Looking for a little education.

I have been digging in to the various build threads here and almost exclusively I am seeing metal bits being spray painted.

As far as I know, powder coating is a vastly superior process so why so little use of it?

 

When I started my 68 project I researched it and decided to go powder coat for everything on the frame. I wanted durability as I plan to keep the car. I was also going to pay to have someone blast and prep the stuff anyway so I don't think it was that much more to go powdercoat. I think a lot of the spray paint guys are doing their own prep work so it makes more sense they would paint instead of powdercoat. Some guys also are more concerned about an original appearance, I was not as worried about that. When I bought new trailing arms they were powder coated, and so were my control arms when I had a vendor rebuild them. That makes me think it is a better process overall, but a lot guys have good results with paint also. The one issue I did have with powdercoat is when I started to reassemble my chassis I did have some issues where things did not fit perfectly because the coating was so much thicker then paint. In a few instances I had to remove it to get a good fit up, In hindsight I would have masked off certain areas or discussed it more with the powdercoat guy. Overalll I'm happy with it, it is tough (not indesctructable though I have some chips and scratches in it now that the chassis is done) and looks good.

 

Cost.

 

Cost and prep, any part can be half *** cleaned and rattle can painted. It'll look good and last quite some time.
Powder coat also needs to be kept out of threads, any Machined surfaces as its a bitch to remove where overspray easily removed and quick chase of threads done.
I'll be using a combo if paint and powder coat myself. Powder coat a bolt and head different size after... Nothing wrong with it bur be prepared and apply thin.

 

Hi PS,
I think it's pretty well agreed that the powder coated finish is more durable than a painted finish.

For some restorers the durability isn't as much of an issue as appearance is. For those folks there are still a few parts that do better being powder coated…. a good example is the center bracket for the rear strut rods.
The eccentric cams are very hard on the painted surface of the bracket, but powder coating holds up a bit better.

Some people are painting parts after being powder coated if they want the part to have a painted appearance.
For example some people are powder coating frames and then sanding and painting them in order to get a closer approximation of the finish originally on frames.

Regards,
Alan

A frame that was stripped by hand, powder coated, sanded, and painted.

 

Perfect! That is exactly the info I was looking for.

 

Definitely cost......
I had 18 pieces powerdercoated satin black on my 72' (pulleys,fan,ign. shield stanchions,alt bracket,spreader bar, A/C brackets..) and the bill was $320!
Most powder coaters charge extra for one offs of a different color....
BUT! It beats the hell out of painted stuff as it wipes clean with a cloth as painted parts tend to get nasty after a while.....like stained.

ALL of my vintage Honda stuff gets PC.

I am happy I did mine....for me they blast and clean it and I like that as my days of sanding little parts are over.......take em dirty, get them back ready to install....

Jebby

 

I can do my own powder coating. I was just wondering if it violated some sacred c3 law against humanity or something. I like the idea of PC for durability and then paint to match but if I am doing everything PC there is no reason it wouldn't match up anyway.

Prior to losing most of the use of my hands I was a big motorcycle guy, did all my own work. These are some rims I did for my race bike:



This was a little bobber project that I did. The bike was entirely chrome so anything that you see that is black or copper is powder coat.

 

What would that matter? It's your car.

 

For my project it was the added cost to an already expensive project. I opted to put the money saved into a 5 speed upgrade. Much more fun for the money. I'm not worried about the durability and a lot of the parts aren't really seen, unless you pop the hood. As a last resort I can always freshen up the paint if I need to. I'm also not building a show car, but more of a driver, so in the end keeping some of the cost down is more important.

 

If you do your own, it's actually cheaper.

Eastwood gun + CL oven and some powder will get the job done for less money.

 

Personally I prefer paint to powder coating. The catalyzed chassis black single stage paints are excellent and durable. It can be repaired with standard painting equipment and for the typical use a collector car gets, more than up to the task. I do my own sandblasting for the most part, which ensures a clean base surface to get show quality results in my own home shop at a very reasonable cost.

 

There are advantages and disadvantages of powdercoating.

One disadvantage is touch up repair. It is easier for me to touch up painted parts than powdercoated ones as I don't have an oven. For that reason I painted the suspension bits on restoration I did.

On my current 69 body off project, there was a massive amount of surface rust on the frame and suspension components. They were solid as a rock but looked horrid on the surface. I started trying to get the rust off myself, but ended up taking it to get sandblasted. My body shop guy said he could not paint it as cheap as the powdercoater could powdercoat the frame. (see pics below). As I was having that done, I also took my suspension parts in for sandblasting and powdercoat as well. It was fantastic to have the parts back ready to go, without having to prime and paint them. Looking back it was worth every penny. Frame and all parts sandblasted and powdercoated for under $1000

 

I think this makes sense and I would likely go this route if I was going to build a show car. My pending project will be a driver so I was leaning towards powder for the increased durability as long as there wasn't some compelling reason not to, hence the reason I started this thread.

Thanks for the input!

 

If you are going to drive the car, powdercoating is more durable and looks great.

If its going to sit in a garage / museum, durability and reliability mean nothing, so paint away. But when you consider the cost of painting, its important to include the cost of masking tape, gun cleaning solvents, paper, stinking up your basement or garage, overspray, etc.

Paying for powdercoating is more expensive, but its a greater value.

 

But I still have to prep the parts.......maybe if I was retired. I am in that place where I have quite a few years to go and do not want to do the s**t I did in my twenties and thirties.....
When I have all day to do whatever.....I would powder coat my own stuff......

Jebby

 

Correct, prep is similar however I am unfortunately in a position where I have the time.

 

I have seen and done both pc and paint, as well as POR-15 which technically is paint, but on a different scale. I think the key for me is making sure the inside of the frame rails are also treated when restoring a frame. I use Eastwood for the inside using their spray nozzles to get into the tough spots. I have used the green and the black and now I just use the black. Rust works on both sides of the metal so make sure to get the inside too or you are just treating the surface with a band aid and not really treating the full frame metal.

This is the 69 frame I recently restored. Sorry for the dust on the frame.


As a manual frame it had a fixed cross member for the transmission. This modification makes it removable making installation and removal of the transmission much easier at a later date.


Front view of the same frame. Sorry for the dust on the frame.


Reinforcements added forward of the kick-up area. Welding reinforcements and stiffening.


Front extensions replaced to remove pitted areas. Much nicer now.


Front cross member repair section (removable) to reinforce the area where many jack up the car. This eliminates the denting up there and it is removable if you want to repair it. Area under it was also powder coated.


The powder coating won't cover pitting in the frame but I am not an advocate for filling frame pitting anyway, like trying to cover up the pitting to hide something. Yes, looks better, but not really representative of the frame integrity.


As long as you have the frame bare take some dimensions too and maybe gauge block it to make sure you have no twist or torque in the frame. An ounce of prevention so to speak.

Good luck with your decision.

David

 

I paid $150 to have my 65 frame and cross member sandblasted than painted it myself with PPG DP90LF ($125). The rest of the parts were sand blasted in my SB Cabinet and painted.

It really comes down to what tools you have and how much you want to spend.

 

i have powdered coated everything I can on my frame off restro mod..

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...estration.html