Cast Iron look alike paint

Anyone have any suggestions/current experiences using cast iron appearing paint ?
Want to paint the knuckles, upper and lower control arms but want a factory appearance.

Got the parts soaking in Evaporust and possibly will just need a protective clear coat but in case, I would like to have a paint product as a back up solution.

Transman don't know if it's the best but I always liked the VHT cast paint. Used it on the exhaust manifolds, brake calipers and brake drums. I'm sure others will chime in with their favorite cast look paint.

I think there are two versions of VHT in "cast-coat" one for engine/cast look parts and one higher temp for headers and exhaust manifolds?

Hi-Temp Engine, VHT Cast-Iron NU CAST

MikeR

Higher Temp Header paint in cast. If you have the parts cleaned then sometimes just "dusting" with cast coat will work for a decent period of time but of course a full coat will definitely work better but the color gets a little darker than natural cast (look).

Mike

Another alternative if you find the cast coat too dark is to use VHT Aluminum Coat.

A comparison of VHT aluminum coat (left) and VHT cast coat (right)

I never applied the cast coat to look as dark as in this comparison.

A good place to start is here for consideration of various colors of silver.

It's no small matter that none of the parts mentioned are made of cast iron. The knuckles are steel forgings with a black oxide appearance, not any variation of silver or bare metal. New front end parts such as pictured show the color needed which is probably better done with actual black oxide or gun bluing than paint. Search You Tube videos for "black oxide", or you may try mixing paints in shades of black and dark gray. Black oxide resists red rust and is a viable finish coat if lightly greased or oiled periodically during engine oil changes. I use a brush and a 50-50 solution of Cosmoline and paint thinner.

Lower control arms are assemblies made mostly of press-formed steel sheet, but there are also forgings and rivets which are not all the same color. It's well known that lower control arms are mostly Cosmoline coated, and there are a lot of posts about that. Click on the special enhanced Google search box at the top of this page.

Upper control arms are wholly made of formed steel sheet in some shade of silver, and they will be in a dark place on a finished car. As Lilly says on his web site in the first sentence above, you should know that silver paints change their appearance depending on the amount of light. Therefore you should evaluate your paint tests in a light condition similar to how the part will be viewed in a finished car..

Save your Eastwood cast iron paint for your wheel cylinders and 4-speed case.

Thanks for all the replies, appreciate your feedback.
Yes, I know how the parts are made and what material, just a place to start.

Not a restoration by any means but just want it to look close to stock.

Mike thanks for the pics - gives me an idea what to possibly use.

Prismatic Powders has several powder coats that look like metal. They sell matte and flat clears that help with the effect. Just throwing that out there if you want to spend a little more $$$.

Using two colors of grey can make it look really good.

Just fog the rough cast/forged parts with different shade of grey. Mask the machined surfaces cause they look different.

The contrasts will make it look very “real”

Really Excellent thread with spray paint color examples and pictures here:

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/28033/1.html

I like using Eastwood's diamond clear. Satin to me preserves the look without the shine that the gloss has.Diamond coat

Flash is making this look shiny. It’s not. The intense camera flash is causing the shiny reflection

This is from Troy’s old thread i linked to above: https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/28033/1.html


These are spray grey with an extremely light black spray fog over them. ...then satin clear to protect.

The Seymour cast paint has worked good for me.

I like the Seymour cast iron as well. It goes on so nicely.

Me too

has anyone done the body of a trans?

On an auto trans I have used the Seymour alums blast - looks very nice.

Going to have to buy Seymour Cast Blast after seeing that 8-3/4” housing for my 62 and 67.

Thanks for the links kentj340. And yes, I agree on the unique color of the front end parts.

Thanks Steve for those pics of the steering knuckles, caliper mounts and info.

Nothing awful with rattle can paint, however, if you want the true bare metal look with unmatched superior durability and longevity, powder coat hands down.

https://forum.e-bodies.org/cuda-and...rts-this-thread-is-offically-over/13348/

Interesting read over there.