Thread: Opinions on Type/ Brand of paint for your Chassis

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Originally Posted by rspears

I'll offer my snow belt comment again. If you live in an area where snow/ice melt chemicals are used and you ever intend to drive in the winter when roads may be treated you may want to think hard before using powder coating. It is a thin film with very little flex, and if you get any flaw like a rock chip, scratch, gap at a inside corner, etc, that lets moisture in your frame will rust beneath the coating and you may not know it until the damage is extensive. It is interesting (to me) that everyone high on powder coating is in a sun belt area with little or no snow threat.

I would respectfully disagree

The main benefit to powder coating is that it is applied at a higher film build than paint typically, on frames we usually apply between 3-5 mils. paint is usually considerably thinner than that.

The main advantage to powder coat vs most paints is it's flexibility.
I have on many occasion bent test panels past 90* befor any type of de lamination begins. most paints will not do this... not even close

No matter the coating, once the coating is scratched to the substrate, the potential for rust and corrosion to begin is greatly increased.

I live in the snow belt, exposed to the chems, and conditions you speak of, and am personally happy with the results I have with powder coated parts.

I must also say there is always more than one way to skin a cat.... or build a car. We all do what we know is the best for our cars, and budget.
I also realize that powder coat is not for everyone, I figured since it's what I do I would try to dispel a few myths

Respectfully
Josh

We've begun to have more and more parts powder coated vs painting them ourselves, even tiny ones that are hidden. For one thing, it is so much more convenient.......by the time you drag out the paint equipment, shoot it, then have to clean the gun and left overs, it is a real pain. Secondly, I think it is just as cheap to have them coated by the time you factor in primer, paint, reducers, lacquer thinner for cleanup, etc. With powder coating we just drop the parts off and a couple weeks later pick up a nice part that was sandblasted first, and is now all done.

I had a bunch of parts powder coated this time around on my 27 rebuild, and they are much easier to wipe down than the frame, which I sprayed black.

Don

Josh,
I attempted to tag onto an old thread with a new question about paint choices, which did not work, but I got my answer at the paint shop so no need to repost in a new thread.

My bad powder coating experience is with parts that come powder coated from the supplier, like skid plates for the underside of the Jeep, aftermarket rock bumpers, rocker skids, tire carrier, etc, and not with custom powder coating of raw parts. This may be a big difference, in that preparation and application are critical with any coating. I have had very bad experiences with factory powder, to the point that I peeled it off in sheets with heavy rust beneath on my gas tank skid, and since it does not bubble up like paint, you could not see that there was any rust problem on the surface. In fact, I don't believe that I have had any factory coating hold up for more than a year. Both my front and back bumpers (five years old) have started rusting at the weld joints where parts meet at sharp angles, and I have attacked those places with satin black Rustoleum in an effort to seal the flaws. Again, these are factory coatings as opposed to custom applications. If a custom application solves these problems I would be interested in knowing in enough detail to build some confidence in the coating for harsh environments.