Sorry to respond back so late, we just got in from another day working on his car. All that input was exactly what we needed, thank you to everyone who offered suggestions. I really like the idea of powder coating primarily because it will suck coating into every little space that we might miss with paint. There are some very tight spots especially where the center X member joins the siderails at the middle of the car. I've looked at it from every angle and I don't think any amount of fogging or spraying will catch those spots, and some others too. I also agree that most powder coating doesn't look exactly like buffed and waxed paint, but I have seen some that comes pretty close. Like Ken said, the coating on his trailers is first rate, so I guess it depends on the company who does the work.

The other thing is that it is just time for this car to get done. He has been at it for over 4 years, and it's time to wrap this baby up. He could spend another 4 years sweating every little detail, but at some point you just have to call it ok and put plates on it. By getting the frame powder coated we can spend a weekend prepping it with Lab metal, drop it off at the coater's , and pick it up a few days later. If the look isn't what we wanted we can do as some of you suggested, mask off the interior sections and spray paint the outer rails.

Let me ask this........what do you have to do to get paint to stick to powder coating? Scuff and paint, or do you need something to give more adhesion like epoxy primer?

Thanks again all for the great help.

Don