I hear everybody talking about this glyptol in painting lifter valleys but where do you get it from?

 

Electric motor rebuild supply places...

All it is, is GE's tradename for electric motor varnish. Lots of similar products will work as well or better. For all I know, GE might not even sell it under that name any more; somebody put it in one of the hot-rod books a couple of decades ago, by name, so now it's part of the "lore", whether it's really the best or not.

 

RB pretty much covered it. I haven't seen the original for years now. If you go searching for it, the name is spelled "Glyptal", and the only color I ever saw was red. It came in a a red and white striped spray can or non-reduced (brush) formula up to a one-quart size. The last thing I saw used for touch-ups such as Glyptal (before more or less getting out of the business) was a black, high-solids, epoxy enamel that was a water base. Motor/trnasformer shops nearly all went to clear water based insulation varnish in the '90s, and it turned the triple dip/bake time from a fast one-day service to a minimum of two, just for dry time. Isn't technology marvelous?

I use a thinned oil enamel on lifter valleys, heads, etc., but I've notived that synthetic will slowly strip that away. I wonder how Glyptal enamel would withstand modern synthetics.

 

Eastwood still sells it.

 

I just polish my lifter valleys a little with cartridge rolls, it takes all the rough area's off, that helps oil drain a lot and you don't have to worry about paint flaking off.