High heat paint question

[Jonnyp390]

Hello fellow DIY'ers, I have a question about using high heat paint on the 55 gallon drum evaporator that I am building. Do I have to strip the factory (non high heat) paint off the barrel before spraying with rustoleum high heat spray paint. From the pics I have seen of other peoples barrel builds, it looks like they just clean the outside of the barrel and spray right over the existing paint. My worry is that after all my hard work, the paint underneath would blister or bubble. My other worry is using paint stripper, which anybody who has used it knows is Nasty stuff, on my evaporator.

On a side note, the only barrel I could find locally has a removable head. The rim of the head has a rubber gasket used to seal the barrel. Do you think I can leave that in place, or should I pull it out and replace it with arch gasket rope or maybe weld the head right to the barrel.

Thanks for any advice you can throw my way.

[heus]

Definitely pull out the rubber gasket. If you insulate well enough with ceramic blanket and bricks your paint should be fine except maybe on and around the door.

[70 Buick]

I ran a sander over the barrel to remove most of it
but I also insulated it very well
The high heat paint is awesome still all there after 3 seasons

[smokeyamber]

My solution to not wanting to sand my barrel setup was to fire it up first without insulation... cooked the paint right off...then wire brushed and painted and it stayed on fine from then on. Of course if it's well insulated like 70Buick mentioned it likely won't get too hot anyway...

You could also run it one season without painting it. It won't rust and then you can scrape and paint it later. My dryer arch burned off a ton of paint last season and then I brushed it and painted at the end of the season while the pans were off it.

Have fun and the barrel arch is the greatest way to get started next to a block arch... of course you will upgrade

[TerryEspo]

I say burn baby burn right now not insulated, that should get any paint that will bubble later, getter now, then sand a bit get it smooth and then use the high heat paint.

[HyeOnMaple]

Burning is a great idea to cinder the paint quickly (like a self-cleaning oven). Just be aware that to run it without insulation all season will roast your nuts more than expected (if you know what I mean). Especially, keep little kids clear when the fire is going.