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IBM case paint

J

james1095

Experienced Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
78
Location
Seattle, WA
Has anyone found a decent match for the gray IBM used on the PC/XT cases? Mine spent far too long in a damp shed and has some slight surface rust. It looks ok from a distance, but a nice new coat of paint would look really sharp. Powder coat is an option too, but I'm not very good at matching colors.
 
Ignoring the color, that's a special textured paint and not easily reproduced at home.
 
k2x4b524[ said:
still, would be useful to know what kind of paint was used, maybe one can buy some with such a texture, or make something that can do the texturing
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It seems to me that it is some sort of powder coating process on XT cases. I've seen a few scuffed ones and the paint does not "peel off" but rather "wears off" until the metal is exposed.

Powder coating would also explain the texture.

Definitely not something you can reproduce at home, easily.

As for the color, you could always try having a hardware store match it using their computer based color matching systems. You'd have to do some light coat spraying with "fade" to cover up rust without removing the texture. If you try sanding it down first, you'll have smoothed out flat spots that won't look right.

Problem is, at the end of the day, you still have a cancerous shell.
 
james1095 said:
Has anyone found a decent match for the gray IBM used on the PC/XT cases?
Click to expand...

There’s nothing like experience (read stupidity), so for others thinking of repainting their cases…..

Yes, I have, although I will make a qualification before I continue. Some of us, (as Modem7 pointed out in the Cork Pads thread) want to replicate as close as possible, the original appearance of our computers while others simply look for something that will do the trick.

I am one of the former.

I had a really bad 5150 case with scrapes/scratches and a little surface rust, and I thought I’d experiment a bit.

I don’t believe it is powder coating on the 5150’s. It’s easily scratched, which powder coating isn’t. I’m not even sure that powder coating was available in the early 80’s. I think it’s paint.

It turned out that getting a paint match was not as easy as going into the local Home Depot and asking for a color match. I went to the local auto paints supplier (they supply to all the local body shops of which there are loads in AZ due to crappy drivers), and they matched the paint for me. There are two guys there who have been matching paint colors (by eye, not machine), and they have 35 years experience doing just that, between the two of them. I took in two cases, and had them match the color (to the inside of the case). Then I had them adjust the sheen (flatten) to match the outside of the case.

It wasn’t cheap. I can’t remember exactly, but a color match was about $ 65, and if you wanted them to store it on file so you could order it again (means they have to write down every different drop of color they put in the sample), it was another $ 50. Then you have to buy the paint, and it’s paint for metal, not for plastic which is a different type of paint. The paint was roughly $ 35/pint. Then you need reducer ($ 30), and a hardener ($ 40), along with a few PreVal sprayers ($ 6 each).

The texture on the case is no big deal. If you are patient and use very thin coats spraying from 12” away (like the directions always say, but none of us can ever seem to actually do), the paint deposited is so thin that you see no difference.

To repair the texture on the scratched/scraped areas of the case, I bought a 3’ x 3’ piece of sheet metal. This was shortly after my box cutter and plastic package experience/nightmare, and because Chuck(G) followed up with a post which was something like “freshly cut sheet metal, all freshly cut sheet metal is very sharp”, I very carefully (using thick gloves) cut it into 1’ x 1’ pieces, and then double masked all the edges. I then, from varying distances (6” to 18”), sprayed a Heavy Texture Chip Guard and a Texture Coating product that I got from the auto paint store. Those are like auto undercoating products. I got nine sample textures from those varying distances, and I found one that matched the 5150 case pretty well. I masked off half the textured stuff on all sample pieces, and lightly sanded the other half on all of them. I then painted both halves to see what matched the case best.

I then masked off the scraped/scratched areas of the 5150, and used the resurfacing method that matched the best. Then I painted the case.

After all that I now have a 5150 case, which is one of four, and it is almost impossible to tell which one was repainted. The only way is to find out which one it is, is to look (and knowing where to look) for the textured part.

So, you want to fix your old, surface rusted 5150 case?

Believe me, while you can do it, and do it well, it’d be easier and a whole lot cheaper buying a junker on Ebay and using its case instead.
 
wrljet said:
Ignoring the color, that's a special textured paint and not easily reproduced at home.
Click to expand...


The texture on mine is salvageable, a fresh coat of paint sprayed over it after a good scrub to take off the fine surface rust I think would do. That said, the texture is not an impossible obstacle. I've done similar textures before by spraying on high buildup primer and then using a sponge to texture it. I also have powder coat equipment and they have crinkle finish powder that is similar. I need to build a radiant heater for curing though, I don't have an oven big enough for a PC case.
 
hello,


Has anyone found a decent match for the gray IBM used on the PC/XT cases? Mine spent far too long in a damp shed and has some slight surface rust. It looks ok from a distance, but a nice new coat of paint would look really sharp. Powder coat is an option too, but I'm not very good at matching colors.

_______________________
Has anyone found a decent match for the gray IBM used on the PC/XT cases? Mine spent far too long in a damp shed and has some slight surface rust. It looks ok from a distance, but a nice new coat of paint would look really sharp. Powder coat is an option too, but I'm not very good at matching colors.
 
karl benn said:
hello,


Has anyone found a decent match for the gray IBM used on the PC/XT cases? Mine spent far too long in a damp shed and has some slight surface rust. It looks ok from a distance, but a nice new coat of paint would look really sharp. Powder coat is an option too, but I'm not very good at matching colors.

_______________________
Has anyone found a decent match for the gray IBM used on the PC/XT cases? Mine spent far too long in a damp shed and has some slight surface rust. It looks ok from a distance, but a nice new coat of paint would look really sharp. Powder coat is an option too, but I'm not very good at matching colors.
Click to expand...

I think I just had a stroke. So confused.
 
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