hardware.
Its the current 'Metallics' kind. Came out great considering the condition of my pieces (lots of pits/scrapes/dings/etc & some cracks...). I also used some 'Low Gloss Black' Krylon.
Some notes:
- Comparing it to original paint, it may be a tiny bit whiter/brighter and may have a little 'sparkle' to it, but the areas I used for comparison while protected, were still 45+ years old.
- Surface must be dead smooth to look the same as OEM. Any micro pitting or roughness will show up as 'sparkly'.
- Sprays OK for a rattlecan, just keep moving.
- Coverage is pretty good. Took 3 coats to cover some repairs I did.
- 1 can did 2-3 coats on both headlight assy's and the grill.
- Masking/spraying/re-masking/touching up the black area was tedious, man. Tedious.
(click for big)



Repair using a chunk of old '70 stone guard donated by Oldspackrat. (not perfect, but a helluva lot better than the gaping hole)

 

What about shooting a layer of semi gloss or satin clear over standard aluminum paint? It will dull it down and give an extra layer of protection to the paint.

 

The issue I've seen isn't so much the sheen, as it is the color. I have a bunch of various rattlecans. My 'Aluminum' paints are too white/bright and/or too metallic. The original OEM color is gray-er/darker.

 

Interesting. I found that spraying with clear actually toned down the color a bit and made it less 'bright'.

 

Did you spray the black first and then the gray? I have cardboard templates that I covered the black area with after I sprayed it. I'm pretty sure that's the way the factory did it. You can always see a little gray overspray on the black on original buckets.

 

Yep. I masked off the silver around the 2 center black areas first. Then shot black. Then masked the black & shot silver. I hand (brushed) the 2 black side areas. Masking/getting in all of those tiny corners deep down was tricky..and I discovered that the design isn't uniform. In some areas there was a .1"+ 'ledge' of black to mask onto. In others, the 'ledge' was like .01". I ended up re-touching various tiny silver & black areas with a very, very small brush (which, I found out, is a bad idea late morning after 2 mugs-o-coffee!).

Interestingly, my headlight assy's were different 'qualities'. Right side was original to car (had undercoat on it) and had decent uniformity, mask job, & paint quality. Left side was a replacement ( along w/ a 'repl' '68-'69 fender) after a crash some time in the '70s and had crappy masking, thin/missed silver paint areas, & sloppy brushed side areas.

Somebody here explained about 'NOS' parts that surface sometimes being factory rejects and that's why they existed so long. I wonder if later OEM spare/repacement parts were the same way. Good parts went into new cars destined for showrooms. Not-so-good went into boxes for dealer parts.

Wait, weren't we talking about Krylon 1403?

 

I didn't mask off the silver first. I just painted the black wherever it went and then put templates over the black areas and painted the rest gray.

 

I assume you're talking to me.
Good catch.
This pic is 10-12 years old and, yes,
I caught it before I installed the engine.
I was hurrying to get the engine ready to paint and
bolted the rocker covers on before I realized the error.
Didn't want to take time to change them before painting at the time.
Used this pic in an older post a few years ago and
another "good eye" caught it.

 

Yeah, but if you had them on the right way, someone would have called you out for not having a notched one on that side, even though that's correct in the year that you and I mess with.