I have an old Goerz that I've disassembled and would like to repaint since the original stuff was 100 years old and looks like dog shit. I've tried several polyurethane and enamel paints with and without primers and neither sticks terribly well to the sanded and cleaned aluminum (or what appears to be aluminum). The other issue is that the paint is way too thick and fills in the etched lettering and numbers on the barrel completely.

The original paint seems to be alcohol based since it dissolved easily with some denatured.

Wondering what folks have used in the past for making their old glass look good again?

Oh and if there's another forum post about this please redirect me.