What paint for battery compartment?

[John Z]

I moved my bus batteries today, and am wondering what kind or types of paint others have used with good results for the inside of the battery compartment?

[Hartley]

Truck bedliner coating works really well if you can stand
the black or red colors. Bonds very well to aluminum if
you clean and rinse the aluminum with vinegar and water
before you paint. I used it in my bays and no corrosion
or problems after that and the stuff is nearly bulletproof too..

[John Z]

Thanks Dr Dave. I would not have thought of using bedliner. I will have to take a look for that stuff and check it out tomorrow. I would hope it would stand up to the gas etc as well as any other paint.

[John Z]

I just had the thought that red is a great color my battery bay, since my 4104 is an old Trailways bus - Go Big Red!

[JohnEd]

JohnZ,

The Dr. always has good news.  Bedliner would be my choice also and I wish I had thought of it.

Alu is funny stuff.  There is a ACID wash that they use to clean and brighten Alu wheels.  It is like magic....spray it on and hose it off in 5 minutes and WALLAH.  Sparkel?  You betcha.  Any auto detailer has the stuff in 55 gal drums and they dilute it 50 to 1 or some such.  I bought a gallon and it lasted me 5 years before I punctured the jug and spilt almost all of it.  That gallon cost me $4.00 back when.  Don't let them sell you some stuff that you use straight out of the bottle.  Remember 50::1 or some such.  It is hydrochloric and another nasty acid in 10% solution as a concentrate.  I got my first taste from a shop that did Ryder rentals.

Buy the gallon and somebody will take the rest off of your hands for wheels or something.  Apply with a garden pump up sprayer.

HTH,

John

[jackhartjr]

I got the bedliner in spray cans from Advance Auto, (Had to order it, came in the next day.)  I wanted white for my white truck.
Worked like a charme.
Two years later when I sold it it still looked like new!  Doesn't chip.  Has a little blueish tint to it!
Jack

[luvrbus]

John, fiberglass resin with a tint make a good battery compartment also just use a little etch on metal.
If using bedliner material take it to a place that does the hot spray they will probably do it for a reasonable price if they are spraying another vehicle at the same time



good luck

[John316]

LineX

God bless,

John

[cody]

This past spring we had all the metal replaced in our bays, all the framing.  I used Rust converter as a primer, then hit it with a black rustoleum and followed up with rhino bed liner, then I put pressure treated plywood floors in, hopefully it'll hold, I even used that corbin steel or whatever it's called, the stuff thats supposed to have some rust protection built in, my hope is to never have to deal with it again but not sure how it would work in a battery compartment.

[John Z]

Thanks everyone for your input. Cody, wow, what a project; i bet you are glad to have that one all done and behind you. With the time i had allowed, i used the spray bedliner for my battery bay. I found it at Auto Zone, and they had white on the shelf. I only did the top shelf so far. I will see how it works out, and more than likely will do the same for the bottom shelf when i move my house battery there. Thanks again!

[cody]

John, I'm not sure which job was bigger unloading the bays or hiring a guy with a portable welding setup to come in and do the job, it's not easy for me to just sit in a chair and watch and learn, I'm more the kind that has to be kicked out of the way quite often.  The welder guy was very reasonable and got it all done in one day, he did far more than I had hired him to do, he found and fixed areas that I wasn't aware of and still kept the total cost including metal under 500 like he had promised at the start.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

  Cody, if you had helped him, he probably would have charged you twice as much.