This is topic Painting the Film Compartment in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-28-2000, 11:12 AM:
A few months back, we talked about painting the outside of the projectors, I'm not sure though, I kind of like the look of 35 year-old equipment. Anyway, I'm busy restoring the insides of my old XL's, and wondering if I shouldn't paint the film side including soundhead. What kind of paint would I use?
Should anything be removed before painting or just masked very well? I've noticed that at some point the area to the front of the film compartment under where the lens goes has been painted black. Would this have been done for performance reasons or simply because that's what colour they had and it was flaking?I'm also converting the oil takeup and sight glass for drive-in (upward) throws. Of course the parts to do this (amazingly, still available) are in the newer "hammertone" finish. Does anyone recall which brand and number it was for that black "wrinkle-paint" we talked about previously?
Thank you.
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Dave Bird
Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 10-28-2000, 10:17 PM:
Dave:Zynolyte Black Wrinkle Finish spray paint #1300 (bar coded 036333013004). Primer is not needed.
For the interior I took everything off my Brenkert and then stripped the old paint off with Jasco paint remover.
I painted mine all white inside except the interior of the lens holder which I painted flat black to eliminate reflections.
First coat of interior paint is Rust-Oleum Professional Gray Primer #7582 (bar coded 020066758288) spray paint.
Next I sprayed 3 coats of Rust-Oleum Professional High Performance Enamel Gloss White #7592 (bar coded 020066759292). I let the paint dry and cure for a week before handling and it's tough as nails.
The Rust-Oleum spray paint I got at Home Base and the Black Wrinkle I got at my local paint store (on the shelf and in stock).
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 10-29-2000, 05:57 AM:
I just painted the film compartment on an old Simplex SH - 1000 soundhead. Removed gearbox, and all other parts/pieces. Cleaned the surface very thoroughly using, first kerosene to remove all oil and grease, then rubbing alcohol, finally detergent and water. I went to store a bought some no-name gloss enamel spray paint - kind of an off (cream) white. After paining, I allowed the unit to bake in the sun outdoors for a couple of days. I got a really professional looking paint job that looks like it will hold up very well.Ken - I'm working on my second Brenkert BX 40. I stripped the inside completely, except for the sprocket assys. I cleaned the inside paint with first a kerosene soaked rag, then (believe it or not) Dow scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner!! That stuff gets off everything including the old cigarette smoke. Don't laugh, this stuff is great. The inside paint job looks like the day it rolled out of the factory! 
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 10-29-2000, 06:00 AM:
I just painted the film compartment on an old Simplex SH - 1000 soundhead. Removed gearbox, and all other parts/pieces. Cleaned the surface very thoroughly using, first kerosene to remove all oil and grease, then rubbing alcohol, finally detergent and water. I went to store a bought some no-name gloss enamel spray paint - kind of an off (cream) white. After paining, I allowed the unit to bake in the sun outdoors for a couple of days. I got a really professional looking paint job that looks like it will hold up very well.Ken - I'm working on my second Brenkert BX 40. I stripped the inside completely, except for the sprocket assys. I cleaned the inside paint with first a kerosene soaked rag, then (believe it or not) Dow scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner!! That stuff gets off everything including the old cigarette smoke. Don't laugh, this stuff is great. The inside paint job looks like the day it rolled out of the factory! 
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-29-2000, 08:58 AM:
The Dow stuff does indeed work well. So does Dow oven cleaner. If you have gooked on grease that nothing else will remove try the oven cleaner(in a well ventilated area!). Also you can bake the paint on in your kitchen oven(when your wife is gone for the weekend) at about 190 degrees for 30 to 40 min. This will leave the finish highly glossy like a new car finish and also you can re-assemble the projector the same day..... not several days later while you wait for the paint to dry. Baking the casting after painting with wrinkle finish also goves a moch more even wrinkle if you like that sort of finish. Have fun!
Mark
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-29-2000, 12:08 PM:
Thanks for the info guys. We're starting to hit freezing at nights here, so maybe I'll have to wait out the winter. Course, I have a buddy who's a Ford dealer, perhaps a case of beer and I could use the booth! When you fellows talk of "stripping everything" from the insides, do you mean sprockets, rollers etc.? Is it possible to put them back on wrong? Will springs fly out never to be found? Thanks.
Posted by Alan Gouger (Member # 543) on 10-29-2000, 12:46 PM:
I used white appliance paint. You can get this at any auto supply house. It comes in a spray and when it dries it is like tooth enamel. It looks just like the original paint used from the factory.
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 10-29-2000, 03:22 PM:
Hi Mark, Just having a 35mm projector in my home was a leap of faith for my wife! I think I'll leave the oven for her use!! In the past I have dried the water out of old amateur radio gear that I've cleaned using an oven (abt. 130 degs)....but I've tried to be a little more considerate these days. Dave, yes springs and things can fly out 
, but the more you strip things down the better cleaning job you can do. The manuals section here on film-tech is just what you need to prevent disasters when taking stuff apart.
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-29-2000, 08:14 PM:
The manuals are great, plus I have an extra machine which I leave intact to compare to.When you guys bake these machines, what do you do with the gear side, leave the cover on? What about the plastic or fiber gears?
And back over on the film side, do you remove the trap? What about the soundhead?
I did some "exploratory surgery" this aft and here's an unrelated question: What lubricates the film sprockets? Or does all the movement occur in the oil bath? Thanks.
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-30-2000, 09:35 AM:
Dave, When I bake castings to dry/harden the paint I have completely stripped the castings down to bare metal, primed them with aircraft primer and then applied the new finish. The white interior paint I used was not an air dry paint and had to be baked on. The hammertone paint I used was the same. Both were from Durable Coatings in Chicago.
This will work with any paint however as long as you don't go over about 190 degrees and leave it in too long. Yes, it will turn white paint brown!! Experiment with a small cover or the like. Since I used to do large quantities of projectors, this is the way I did it. I also had a spray booth as well. I could ususally mask, prime, paint, and bake 3 complete sets of castings(projector/soundhead) in a day from start to finish. I took all of my castings to a local dip and dunk place to have them stripped and they come back looking like new castings! Stripping is a miserable job and the price to have it done is usually reasonable.
Have fun!
Mark @ GTS
Posted by Kevin Crawford (Member # 469) on 10-30-2000, 11:20 PM:
Where do you guys with Brenkerts get parts for them?There is a theatre here in Sac that still uses them. They did buy a bunch of them for spare parts. I believe that they were purchased by the pound and not per machine. But those parts are starting to become scarce.
Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 10-30-2000, 11:32 PM:
Kevin:I got some of my Brenkert parts from Wolk and some from John Eickhof at Northwest Theater Equipment (www.nteequip.com). John's prices were much cheaper than Wolk's.
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 10-31-2000, 05:18 AM:
My parts have come from the same places as Ken's
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 10-31-2000, 06:44 AM:
So we've got two basic methods. One is to take the sprockets, gate/trap out, clean with oven cleaner, and spray OVER existing paint and bake. Other, strip everything including gears and all paint, then prime and re-coat then bake.Looking at my machines, they're still quite good, the gear side is immaculate and the film side is not bad. These are 35 years old, but they're from a Canadian Drive-In, meaning seasonal for only a couple shows a night. Paint's a little dull, but the only scratches are in the little crevasses where you'd scrape the gunk out. Unless any of you would advise otherwise, and with my relative inexperience, I was thinking I'd just "overcoat" the film chamber for now. Those of you who've chosen this method, did you prime the existing paint? I was thinking that a heat lamp might be capable of baking the paint, you think?
Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 10-31-2000, 07:29 AM:
<<Where do you guys with Brenkerts get parts for them?>>I've got four Brenkert BX-60's...
From my understanding, Wolk no longer sells the parts for the Brenkerts. I was told they sold their entire inventory of Brenkert parts to a company called "Sonic Sales & Service". (I think they're in Kansas??) I did end up buying some parts from "Sonic", but the parts were not NOS, it was obvious they were "scavenged" from another machine. Sooner or later, I guess all Brenkert parts will be "scavenged" I also bought some parts from Ken Layton (Thanks Ken !!)
I still need a "shear pin" for the main drive gear of a BX-60, if someone has one or two laying on a workbench somewhere...