Need to repaint aluminum cabinet and steel poles, suggestions?

[Doyle]

I was asked to bid on a job replacing some pan faces for a sign. Upon close inspection, there are some issues. One of the cabinets (top hinge) is installed between two 6" square steel poles, the other is mounted on top of the framework for this sign with a center-pole mount. The lower marquee sign does not have a hinge on both sides, only one of them, making it impossible to remove the other face (as far as I can tell). The side that HAS the hinges has been broken and pieced back together using some ugly corner brackets for some reason. So, we are proposing to fix this by replacing some of the bent up pieces of extrusion and corner pieces, as well as creating a removable piece of trim/retainer on the opposite side so the face can be removed by sliding out the bottom (slide out on the side is not possible, the pole is wider than the cabinet by an inch or two).

After we do these repairs/modifications, we are going to repaint the poles and the aluminum cabinets. There are a few spots of rust on the poles, but overall it is not bad. How should we approach the sanding/priming/painting of this, what types of paints would be best? I was first thinking we would use a wire brush and sand paper to clean the surface and remove any loose paint. Then go over it with an epoxy primer and finish with a rustoleum paint. Only problem with this is I do not know where (locally) we can get a rustoleum paint in the color we will need (dark green). I'm sure there are better ways to go about this, but we do not have spray equipment and painting is not something that we do much of. Wensco sells Matthews paints, I just do not have much experience with them and don't know if we can apply this paint with a roller/brush and if it will work with the epoxy primer.

I was also suggested that we try Sherwin Williams DTM (direct to metal) paints. Anyone have experience with this or have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Doyle]

Sorry, not sure why those photos are rotated like that

 

[Billct2]

I would scrape, wire brush, sand, clean and then spot prime rust with POR15.
Top coat with two coats of any any good exterior DTM industrial enamel.

 

[petrosgraphics]

it looks like an old exallart cabinet. parts if needed may be available through
them. cab. style has not changed in years. Ben-Moore makes an impervo
metal/wood enamel that can be mixed in almost any color. check them out if you can.*

 

[mjkjr]

Results / Report Back?

Hi Doyle,

I'm getting ready to approach a similar situation, and wondering how this worked out for you. The cabinet that I will be re-painting is mounted on a 9 foot metal pole, and both the cabinet and pole need to be sanded/repainted.

What approach did you end up taking and how did it work out for you?

My idea for what I might do was pretty much the same:

Wire brush drill attachment and power sander to rough up the old surfaces, 2 coats of paint (pole is black, wasn't thinking I'd need primer, maybe I'm wrong?).

How about dealing with sand/light debris in the air when doing this?

Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[FS-Keith]

wire cup on an angle grinder to get all the rust off then dtm primer and dtm paint