Lancia Motor Club

 I need to powdercoat the black under-bonnet parts such as the air filter housing and air intake shroud for the heater of a 1972 S2.

 Can anyone confirm the original finish? My thoughts are gloss but I'm willing to be proved wrong!

 

I think it is gloss but not in yer face gloss!

I agree gloss, but not too shiny as Tim says, I assume it was cellulose paint originally that was thinly applied to the steel

Gloss with a small amount of matting agent?

...or rub the gloss off?

is that not satin?

I experimented with a few options and found that Hammerite Smooth Black gave a very close finish to the original.  I used the aerosol spray can version.  It gives the sheen that I have seen in unrestored cars.

I use so much smooth satin black Hammerite that I'm thinking of buying shares in it!

That looks spot on in terms of sheen and coat thinness. I've always been wary of hammerite after using paint on, but I'll give the rattlecan a go after seeing you get such a good result.

The brush on stuff of youth isn't the same as what's available now.  I expect the "recent change" was twenty five years ago or something.   

Yes it seems to have an awful lot of lacquer and not so much paint in the modern variant.

Long ago, I used to use brush-on Hammerite paints myself - to the point of it being alleged domestically that I must have had shares - but much more than I would ever do now. It was the excessive price, poor finish, and a reliable bad reaction to any hint of second coat (moreso once the first one had hardened) which combined to put me off.

Back in its early days, Finnegan's Hammerite was advertised as being successfully applied to a fleet of Mk I Escort rally cars, on the RAC, but it was actually using it on mine that helped put me off. (White Dulux gloss applied to the underneath of a 'forest' car is always more chip-resistant and hard-wearing). Then later on, a proper vintage garagiste showed me how easy to apply, and hard wearing too, the cheaper, Halfords black engine-enamel rival can prove. A less-advertised product which I also found goes on much better, to a much smoother effect, and is generally quite trouble-free. So much then for 'Smoothrite'.....!

However, I did specifically use Hammerite's aerosol black successfully on both the air-filter casings for my Fulvia and Alfa cars, much as is shown here above. The extra tip being to spray it with the Hammerite gloss version first; and then, before it's fully dry and whilst still quite tacky, to respray it with Hammerite's satin black. The end result naturally falls somewhere between the two, but is uncannily similar to the original factory finish.

I even used to put the repainted item in a warm oven afterwards, but don't tell the wife or Nigella....