I will be strating on my Nomad project soon right now doing alot of parts gathering and planning along with finishing up the new shop. So I've been contimplating weather or not I should pait or powdercoat my fame and other ***ociated parts, control arms, rearend etc. I know the pro's of powdercoating being very durabel etc.some may say teurathane paints are just as strong maybe or maybe not but my concern is with the preperation of the frame and other parts that aren't so nice and clean. So we all know the hours of prep that go into sanding, filling etc. when you paint parts but how do you get powdercoated surfaces that nice? The cost isn't a factor and neither is my time. This car will be done 100% I've owned pleanty of rat rods in my day but back then we just called them daily drivers and I have some pretty nice street cars but this one I want to do right, after all I've got the best body man in the east Mark (chopolds) willing to help me so why expect anything less. He's just tied up right now on that ugly old truck so it will be a while. ( Just kidding Vic.) Thanks guys
Powder coating companys generally sandblast then coat,,,,,they never took any time to get things slick on my parts,, I guess that's up to the customer. HRP
Preperation is the key to either system. I just had my frame powder coated and got a little rushed at the last minute. My finished product is nice. Having said that, I wish I had taken another hour or two to dress welds and remove weld spatter that was built in the frame back in the 60's. Basically comes down to how particular are you?
That must be nice. My guy does a good job but if you want slick parts, you better take him slick parts. JH
I was seriously planning on powder coating the frame of the '49 Ford that the Venus body sits upon. But then a friend advised that powder coat chips like gl***, and you will never be able to touch it up as good as if it were painted with a 2-part epoxy enamel. This was good advice since I still had a lot of parts fitting to do. I think you would really have to "baby" a powder coated frame, which by the way, I think looks great. I still got some of the smaller stuff powder coated, but boy, the cost to powder coat here in Houston has sky-rocketed! My two sense. Good Luck! Patrick
touching up chips in a powder coated frame or components is a *****, and seldom looks right afterwards..my .02cents paint it and be done with it..than drive it.
Brian, sandblast it then POR-15 it. It's easier to manipulate than powdercoating, and easier to touch up. Powdercoating is hard to touch up, doesn't look right when it is, and the POR-15 is more durable than regular paint. I think it's a good middle ground
Joe, Yeah Joe I hear you on the POR-15 but I'm looking to color the frame the same color as the main body color soi it's eithe rone or the other. My issue with powdercoating is how can I smoouth out all the rough spots where with paint your would fill and sand etc. I see eastwood has this stuff called Lab Metal that is supposed to be a filler of sorts I guess it might not be a bad idea to get some of it and try it on lets say the control arms or something slightly cheaper and easier to do then the frame
Brian, you need to see the pics of Daryl's 57 Chevy we did about 14 years ago. Powdercoating would not let him pick the color he wanted, so we painted it. The key to doing stuff like this on a ch***is/underfloor is to use the best, strongest stuff you can. At the time, we chose to use a Masterseries product ( similar to POR-15) as a primer, then use regular basecoat paint, and topcoat with a special clear that Masterseries makes. Tough as POR-15, dries faster (it's 2 component) and is crystal clear. I think POR makes a product like that now, but back then, they didn't. His car still looked great after 4-5 years, so I'd use it again! This way we can blast the ch***is, fill the rust pits, and get everything super smooth. Powdercoat would require special fillers that can take the high heat of curing the powder (400* or more). Labmetal works, but is expensive for a whole frame, and underfloor! Any other opinions, or options?????
My best friend runs an Industrial Powder coating business, and they use All Metal (from USC) for Filler (but I think Lab Metal would do the same)- As far as Paint vs. Powdercoating, I painted my Frame and Powdercoated everything else-why? I felt I might have to change something on the Frame at some point and wanted the ability to repair it-
From my own experience, I find the powder coating of ch***is and running gear far superior to paint. It will get into all the "nooks and crannies" that paint won't. (the electrostatic process of powder coating "draws" the powder into places that a paint spray gun will "kick back") My powder coated frame and running gear - after 25 years of hard driving - shows VERY little signs of "chipping" Careful prep - sand blasting and smoothing rough spots - insures the powder coating WILL "stick" FAR BETTER than paint. If your building a show car; and plan to lay underneath looking for every flaw; then maybe paint MIGHT be better. But I like driving mine!
yeah by reading all the posts and doping some research on the company dime of course I think we'll go the pait route on at least the frame. If we can match the color in powdercoat then maybe control arms etc. but I'm thinking that aint gonna happen so I uess I'll be sending a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$ to hose of Kolor. Ah what the hell the kid didn't want to go to college anyway
has anyone tried imron or awlgrip on the frame parts instead of regular paints? both of them seem to be fairly bomb proof.
I would go paint. I have several pieces of industrial equipment that were poweder coated and the are peeling. Some of these are exposed to mild acids and salts. Some are steel and a couple are aluminum and I am not at all satisfied with powder coat. You can repair paint!
Interesting. What is you opinion on wheels, powdercoat or paint? I need to get one or the other done to my daily
Powder coat is the way I'd go if money were no object (in my lifetime I will never be able to know what that feels like). Far more durable than paint, and on a frame or suspension part, I'd want powder coat.
I appreciate the fact that you favor the powder, but it is a serious chore to get powder to go into places that a conventional wet spray can go. electrostatic is good and bad at the same time. there is an effect called faraday cage that really makes it tough on us powder coaters. deep draw areas, brackets & braces... very very difficult to get powder all the way back into these corners & deep draw areas. So difficult that most times the film build surrounding these problem areas becomes rediculously heavy in order to get the bare minimum film thickness into the problem areas. I've been in industrial finishing for many years & worked with both powder & liquid. someone further up the thread shares my thoughts. go liquid, prep is key, get the color you like & use high solids 2k urethane. if possible top coat with a high solids clear. very strong stuff. high solids urethane is what you are looking for. doesn't need to be HOK unless that happens to be the base color you go with on your body or what ever you are trying to match.
If you powder coat the wheels run some type of sealer between the rim and the wheel. We had some powder coated and they are rusting at the inside joint of the wheel and rim.
Powder coat is a good way to go,but you better be happy with the color.Powder coat is very hard to remove once applied.In my business we remove powder coat from parts ,it takes a final temp of 750 degrees in a batch oven to total burn of the coating.Just my 2cents on the subject.
east wood is selling a product now that will dissolve powdercoat for removal. it attacks the plastic coating itself. Aerosolve kind of works,but it takes a long time. heres the east wood product. http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...temID=751&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=10410
For what it's worth, powder coating never looks as good as paint....Has a dullness and texture that doesn't look good
We have powder coated lots of parts in the oven in the garage with our eastwood kit. I love it. I bought the kit for my wife when she started rebuilding her car back in 2000. Blast it, clean it , coat it. Hot rod black on the trim, almost chrome covered with translucent red. If it'll fit in the oven we'll powder coat it gloss black with blue and green pearl in the clear. For filler on the engine tin JB Weld works great, it handles the heat. Sometimes you have to hot flock it to get it to stick depending on the size of the repair.
The prep on that type of powder coating, is a solvent wash. there is nothing for the powder to stick to. If you prep like you would for paint, bead blast the part, or lightly sandblast, you won't be diasappointed in powder. Also, make sure your coater is curing it properly, I had one coater that turned out pure ****, because he did not cure long enough, and used too high a temperature.
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