-- [ From: Bob Nogueira * EMC.Ver #3.1a ] --
David:
Prior to Morgans my hobby was restoring wood sail boats. Here in
Texas wood rots very quickly and anyone with a wood boat leans quickly
about rot.
Wood which is always wet will not rot nor will wood which is always dry
. The boogabear is a fungus spore which feeds on the cellulose of the
wood . The fungus must have a damp dark condition. Paint will keep
the spore from getting to the wood. A paint which does not breath will
blister. Wood contains moisture and that moisture is constantly
traveling between the wood and air depending on the humidity. A paint
which seals the wood will blister just as it will on a house. Blisters
provides the perfect environment for the rot fungus in that moisture
will be held under the paint while blocking the light.
I think John Blair had the best solution, the West System. The West
brothers developed a system of using a low viscosity epoxy to saturate
the wood in boat building, The epoxy is painted on and soaks into the
wood. It does not blister and since it soaks into the wood a surface
scratch will not expose the bare wood.
This past summer when I removed one of the body panels on my Morgan I
was rather distressed to find out how much of the paint under the panel
had been scratched away during the installation of the panel. ( I had
used plan Wood paint 17 years age when I built the tub) .
The main concern is not so much the coating on the wood however, but
making sure that water will not get into the area between the sheet
metal and wood. Those cracks between the metal and wood are dark, and
will hold water for a very long time. The result is the wood will start
to rot and the metal rust, Look at the rust on any Morgan body tub and
my bet is that there is a piece of wood behind the metal that is rusting
..
3M makes a product called Drip Check which is used by body shops to seal
the gutters on cars. It comes in a tube and is put on like silicone
sealant. Once on it sticks and will not come off shrink or crack. I
found it perfect for sealing the cracks between the metal panel and wood
..
If you are going to paint the wood I would use a good wood paint and put
on several thin coats rather than a heavy coat to reduce the chances of
the paint pealing .
Bob Nogueira
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-------- REPLY, Original message follows --------
> Date: Tuesday, 18-Feb-97 11:08 AM
>
> From: David Pat \ Internet: (pdburket@intrepid.net)
> To: MORGANS@autox.team.net \ Internet: (morgans@autox.team.net)
>
> Subject: Proper paint for wood framing
>
> Fellow Morganeers,
>
> I am currently preping my body frame for mounting to chassis. Due to
the poor
> condition of the original body, I purchased a body from the factory. I
read
> that an additional way to preserve the wood was to paint the wood. I
purchased
> a brand of marine paint called Easypoxy manufactured by Pettit.
Originally I
> had planned to only paint the underside of the sealboards and inside
the rear
> wheel well. Recently I was speaking to John Sheally about my
restoration. He
> suggested that I paint the entire frame. He used sign painters'
enamel on his
> cars' wood.
>
> I read in Alan Alderwick book ( How to Restore Wooden Body Framing )
that paint
> should breath. The author said that wood that didn't breath would
excelerate
> rot. I called Pettit about the paints I was using. The information I
got was
> that their marine paints was a sealent. I was asked the condition of
the wood
> which I described as fairly fresh and in good shape. He said that as
long as
> the wood didn't stay wet that I should not have a problem. He also
said that
> the marine paint would seal air from the wood, and that it was in
constant use
> by boat builders.
>
> I am trying to avoid the potential of destroying the wood by my
efforts to
> preserve it. My question to anyone out there who may have knowledge
or first
> hand experience in this matter are the following questions.
>
> 1. Has anyone used marine paints on wood body framing?
> 2. Was the paint the type that sealed wood from outside air?
> 3. How long ago was the painting done?
> 4. Have you noticed any rot in areas where paint was applied?
>
> Again I have come up with a long drawn out list of question.
>
> Morgan dittos,
>
> David
>
>
>
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