What is the proper finish on a 1944 Inglis?

[c310pilot]

I have have a reweld semi and tried parking it. Turned out grey for some reason and shows my welds, yuck! Were the the Inglis finished with a Suncrite type finish?

Ignore the date, its a 43'

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[tankhunter]

Yes, a sand & water blasting (Combined together method) to remove all old paint, rust Etc. & leave a lovely SMOOTH finish. The Phosphating (Parkerising) SPRAYED with Suncorite Black Paint (Mask the gas cyliner though,that was NOT painted) & baked in an oven for 30 Minuites & finally oil dipped & left to drip dry (As far as it could!) & reassembled. Suncorite USED to be manufactured by Henkel Chemicals, though I hear they no loner exist. I cannot confirm that at this time. The paint is heat resisiant & was originally developed for spraying on car radiator cores. It si VERY good stuff, though BEWARE! ONY use in VERY well ventilated areas! It is VERY toxic to inhale!

[Peter Laidler]

I think that they were originally phosphated. It's the phosophate that is the rustproofing but the paint protects it. As Tankie says, it is very tough and hardy paint. A man from ATO (the original makers before Henkel and Tri-Mite) told me that it was a government formula for the Ministry of Supply in the 40's so presumably the Ordnance factories. I don't think I'd use it on a radiator though becausethe baking temp is just below the putty stage point of solder

Are the two pics on the left 'as phosphated'? The pics on the right 'as bead blasted'?

I bead blasted, phosphated and painted all of the bumper irons, front sub frame and suspension plus a zillion bits underneath and in the engine bay of my MGB GT V8 when I was restoring it. Yes, tough paint indeed. Tankie is right though, it's now very hard to get and there's no stock available at the moment from either Tri-Mite or Henkel

[peregrinvs]

Here's a close up of the finish on my 1943 Inglis MkII:



It looks old, although as to whether it's the original factory finish..?

Mark

[Brit plumber]

That looks the original finish to me. I've one of the very last Inglis Mk2s in a near mint condition and the finish is the same.

[tankhunter]

I don't think I'd use it on a radiator though becausethe baking temp is just below the putty stage point of solder

Peter, we have both encoutered this wonderfull paint of course in Service. The only reason I discovered that it was also used in the Radiator repair side of things is as follows.
I was a restoring a Ferret scout car I owned about 14 years back. One of the problems was with re-occuring fuel blockages & crap getting into the carb. I needed to remove the fuel tank (Not easy with the Turret still on it!) & take it to a place in Hove who did brake re-linings & Fuel tank repairs. They had to flush out the tank to kill ANY vestigaes of fuel fumes. Then cut three square patches in the tank & peelback. THOUGHROUGHLY clean the tank inside & weld up the patches & pressure test for any leaks. Cured the probelm fantatstically! Whilst there, I smelt this VERY familiar smell of the old Suncorite paint & enquired what it was they were using.
Yep, it WAS Suncorite. And the chap explained that they used it because of it's heat resisting properties. After all The cores & gills of a Rad have air passing through them all the time & keep the Temp down in that area well. (Modern Rads are actually NYLON, would you believe! ) I have also had Motor cycle silencers done when I was at 27 Command Wksps with excellent results. It may vary form batch to batch, & obviously any item that runs VERY hot will soon lift the paint! Pete, you werent using it on pot bellied stoves in the Wksp, were you?...................LOL!
But you know how it is..............Ill just bung it thorough the system!.............................

[Peter Laidler]

Sunkorite was also available under the name RILPRIM. It was used as a sort of primer underneath a nylon coating process call RILSANISATION. I'll check out with thge equipment manager what is happening to the process now that sunkorite is in short supply.

While talking of repairing/welding fuel tanks, I watched someone reweld a dribbly seam on my old 750 Norton Commando tank by putting a hose from an exhaust pipe into the filler and letting it vent via the other orifices. It's inflammable and while he had the exhaust gas running through he migged up the seam perfectly with no sign or hint of anything untoward.

[c310pilot]

I think that they were originally phosphated. It's the phosophate that is the rustproofing but the paint protects it. As Tankie says, it is very tough and hardy paint. A man from ATO (the original makers before Henkel and Tri-Mite) told me that it was a government formula for the Ministry of Supply in the 40's so presumably the Ordnance factories. I don't think I'd use it on a radiator though becausethe baking temp is just below the putty stage point of solder

Are the two pics on the left 'as phosphated'? The pics on the right 'as bead blasted'?

I bead blasted, phosphated and painted all of the bumper irons, front sub frame and suspension plus a zillion bits underneath and in the engine bay of my MGB GT V8 when I was restoring it. Yes, tough paint indeed. Tankie is right though, it's now very hard to get and there's no stock available at the moment from either Tri-Mite or Henkel

That is correct. Peregrins - would you say thats a paint type finish? Seems a bit glossy for just park.

[peregrinvs]

Peregrins - would you say thats a paint type finish? Seems a bit glossy for just park.

I think it's some sort of chemical blackening rather than paint, although hopefully someone better informed will comment further. It looks glossy as it is one of a number of post-cleaning pictures I took last year - all external metal parts were rubbed down with fine wire-wool and oil. It probably looks a little duller now.

Here's another post-cleaning picture showing the other side of the receiver:



Being a purist, the British Mk2 barrel handle grip has since been replaced with a mint Canadian Mk1 grip - thanks to KevG.

It would be interesting to know where it came from as it was deactivated in 1991, so I assume it predates the large quantities of ex-Australian and ex-Greek Brens that were imported into the UK. It's non-matching, but all Canadian parts.

Mark

[mrclark]

From what I read it was definetly parkerizing. I found an article in the canadian archives during a search for the proper finish on my MKII and it stated something about the process. I'll try to look for it when I get time.

Heres some pics of some mint Inglis guns in the Canadian War Museum. Looks like aged park to me. My MKII was parked perfectly and it is allready showing a very dark colour to it after the years and steady oiling. Imagine several decades.

Heres mine



















The problem with your gun is the mix in the density or type of metal used in the welds compared to your gun. They are not the same and will show that when you park it. There is nothing you can do about it unfortunetly. I know some folks though that have had luck using pieces of torched Bren parts kits at welding rods successfully or at least stated they did to weld there guns so the park would be cleaner.

What you could do is pick yourself up a quart or two of Brownells Oxpho blue. I use it for everything I work on. It will not differentiate between the receiver and the welds and give and nice dark finish that is very durable. My MKIm is done with it as is my BAR 1918A2





Hope that helps