1960's GE NEMA Heads Restored

Originally, these were just the ballast/socket/housing units from a craigslist score. The arms, PCs, and diffusers added later.

The cast housings were badly damaged from corrosion from sitting in a wet shed in mud and full of pitting that looked worse than the surface of the moon. After sandblasting them I filled in all of the craters with JB Weld and sanded smooth. Then, I finally found a paint that seems to be the closest match to original casting color. It's a 'Cast Gray' engine spray paint by Eastwood that has a two component curing/drying.

The spray cans have a button valve on the bottom that you press to internally rupture the stored activator and shake well before using. After activator is released, paint has to be used within 24-48 hrs. Paint is good to over 500 Deg. F. as well as the JB Weld epoxy.

One other interesting thing to note here: a couple of these fixtures utilize a clamp style strap for the latching diffuser...a spare can be seen next to the unfinished housing. They are made of stainless steel so they had no corrosion.