I need to refurbish an old Warn 9.5ti since the paint is all chipped and the out solenoids no longer work. What do people use to paint their winches? Attached you can see the condition I'd like to rework.
Repainting a Warn winch, what do you use?
- Thread starter rasband
- Start date
OP
If I decide to keep it I might go that route. Initially I was planning to sell it (it's posted here) - but don't really expect it to move being this beat up
My opinion: Don't powder coat it. I don't like powder coat on anything that's going to see significant moisture, the water gets underneath the powder coating and then it falls off in sheets - which is what it looks like its doing now. And moisture WILL get underneath it, usually from sharp edges/corners. I've had vastly better luck with Rustoleum. I just flat blacked mine (after primer), but someone else here did a hammertone that looked REALLY nice!
OP
That's good to know, I don't know enough about the options to know why this happened. It does seem like a good bit of water got in just looking at it. Maybe I can get a small test patch of two options and compare the look.
OP
Seems like I need to do more than just the loose stuff, otherwise it'll look a bit wonky I think, no?
I don't know about your winch but the rebuilds I've seen for the 8274 people have bead blasted the housing and then either painted or powder coated the housing.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1602-rebuilding-the-legendary-warn-m8274-electric-winch/
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/warn-8274-rebuild-and-brake-assembly.818535/
https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/warn-8274-rebuild.997132/page-5
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1602-rebuilding-the-legendary-warn-m8274-electric-winch/
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/warn-8274-rebuild-and-brake-assembly.818535/
https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/warn-8274-rebuild.997132/page-5
OP
I'll take a peek to see if they shared what they used - thanks!
OP
Do they have a specific color that's close to what you'd want on a classic winch?
I'll be watching to see what you come up with. I've got to rebuild my 8274 here soon myself. I've been thinking about using the Steel It Gray paint for the housing & Steel It Black for the drum.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SLL76HV/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I would avoid powder coat with the ZA the housings are made from. It can be done it is just a PITA. If you have access to soda blasting it is easiest to avoid erosion that can happen with sand blasting. Then use a good epoxy paint. Here is the parts list https://www.warn.com/Attachment/DownloadFile?downloadId=1895 and do not pull the brake out of the drum unless you plan on replacing it.
I used a wire wheel then a Dremel. Then sand or scotch Brite pad as needed. Then paint desired primer and color. I paint metal at work both steel and aluminum, and it comes out fine.
Last edited:
After degreasing, if you want the paint level you have to do a lot of paint removal at the edges and blend it by feathering (or remove it all). You can start with 120 grit, go to 360, wet sand at 600 and 1000. After you do that use a Primer Filler, then wait for it to dry, wet sand again with 1000 if necessary, topcoat with the color you want, then I would 1K clear coat if you really want it to look good. That’s assuming that’s steel and not some other alloy that may need different prep and procedures. Take your time and follow the instructions on the cans.