What's your opinion on painting a 727 vs leaving it bare. Pros and cons
Opinions on painting transmission
- Thread starter MoparMike1974
- Start date
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CudaFactHackJob
Well-Known Member
I power wash them and use oven cleaner maybe several times. Then different size wire wheels. I use Rustoleum Antique Pewter Hammerite Paint+Primer or silver or nickle as an alternative. Then gloss black on the dipstick and tube and linkages and pan if l don't go chrome on the pan with a drain plug cuz they're only about $25 free shipping on ebay.
Unless it is a show car, not a restored car or a restomod, I wouldn’t bother.
I like to grind the casting flash off the top of the housing, pressure wash it and then paint it.
Makes it nice when handling it. An it cleans up real easy after it's paint.
Makes it nice when handling it. An it cleans up real easy after it's paint.
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Its already been pressure washed. I use a caustic degreasser that cleans the hell out of aluminum. Trans has been rebuilt and I got a deep pan for it. Plan on painting the pan black, not a fan of chrome.
Im thinking about shooting some epoxy primer on it. Paint makes it easy to clean compared to the bare aluminum.
Im thinking about shooting some epoxy primer on it. Paint makes it easy to clean compared to the bare aluminum.
CudaFactHackJob
Well-Known Member
Oh right, l.forgot. Some of those have a lot of flashing and casting nubs. I use my body grinder to sand them off. Then l use a drill with a 3" sanding disc to get in closer on the sides. Keep moving it in a circle to avoid gouging it.
I was hoping to just clean my trans case (904) and maybe clearcoat, but even after cleaners, wire brushing and steel wooling, it just was not looking very nice. So, I used Rustoleum aluminum primer and aluminum color coat, followed by clear satin engine enamel. The clear actually dulled it to look more like aluminum.
Show car then huh?
Painting over chrome? LOL, good luck!
Cleaning a transmission pan? Whew!
Wait. We’re debating the merits of painting something that
1- doesn’t rust
2- no one can see unless they’re laying under your car
I don’t get it. Unless you’re building a “park on the carpet with a mirror underneath” show car there’s absolutely no reason to waste the time
1- doesn’t rust
2- no one can see unless they’re laying under your car
I don’t get it. Unless you’re building a “park on the carpet with a mirror underneath” show car there’s absolutely no reason to waste the time
d55dave
Well-Known Member
I remove the casting flash and imperfections, glass bead the case and then paint with high heat engine enamel clear. They look awesome and are easy to clean up. I try to keep things as stock looking as possible.
famous bob
mopar misfit
If it`s out, and u are hung up waiting on parts for the engine, too lazy, or not in the mood to install it, why not paint it ? I painted my 727 w/ an epoxy (silver mist?) , same as my engine .
Who really cares !
I painted mine after rebuilding it....I mean - why not?
Jeff
Jeff
R4Sedan
Larry
I always paint mine. I mean really if you have it out for rebuild what's an extra $10 in material and hour of time.
And look how sexy it looks!
I mean seriously.....it's my pride and joy.....of course I want it nice!
Jeff
MobileCustoms
Well-Known Member
I like to paint them if I have them out anyways. Easier to clean up again in the future and looks nice, even if not 100% stock. I used a basecoat/clearcoat urethane with hardener.
Holy snikes! @MobileCustoms
All looks like a big fat waste of time to me. Grind the casting flash off? Really? Just another hour of your life you'll never get back.
I mean really, how many miles do you guys drive? How many of you even still drive in the rain? A freshly rebuilt automatic transmission should go 100k miles unless it's in a race car. And if it's in a race car it won't be there long enough to get dirty. So more than likely if you install a fresh rebuilt transmission you'll either never see it again or it will still be clean when you do.
I mean sure, they look nice. But why waste the time? If you have to rebuild it again, it takes 5 minutes to pressure wash one. Chrome don't get you home.
This is funny. There isn't one stock thing about doing any of that. If you're trying to keep it stock looking, you shouldn't touch the outside beyond cleaning it. That like all the "factory restorations" that have 100% top coat paint coverage on the bottom of the car. Uh, yeah, they never did that.
I mean really, how many miles do you guys drive? How many of you even still drive in the rain? A freshly rebuilt automatic transmission should go 100k miles unless it's in a race car. And if it's in a race car it won't be there long enough to get dirty. So more than likely if you install a fresh rebuilt transmission you'll either never see it again or it will still be clean when you do.
I mean sure, they look nice. But why waste the time? If you have to rebuild it again, it takes 5 minutes to pressure wash one. Chrome don't get you home.
This is funny. There isn't one stock thing about doing any of that. If you're trying to keep it stock looking, you shouldn't touch the outside beyond cleaning it. That like all the "factory restorations" that have 100% top coat paint coverage on the bottom of the car. Uh, yeah, they never did that.
threewood
Well-Known Member
The two I have rebuilt I just cleaned up really good. They get leaks and fluid on them so i figured the paint would probably start coming off anyway. The only casting flash I grind away in on the inside of the case. I'm fine with an unfinished exterior.
d55dave
Well-Known Member
LOL. I grind the casting flash because I work on my own cars and dont like reaching up around the trans and tearing my hands on ****, or getting hung up on things. The torqueflite castings are very rough around the top, at least the ones that I have worked on. Call me a wussy. Over the last few years in the interest of improving things or going faster I have had the engine and or trans out at least once a year.
You are right, nothing is factory, but I am partial to the factory look, the way Chrysler put things together which is why I glass bead to make it look clean and factory, and clear to keep it from oxidizing. I do the same with 4 speeds.
The other reason I do all of this is because I take pride in the work I do, in this hobby, and it makes me feel good to stand back and look at it and feel it is well done, not just a greasy pile of parts that is thrown together.
That being said, I do respect your opinions and am not arguing, just sharing my reasons.
d55dave- I think most of us are not daily driving our cars. They are Classics and most are garaged and restored to look and drive good. That's all part of Restoration. We all paint engine's, transmissions, and rear ends. It's part of the process..
MobileCustoms
Well-Known Member
My car, my choice. Your car, your choice. It's all good, guys! The point is to enjoy our cars, however that comes about, which varies from one person to the next. I thinks it's kinda fun when the car is up on a lift at buddies garage, to walk around underneath and look at all the shiny, clean stuff while drinking some beers. Any cars of mine will never be trailer queens but that doesn't mean I can't make 'em prettier and more corrosion-resistant on the undercarriage than they were when built at the factory. They were just cars back then.
Cheers!
Cheers!
72Dart6pack
Harder Better Faster Stronger.
I say paint it gloss black. And quote some made up code as a factory option.
Oh I don’t mean to argue.
If it’s what you want to do and the way you want to spend your time that’s great. I mean that’s why any of us work on these cars anyway, it would be easier to just buy a Honda and never have to do any of this stuff.
I just don’t like the whole over-restoration thing that’s going on now. People think that if something isn’t clean enough to eat off and cost a big stack of money it’s a hack job. That’s not necessarily the case.
You can have a super clean, over restored car that’s actually a piece of crap. Looks good, won’t hold up or perform, just a bunch of really expensive parts tossed together with no consideration for actual function. Trailer and show queens.
And you can have a dirty looking home built car you can hop in and drive cross country and back and never worry about. I take pride in my work too, but I don’t equate something being super clean as necessarily representing that. I want my crap to function, and I plan on using it, so it’ll be dirty. But I don’t want any trophies, I just want to drive.
Totally agree. No, I’m all for painting the underside of a car if you’re stripping it down to bare metal, making it more corrosion resistant is a great thing and if th factory had bothered there might be more of these cars around still. But then don’t call it factory, that’s just over-restoration.
And I think that’s why I don’t get this stuff. If my car goes up on a rotisserie it’s going to get rhino-lined or similar, not just painted. Cause I’m not gonna keep the bottom of my car clean and polished, because I daily drive it year round and it won’t stay that way. Couple gallons of black bediner and kick ***, it’ll look the same for decades. Not as clean as topcoat and clear everywhere, but damn near zero maintenance and after the first month it’ll look exactly the same until it falls off the car.
The super clean and polished stuff looks great, but it only stays looking like that if you don’t drive it all the time, or you spend as much time cleaning as you do driving. And again, I think a lot of people assume that the super clean, over restored, high dollar “look” means quality in-and-of-itself, and that’s just not true. You can polish a turd pretty shiny.
I’m not singling out your work, that transmission you posted is beautiful and I’m sure it works great too. I personally just put function way ahead of looks when it comes to my cars, the perfect looking, over restored, big dollar cars just all look the same to me after awhile. And with very few exceptions I never see any of them out on the road unless it’s a show weekend in the middle of summer. They’re not out on the freeway on a rainy Wednesday morning in January stuck in traffic like I am with mine.
Anyway, I think I’ve probably beat this to death enough. I’m just a “chrome don’t get you home” guy that doesn’t like polishing stuff, I’d rather spend my time driving and my money on keeping it on the road.
CudaFactHackJob
Well-Known Member
Those are some beautiful transmissions!
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