Knecht Air Cleaner Paint

[Ronald Sieber]

I was looking for options on what rattle can brand and color to use on my Knecht air filters. These are what I read on older posts:
Wurth's silver wheel paint
Eastwood "Detail Silver"
NLA silver used for wiper arms
Krylon "Dull Aluminum"

In my inventory, I have a can of Stoddard's Silver oil canister paint 095-030-00 ($30/can)
Also, a can of Eastwood's Silver Hi-Temp Matte Silver ($15/can)
Neither of these will probably come close enough.

Since it was suggested by two posters, I will shop for Krylon "Dull Aluminum" unless someone out there has had good experience with something else that I can get that is close and available locally.
Any suggestions, por favore?
=rds

[Peter Boettcher]

Ronald,

I recently used the Krylon Dull Aluminum with good results.

[Ronald Sieber]

Thanks, Peter. I will hunt some down and see how that turns out. Will post results.

=rds

[Dick Weiss]

Ronald,

I've used Krylon's dull Aluminum + Clear Lacquer for many years--and just did a set for a 912 last week.

Dick

[Mark Todorovich]

I have often wondered about spraying the Knecht filters. Does it reduce the airflow? Gum up the screens? If it makes them less effective I can live with the patina.

[Jim Clement]

is there a "How To" restore an Knecht air filter write up .. I think I have seen one, but could not recall where ??
I had mine stripped.. that was a mistake, as the oil all came off of the mesh part, then when i washed the car and got a bit of water on them.. they rusted a bit and the rust color dripped downwards..

[Ronald Sieber]

I'm going to try out the Krylon product and "fog" the grill part so that it doesn't gum up the works. BTW, I went to four local auto parts stores and also my local Walmart in a vain search for this product. What I found (here) was that the Krylon brand is being elbowed off the shelves by other brands, such as Rustoleum, Dupli-Color, etc. Not sure if this is a market trend, but I thought it would be useful information for others who might want Krylon. Better check your local source if you have one...

So I ordered two cans online. I miss going down to my local hardware store, no longer open. What have we come to in this world...

[James Davies]

Jim,

Yes, our late friend Edwin did a lovely write-up on restoring these in his Resto-Strips column in the Registry magazine, "Knecht Air Filters, the Asparagus Way".

You can find it at the "Magazine" link at the top of the page. Vol 37 #3 p62.

With his usual humor, he describes how to strip them in a heated bath of 30% phosphoric acid using an asparagus boiler on a camping stove. After very thin epoxy priming, he paints them with a thin coat PPG Engine Bay Silver, which looks original and has excellent chemical resistance, as you're going to have to rub oil on these to make them work correctly.

I would highly recommend painting these with an airbrush or gun with the flow really dialed down. The originals were painted with a very thin coat of nitrolack and no primer, which leaves the embossed Knecht logo and cleaning instructions on the top very crisp. If you use a rattle can and a heavy primer, those embossed details lose their crispness.

Another note: any dull silver paint can work. Just be sure the metallic flake in it is very fine. Most modern metallics have a very large flake, which is not appropriate for our vintage cars.

[Greg Bryan]

I believe that originally, the top and bottom are painted and the screen is plated.

[Alan Hall]

Greg, I doubt that the mesh was not painted. The air cleaners are assembled by spot welding which means that the top and bottom could not have been painted prior to assembly and I doubt they would have masked the mesh and painted the top and bottom after assembly. I am pretty sure the whole air cleaner was painted following spot welding together. As far as plating if you have a rusty air cleaner it can be chemically stripped as James described or by a plater and then to protect from further rusting can be plated using an electroless nickel process followed by a light paint coat. Conventional cad or zinc plating will not reach the inner portions of the mesh as the material is going from a source and does not reach the "shadowed" parts of the mesh very well, while with electroless plating the material is coming from the plating bath and will plate all surfaces the are wetted in the bath. Similarly as Jim found out if the unit is stripped, painting alone will not protect the inner parts of the mesh and oiling is the only means of helping protect the mesh.

[Jim Liberty]

I clean both the inside and out in my

glass bead blaster. Blow them out with compressed air, and put them in a bath of gas three times. Blow them out again. Paint with WURTH wheel silver.

[Vic Skirmants]

" and put them in a bath of gas three times."
You lost me there.

[Jim Liberty]

Vic, I fill a paint mixing container just larger than the air cleaner. Submerge and swish them around for a minute. By the third washing, the gas is clean, so is the air cleaner.

[Alan Hall]

Jim, I understand your process, but frankly I would be a little nervous bead blasting an air cleaner, I think chemically stripping would be safer or even wire brushing the outside.

[Peter Poulikakos]

Hi
Here is a pic of the inside of my filters, I too thought I had cleaned them well. Hope it helps you make a clearer decision.