Painting the speedometer cable housing

D

Don/WI

Senior Member
How do I get the black paint to stick to a reproduction speedometer cable housing? It looked good when it was painted, but after installation it looked terrible. Is there some special prep work or primer to use? Should the cable housing be sandblasted? Thanks fo ryour help. Don/WI
 
I could be wrong but I don't believe it came with paint on them. Tough to stick paint on something constantly oozing lube. Good reason to not bead blast it as the glass could get inside. I would remove it and wire wheel it clean then make sure the inside is cleaned and lubed for the drive cable. You can't see it from outside the car anyhoo.
 
It is my understanding that they were black. I have tried glass beading the housing in advance of painting but I was concerned that the media would get to the interior cable. What has worked for me is to thoroughly clean the housing (I use MEK) and paint it with PPG DP 90 epoxy which has a satin black finish. After one coat dries, I spray it a second time, this time flexing the cable to expose portions that were "covered" on the first pass. I pay special attention where the cable will be curved and is visible to inspection when installed. Gar Williams
 
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I took my original cable housing to a shop that had a black oxide tank and had it black oxided; the same place was used by a local gunsmith to refinish gun barrels and gun parts. It really penerates the metal. I wiped the housing down with gun oil and it still looks new, no rust, no bead blast media to worry about.

Ron
 
I have found that PPG's DP-90 is quite tenacious and use it wherever black oxide is specified as the original finish. It appears to last much longer. My restored cars are all "drivers" so the epoxy works very well for me. Gar Williams
 
i used a product called Hobby Black and it worked pretty good. After the hobby black i then sprayed with DP90 and it stuck like glue!!!
 
Would that "black oxide tank" method that Ron suggests, work for the original bolts and nuts? Would it be the answer for a points car ? Marring would be minimal for sure.
 
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