Painting an Alternator

Pete

Something I saw at a local car show that I thought was really neat was to polish the existing aluminum. It comes out looking like chrome.

This place (didn't get the name) had a kit of polishing products that would step you through polishing any aluminum casting and end up with a shiney piece. It then had a coating you put on it to help prevent oxidization.

It probably takes a while but would look neat.

Just a thought.

The "proper" way to prep aluminum is with a specific acid treatment. However, that is messy and not really appropriate for an assembled alternator. Alternator surfaces are cast and usually have a somewhat rough texture. If the housing is clean (out of the box), I would just final clean with a cleaner such as PPG DX330 and prime with epoxy. If the housing is dirty or weathered, I would clean up as best I could with a wire brush to get any oxidation off, then DX330, epoxy and paint. My tendency would also be to stuff rags or something in all the normal openings to keep paint spray from the innards of the unit.

Rod