Proper red oxide paint - where from?

[BenzBoy]

I had a great big tin of Red Oxide paint. It was awesome. Paint something with it and it'll not rust for millennia. Sadly, it has ran out. I don't know where it came from, but it was made by Earnshaw's. I can't seem to find anywhere that sells it - I think it was trade paint. I think it was also a pretty old tin so perhaps it's not even made any more.

I've used other stuff off the shelves of DIY places and the like, and to be quite honest, it's curse word. I strongly suspect that most of it is just matt teracotta paint. They seem to have cottoned on that Red Oxide = rust proof in many people's mind so just slap that label on, sell it for six quid for half a litre and hope nobody gets wise.

So, where can I get PROPER red oxide / red lead, which prevents rust?

[kapri]

I don't think you can nowadays due to the high lead content , just like boat antifoul is rubbish nowadays due to removal of lead.

[Adam]

Upol Zinc 182 is pretty good at slowing rust, but again doesn't contain as much zinc as old 'zinc primer's used to and therefore isnt quite as good.

[BenzBoy]

I suspected that all the good stuff might have been made illegal nowadays. Always the way.
I tried some of that Zinc 182 (did the similarly-named band come before or after I wonder?...) and it seems pretty good. I'd forgotten about that actually! ;D

[datman]

Probably get it in some non EU countries? They still sell asbestos sheets in some places.

[Nathan]

Dean I am in the same boat, when we emptied the old Garage I found 8 Tins of the Original stuff unopened, these have all been used on the Midget etc.

The new stuff is totall Pants

[ColonelCustard]

I googled "Earnshaws paint" and came up with...

EARNSHAWS SPECIALIST COATINGS LTD
OLD COACH HOUSE
BACK LANE
GREAT BEDWYN
MARLBOROUGH
WILTSHIRE
SN8 3NX

Phone: [phone]

...dunno if that's of any use?

Ben

[alfazer]

Go to a proper paint shop, trade place, or agri-supply shop, (ie. not B&Q or Halfords.)

Make sure you get the matt stuff if you hope to paint over it.
I painted a chassis once in zinc 182, ran out half way and finished it with red oxide. Lay around for a year in a damp shed. Guess which one didn't show any rust.......yes, the red oxide.

You won't find red lead. It's a different product, banned maybe 40 odd years ago.

[trogdor]

Hi,

I am also interested in finding some kosher red lead paint as any other type is just a bit rubbish. Its quite interesting reading about what they used on the Forth Bridge, several layers of whale oil then whale oil mixed with red lead then several layers of red lead. Apparently the newer paints they have been using are not up to the task, unlike the old paints.

Anyway a bit of research has found this:

www.tradboats.com/paintbarrier.html

the red lead paint in this link is the proper stuff? I think it is. Tho £87.50 for 5L! Gulp!

[Mantasport]

Not sure about redlead paint but instead of ZINC182 i use www.bilthamber.com/electrox.html i find it much better.
Came out top in a practical classic test www.bilthamber.com/electrox-125-primers-test.pdf

Advertised as 90% zinc and the 1 litre tin is bloody heavy enough for me to believe that.
It covers a lot more area than you'd expect from 1 litre aswell.
I managed 2 full coats of the underside of a manta aswell as both floorpans inside and had 1/4 of the tin left

[RetroMat]

My local motor factors sell something called Bondo zinc primer/ redoxide. seems pretty good if you can get rid of most of the surface rust beforehand.

[jrevillug]

Nov 3, 2010 16:07:46 GMT trogdor said:

Forth Bridge ... Apparently the newer paints they have been using are not up to the task, unlike the old paints

But the Forth bridge used to be continuously painted. Now they are using an epoxy-based system that means that once it's finished they should be able to leave it for 40 years - the paint is based on the coatings used on North Sea oil rigs, which is a pretty hostile environment for steel.

The paint that came second in the PC test was Epoxy Mastic, from rustbuster. It has superior rust-prevention qualities, but as a two-pack paint it's a bit fiddly to use, doesn't brush on as well, and it's more expensive. However, given the better anti-rust properties it's the one Id go for every time.

It's more of an undercoat for the underside of the car than a primer for the upper sections though.

[purplevanman]

I get my red oxide from a local company that makes steel buildings for farms etc, good stuff and only a couple of quid a litre

[bortaf]

This is what my local restoration garage uses

[will]

I've been thinking of this stuff again recently and the tin in the garage is nearly gone/probably dried up by now. Here's a linky to a thread of old retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=81375

I have a boating chum at work, I'll ask him too

[Bob the Fish]

It's not really an extensive test, but I lobbed some Rustins 'red' on a crusty wheel and left it outside all last winter. Was out there 6 months at least. Surprising, but no rust showed through the primer.

It's tempting to do a lil' DIY test in a bath of salt water sometime, I got 2k epoxy, 2k etch, and the red. No Bonda or anything though.