Restore old gas station paper towel holders
 

Hi I' am looking to restore a old gas station paper towel holder with a lot of rust pits. All metal is there no holes. Would like to know what would be the best way to fill pits? Filler primer are something else! Thank's Hotshoe13

I am not a body man but I would think strip it to bare metal use a metal etching primer then a high build primer and if that does not fill the pits then filler.

Thank you bigblockragtop for info . Pimcollc

EZ sand works best, its like bondo but soupier so it really settles in those pits...sands much easier too you can start with 180 grit.....Theres another type called metal glaze also from evercoat thats self etching that might be better for going over bare metal....I know its only a towel holder but still if it were me I would clean up that rusty,pitted metal with some ospho then epoxy it (reduced 10-20%) so it goes on smooth like paint no orange peel (no sanding) fill any pitts with the ez sand applied with a rubber squeegie insted of a plastic one (again,very little sanding) one or two more coats of epoxy and your ready to paint.....They'll look better than new.....also if you use SPI epoxy it comes in white and has a semi gloss shine,so you might not even want to use paint they'll have an aged look...

And of course if this piece has lots of shape to it and spreading filler would be difficult simply spray it with polyester primer to fill all those pits. Polyester primer is the same as a polyester putty like EZ sand but it is sprayable.

Brian

That is what I meant by high build primer I did not know the technical name. Thanks

Here is a run down on the basic technologies. "Basics of Basics" Paint technologies

Oh and by the way, since I wrote this I have drifted way from the etch primer (as many in the industry have). A quality epoxy primer over bare metal is a better choice in most cases.

Brian

Nice link thanks

Paper towel holder
 

Thanks for all the great input . I do want this to turn out real nice it's going in my garage over my sink.
THANKS Pimcollc