Whats this coating on my diff cover

Camdenst

Camdenst

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Messages
929
Location
Connecticut, United States
Hi guys,

I just snagged an OEM rear 44 diff cover and it arrived with a strange coating/ paint or primer, i have no idea. Both sides, kinda gray and sparkling. I do plan on painting it but im just curious. Of all the jeep parts I've bought enough over the years I've never seen anything like this haha.

20240207_165250.jpg


20240207_165304.jpg
 
Haha… you can just kinda see bare metal in a scratch. I tried scratching it with a flat blade and it seemed to hold up. It arrived with all those scuffs.
 
This may seem dumb, but can you scratch sand blasted metal? If is in fact blasted, should I spray the inside of the diff cover and if so, what do you guys recommend.
 
Also looks sand or bead blasted to me. I'm guessing it's done to facilitate painting. Paint should stick to that really well after a good cleaning with mineral spirits and possibly acetone.
 
You can spray a light coat of paint on the cover
Camdenst said:
This may seem dumb, but can you scratch sand blasted metal? If is in fact blasted, should I spray the inside of the diff cover and if so, what do you guys recommend.
Click to expand...
A light coat of spray paint will keep the rust away and keep the texture and look. Don’t know if scratch is the right term as much as scraping down to the base metal and removing the texture. I think it’d look awesome that way.
 
TJ Jim said:
You can spray a light coat of paint on the cover

A light coat of spray paint will keep the rust away and keep the texture and look. Don’t know if scratch is the right term as much as scraping down to the base metal and removing the texture. I think it’d look awesome that way.
Click to expand...
X2, and don't paint the inside of the cover.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ColoJeep, Zorba and JMT
Don’t paint inside the cover.
 
JMT said:
Don’t paint inside the cover.
Click to expand...

Did you paint the inside of your transmission pan? I've removed way too many covers from diffs where everything above the oil level is rusted. The inside of the diff is open to the atmosphere and when it cools after being run, the vacuum created sucks in any humidity that is in the air and if you don't drive it often, that will rust the inside of the diff. One would think that the oil being slung around would prevent that but the rust I've seen says otherwise.
 
mrblaine said:
Did you paint the inside of your transmission pan? I've removed way too many covers from diffs where everything above the oil level is rusted. The inside of the diff is open to the atmosphere and when it cools after being run, the vacuum created sucks in any humidity that is in the air and if you don't drive it often, that will rust the inside of the diff. One would think that the oil being slung around would prevent that but the rust I've seen says otherwise.
Click to expand...

No, but I’m going to be messing with it today, so I’ll paint the bung area. I remember wondering about it when I got it back from you a few months ago. Thanks for the heads up.
 
mrblaine said:
Did you paint the inside of your transmission pan? I've removed way too many covers from diffs where everything above the oil level is rusted. The inside of the diff is open to the atmosphere and when it cools after being run, the vacuum created sucks in any humidity that is in the air and if you don't drive it often, that will rust the inside of the diff. One would think that the oil being slung around would prevent that but the rust I've seen says otherwise.
Click to expand...

Dug up the pan out of the piles of parts and it was rusting. All cleaned up, painted, and ready for the sending unit install in a few days. That’s a paper towel stuffed in the threads. It’s out now.

IMG_2645.jpeg


IMG_2644.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Camdenst and mrblaine
Top Bottom
Back