Brake Fluid Resistance Paint

[Bingster]

Anybody know of a brake fluid resistent primer and paint for brake cylinders?

[desoto1939]

Regular brake fluid will eat all paints.  If I remember correctly that DOT3 brake fluid is made from the crushed shells of the Almond or might be Pecan shells.  The acid in these shells is why you never see these peanuts in the shells. If you touched the outer shell with your bare hands or fingers the acid will burn your skin.

 

DOT5 brake fluid will not eat paint but the other brake fluids will eat your paint.  Even with DOT 5 you still should be careful near any painted surfuaces.

 

Rich Hartung

[Sam Buchanan]

1 hour ago, desoto1939 said:

Regular brake fluid will eat all paints.  If I remember correctly that DOT3 brake fluid is made from the crushed shells of the Almond or might be Pecan shells.  The acid in these shells is why you never see these peanuts in the shells. If you touched the outer shell with your bare hands or fingers the acid will burn your skin. 

Sources, we need sources. The reason the pecan shells in my backyard are empty is due to an over population of squirrels. 

 

The sources I looked at state DOT 3 is glycol based similar to many solvents such as paint thinner. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Sam Buchanan

[Plymouthy Adams]

it is cashews that are caustic  

[TodFitch]

I have never heard of crushed shells of any type of nuts being used to make brake fluid.

 

Back when my '33 Plymouth was manufactured most cars on the road had mechanical brakes and there was a chance that the owner of a Plymouth might find themselves in need of brake fluid but have no local source to get it. The manual gives a recipe to make your own brake fluid, it says:

Quote

The master cylinder reservoir on the top of the master cylinder should never be less than half full of genuine Plymouth Hydraulic Brake Liquid, which is obtainable at any authorized Plymouth Service Station. This should be used to the exclusion of all other liquids, but if for some reason the genuine liquid is not available for an immediate requirement, a suitable substitute liquid may be made by thoroughly mixing equal parts of medicinal caster oil and No. 5 denatured alcohol free from acid (wood alcohol should never be used). This formula should only be used when the genuine Plymouth Hydraulic Brake Liquid is not available, and it is important that the improvised liquid be entirely drained from the system as soon as possible and replaced with Plymouth Hydraulic Brake Liquid. Plymouth Brake Liquid is make in very much the same manner, but certain chemicals are added by a very lengthy, as well as difficult, process which neutralizes acids found in the formula prescribed above.

I would guess that modern brake fluid is different than that available in the 1920s and 30s and that a simple mixture of caster oil and alcohol is pretty far from the current ingredients.

 

Regarding the issue of DOT 3 brake fluid being an effective paint remover, one possibility is to use DOT 5. There are advantages and disadvantages to that with the paint removal properties being only a minor thing to consider and you will find plenty of ink (or digital bits) wasted on that discussion.

[desoto1939]

Crushed cashews used in many products: taken from the webpage on cashews

 

The oil that is extracted from the fruit of the cashew referred as cashew oil. A cashew nut has a hard shell outside with two layers. The outer layer is oily and inner layer hard within the soft nut is contained. Cashew nut shell liquid oil is extracted from the outer layer of the cashew shells. Some researches have found that the cashew oil is being used to treat dental cavities. Other benefit includes to prevent it from termite attack and useful in treating wood. Other uses of cashew oils are to used as an additive to brake fluid, to reduce brake fade and brake lining wear.
 

 

Rich Hartung

[DonaldSmith]

How would cashew oil reduce brake lining wear?  

[desoto1939]

Don: try this link about cashew oil mixed in our brake shoes:

 

Results showed that the friction materials containing 5% and 10% cashew dust improved friction stability and fade resistance.

The Effect of Cashew to The Friction Performance Of Automotive Brake …

www.academia.edu/96535612/The_Effect_of_Cashew_to_The_Friction_Perfo

 

 

Rich Hartung

[Sniper]

Cashew dust is not cashew oil.  Nor does adding anything to brake FLUID reduce lining wear, unless that additive cause the fluid to leak, get on the linings and lessen the friction or lessen the hydraulic pressure involved.

 

Really poor write ups from these sources.

 

Not to mention the number of typos in the Academia "paper" makes one suspect who the heck wrote it?  An idiot?

[Sam Buchanan]

As Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying......"Don't believe everything you read on the internet".........

[Dan Hiebert]

Ok, so.  DOT3 resistant paint...not why DOT3 is bad for paint.  I used POR-15 semi-gloss black paint on my wheel cylinders and master cylinder when I rebuilt the brake system about 15 years ago, give or take a few.  No issues to date with the brake fluid doing bad things to the paint.