Thread: Painting galvanised metal parts

What is the consensus with painting of weathered galvanised parts?

Guy at the hardware shop said it does not need to be etch primed if it has been out in the weather for more than 12 months and just spray over it, once cleaned and roughened up a little bit, with a good enamel or killrust paint. Then I heard from someone else that any gal or aluminium should be etch primed before painting. A few paint company websites I've looked at say conflicting things too, so I wanted to see what you guys had used on your Landrovers' gal parts if you have painted them.

This is for a front bumper and ex mil scrub bar on a series 3, it hasn't rusted but the gal isn't too attractive after 36 years (dull grey colour) and needs a spruce up. Prep was just going to be a wash and a rough up with a wire rotary brush followed by a light sand with relatively fine sandpaper, but feel free to front up with your opinions on whether this will be enough.

So maybe that means the paint guys at Bunnings aren't all that clued up on these things.

Thanks for the advice. I've got some etch left over from another job, can be overcoated after an hour so hopefully off-prepped-primed-painted-on in the space of a day.

Just got to clean the rest of the gal so it doesn't look crap with all the nicely painted parts. Elbow grease is the best method apparently - where do you buy that?