Bl**dy spray cans!!!

[Aussie Mike]

Hi All,

I finished most of my rear end mods and was making everything look pretty on the weekend. I cleaned my control arms down with prepsol and sprayed them with some suposedly tough epoxy based enamel I bought from my local hardware shop. They reckon this stuff goes on with no primer.

I cant say I was real impressed with how it went on. It didn't build up very well but I persevered and layed several light coats on. I came back the next day and hit the arms with a couple more coats. Bloody paint attacked the first layer and made it wrinklier than Mother Theresa. I spent the next few hours trying to clean the whole mess off. I sprayed one of the arms again but any residue of the original paint would react with the fresh paint.

Very frustrating. I'm sand blasting the arms back to bare metal and starting again with an etch primer. I reckon I'll throw this paint over my left shoulder.

Cheers

[stephen low]

Mike

Why don't you just brush on some POR15 chassis black paint. A very good self levelling paint so the brush strokes should dissappear evidently.

Perhaps not quite as convenient or perhaps as cheap as a spray can but you will be able to recoat without fear.

I recall someone on the forum saying they had sandblasted their suspension gear and painted this way with outstanding results. That's my plan too when the beast is in bits.

Cheers

[sambo]

Mike I've recently sanded and resprayed part of my steering rack with a $12 can of black gloss from Bunnings and it came up a treat. What brand were you using? That way we can avoid their dodgy product!

I've got the POR15 starter kit ready to go for the front hubs - all i need is some elbow room in the garage.

[boxhead]

Mike, I have found that no matter what quality the paint supposedly is, you are better off to use some etch primer first.

[Aussie Mike]

It's Dulux QuitRust. I've used KillRust in the past and it's been pretty good, the same sort of thing. The Dulux product was new so I thought I'd try it.

I was thinking about using POR15 but couldn't find anywhere handy to get some local.

Cheers

[Aussie Mike]

I top coated one of the arms over the etch primer last night to see how they turn out. Hopefully OK when I check tonight and then I'll prep and paint the other parts.

Cheers

[FST FOX]

why not just find a good powder coater in your area and get it done right and never worry about it again?

[Aussie Mike]

I wanted to spray paint them a light colour so that any cracks in the welds are easy to spot with a quick visual under the car. The home made tubular arms are still a bit experimental so I wanted to keep an eye on them till I'm confident they are OK.

I was thinking powder coat is a thick coating that might hide any impending failure.

Cheers

[Big Als]

Mike, here's a tip I use when using spray cans. Put the spray can in a hot bucket of water . It increases the pressure and heats the paint a little. The end result is the paint seems to go on heaps better .

[Rob. Smith]

GOOD MOVE, painting the chassis and suspension in a light colour will reveal cracks straight away. Black...seems to be the choice of every one. Hides all and is real fun to look at when things go wrong. Usually just on dark or when it's raining. Even when you are underneath looking up and there's sunshine beaming down. That black just gets blacker.

[Dimi]

Hi Guys

I personally am very wary of powder coating.

It always looks good when new but has a number of problems that can cause grief in the long term.

Any fatigue cracks are difficult to find till they become major cracks and the other problem is the powder coating once damaged allows corrosion to creep unnoticed under the coating and eventually flakes off in sheets.

If you need to weld any brackets to anything powder coated after all is finished you need to strip and recoat the parts to maintain the surface finish and integrity.

I have seen others get their chassis powdercoated to a great finish and then spoil it by having to weld additional brackets they had not foreseen.

I guess from the above comments you could say I am not a great fan of powder coating.

Dimi

[400TT]

Originally Posted by Big Als

Put the spray can in a hot bucket of water . It increases the pressure and heats the paint a little. The end result is the paint seems to go on heaps better .

Now that's a great tip, I'll have to try it next time. Thanks.

[Leeroy]

Impending failure Mike.

Don't be ridiculous, you could drag the Queen Mary with those arms.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Dimi

Hi Guys

I personally am very wary of powder coating.

It always looks good when new but has a number of problems that can cause grief in the long term.

Any fatigue cracks are difficult to find till they become major cracks and the other problem is the powder coating once damaged allows corrosion to creep unnoticed under the coating and eventually flakes off in sheets.

If you need to weld any brackets to anything powder coated after all is finished you need to strip and recoat the parts to maintain the surface finish and integrity.

I have seen others get their chassis powdercoated to a great finish and then spoil it by having to weld additional brackets they had not foreseen.

I guess from the above comments you could say I am not a great fan of powder coating.

Dimi

Dimi,

Just retrieved my chassis back from the powder coaters and very pleased with the job. Prior to having it done, ensured that all the miscellaneous welding and alterations were completed and no more welding work would be done on the chassis. Finished the job off with a couple of coats of 'clear.'

Check out the pics on my Gallery.

Baz.

[Aussie Mike]

Thats a good tip Al, I'll try that one.

Your chassis looks great Baz. I like the lighter colour. I'd be keen to paint my chassis a light colour when I pull the body for paunt.

I agree with you Dimi. I'm not keen on powder coating for chassis and suspension because it does chip in big chunks. It's a very hard coating and will crack and chip from stone impacts. I've seen under a few cars that have had powder coated suspension parts and they can look a bit ordinary after some road miles.

My etch primed and painted arm turned out nice so I've started getting the other arms ready for paint.

Cheers

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

Thats a good tip Al, I'll try that one.

Your chassis looks great Baz. I like the lighter colour. I'd be keen to paint my chassis a light colour when I pull the body for paunt.

I agree with you Dimi. I'm not keen on powder coating for chassis and suspension because it does chip in big chunks. It's a very hard coating and will crack and chip from stone impacts. I've seen under a few cars that have had powder coated suspension parts and they can look a bit ordinary after some road miles.

My etch primed and painted arm turned out nice so I've started getting the other arms ready for paint.

Cheers

Thanks for the compliment Mike. By the way, what's 'paunt?'

Baz

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by Baz

Thanks for the compliment Mike. By the way, what's 'paunt?'

Baz

Definition from the Oxford English dictionary:

paunt (pornt)
noun.

1.

a. A liquid mixture, usually of a solid pigment in a liquid vehicle, used as a decorative or protective coating (not to be confused with paint).

b. Unlike paint, when paunt is applied to the surface of a motor vehicle it reduces aerodynamic drag by as much as 50%

c. Unlike paint, when paunt is applied to the surface of a motor vehicle it increases the drivers atractiveness to the oposite sex by as much as 200%

Cheers

[sambo]

Had me going for a minute there Mike!

[boxhead]

Wow Mike, your computer skills are much better than mine, no matter how much I search, I cant find the same page as you, Do you have a link?

Does your PC look like mine?
Here is a pic to compare.

[Philm]

I powder coated my chassis and would not do it again.

As Mike said it gets a chip then a big flake comes off. I painted all my suspension bits in a satin black "killrust" and they look 100% better than the chassis.

Phil