Anybody know if you can sand hammerite with wet and dry.

I made a battery tray out of some spare aluminium and gave it a couple of coats with some smooth black Hammerite I had sitting on the shelf. It hasn't cost me anything so far, but I'm not happy enough with the painted finish to bolt it on the car.

Can you sand it down with wet and dry when it's cured then apply a couple of coats of aerosol lacquer?

If not, it's another trip to MK.

I've had problems with hammerite straight onto ally, it needs a coat of their "special metals primer" first to stop it peeling off

You may find that the Hammerite will not accept anything on top - I think it has silicone in it (that's what causes the dimples iirc) You might have to get the Nitromors out

Hammerite needs about 6 weeks post painting to cure, before recoating, but as it's been sitting on a shelf, I'd guess that part doesn't apply

If you want a smooth finish (yeah with the Smooth hammerite), you could try what I did, which was paint hammerite on with a brush, and get a smooth as you can, then when still wet, give it a spray with a Hammerite Smooth aerosol.

Re the sanding, I'm sure that if you're beyond the 6 week cure, then you should be ok. Try a bit that's out of site, would be best suggestion.

ATB

Simon

So far I have had excellent results with 'Smoothrite', but only tried it on steel and zinc alloy. I would thinck aluminium alloy would need an etch primer.
My method, that has worked fine so far, is to warm the metal first and then spray a liberal coat on it.
Warming it first, makes sure it dries from the metal surface out and doesn't get a skin on it.

[Edited on 4/11/07 by Confused but excited.]