Powder coating suspension

[PRO TC]

thinking about doing all the suspension in flat black. has anyone done it and any pics from a done car. my car is a 69 rs i want to do the paint in the 69 blue cant remember what its called glacier blue i think.
Barry

[elitecustombody]

I'd do hammered or black vein finish. Flat black attracts dust and dirt and won't be nowhere as easy to clean as hammered or black vein,just my .02c

[72camarors]

I would highly recommend using chassis saver by Magnet paints if you are gonna paint instead of powder coat. You can spray directly over bare metal and it is also a rust protectant! They make a antique black that is like a satin and looks very nice. We use it on just about all of our restorations. You can go to photobucket and search [email protected] and it will pull up some of the pics of the suspensions we have done. Hope this helps.

[TheJDMan]

I have doubts about powder coating. How many of you have seen trailer hitches on pickups with the powder coating flaking off? The biggest problem with PC is that it tends to not flex like paint will which results in it popping loose. It is expensive relative to paint and can't be easily repaired. I plan to paint and I recommend John Deere Blitz Black. It is an exremely durable paint designed for use on farm tractors and the harsh enviroments they encounter. It is a satin gloss finish and can be sprayed on bare metal or primered. Best of all it is avaible from any Deere dealer for not a lot of money. It is being used by many rat rodders on their cars to get that black primer look.

[wmhjr]

Steve, you're just flat out wrong here. Lots of misconceptions about powdercoating.

1) Powdercoating is MORE flexible than paint. FAR more. And it is FAR more durable and FAR less succeptible to peeling, chipping, etc. To say that it's not flexible enough indicates you either were exposed to a VERY poor quality powdercoating shop, or you've just never worked with it.

2) Powdercoating bonds FAR stronger to the surfaces it's applied to. As a matter of fact, it's almost TOO strong. It's extremely difficult to remove it. Try media blasting powdercoating off something. You're gonna need sand - not media. Now that JD Blitz Black? I'll take that off in a heartbeat with media. No comparison. We use a lot of Cat yellow (caterpillar yellow) around my place because it's also tough. But it's not even on the same planet as how tough powdercoating is. Problem is, it's really hard to get even a small dozer or backhoe like ours into an oven :)

3) Powdercoating can't be touched up easily? I can't believe people are still making that claim. Stop over at either Motor State or Heidts and we'll jack up my car and crawl under. I'll show you a number of places where I modified my frame/suspension by grinding off the powdercoat (only way to get it off), welded the frame, and then touched it up. If I don't point those spots out you'll never pick them out, and even when I point them out you won't be able to see the difference. It's EASIER to touch up because you DON'T have to worry about it peeling off. But even more importantly, you normally just don't need to touch it up. It's strong as heck.

4) Powdercoating and cost. Another myth. Here's an example. 2 yrs ago I dropped off my frame, A-Arms, Sway bar, pedals and a couple other things to my powdercoater. I didn't even scrape off the 42 yrs of grease and grime. 5 days later I picked up my sandblasted and powdercoated parts - all done. Cost? $450. Now, consider materials alone, then the labor of cleaning, then sandblasting, then powdercoating, then even going so far as to wrap the stuff up.

There's a reason why powdercoat is the finish of choice for competition wheels, suspension components, etc. BTW, most hitches are not powdercoated. They're painted from the factory. I know. I've removed mine, blasted them, and then powdercoated them. They don't rust anymore but you have to worry about the thickness of the media in the receiver. Still need to do that with my current truck.

[CFster]

wmhjr, how do you touch up powdercoat? You can do it on the car? I have a car I want to modify the subframe on and have been reluctant to do so because it's powdercoated. I thought I would have to take the whole thing off again and send it to the powdercoating shop.

[wmhjr]

It's easy. You don't use powdercoating. Assuming it's black semi-gloss powdercoating for example, you use black semi-gloss automotive (even just spray bomb duplicolor) paint. Lightly scuff the area. You don't need primer unless bare metal is exposed. Just feather the edges. People LOVE to say you can't touch up PC with paint. They are flat out totally wrong.

On the harley I built, I ended up doing a couple mods after the frame was powdercoated and then just touched up. No problems. That was 3 yrs ago. On the Pontiac, there were 3 spots I needed to weld after the powdercoating was done - 2 yrs ago. If you put really strong light on it and look very carefully, you'll probably be able to see a very subtle difference in the amount of reflectivity (gloss) but to be honest, only if you know it's there, and really only if the car is upside down - which I certainly hope never happens. Just as validation, this past year I was talked into putting the car into the Pgh World of wheels show (3 day indoor ISCA show) again. Didn't want to. Had mirrors under it, lights outside, in engine compartment, under the car. Car won best in class, Best overall custom, and the CASI cup. Even with that "touched up powdercoating". It's also why I stick with black semi-gloss powdercoat.

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Jr - you have no idea how timely your PC tip is. I've been agonizing over PC on the sub due to chips and you just helped make up my mind. Thx for posting!

[wmhjr]

Glad to help Ron. You know, YMMV. Anything can go wrong. But I am extremely happy with all my powdercoating. I even clear powdercoated my fuel tank! I wanted to retain that silver metal finish but not have it dull or corrode. That stuff is just so darned tough. One of the biggest regrets of my build is that I didn't order my Moser rear end powdercoated, and instead chose to paint it. That paint chips, peels, etc. I've touched up that paint at least 10 times. Other than where I modified the frame, etc, I've never had to do anything but wipe off the powdercoated stuff. When I ordered the rear end through Frank, he asked me and I thought "Nah, I'll just paint it". :slap:

[elitecustombody]

Steve, you're just flat out wrong here. Lots of misconceptions about powdercoating.

1) Powdercoating is MORE flexible than paint. FAR more. And it is FAR more durable and FAR less succeptible to peeling, chipping, etc. To say that it's not flexible enough indicates you either were exposed to a VERY poor quality powdercoating shop, or you've just never worked with it.

2) Powdercoating bonds FAR stronger to the surfaces it's applied to. As a matter of fact, it's almost TOO strong. It's extremely difficult to remove it. Try media blasting powdercoating off something. You're gonna need sand - not media. Now that JD Blitz Black? I'll take that off in a heartbeat with media. No comparison. We use a lot of Cat yellow (caterpillar yellow) around my place because it's also tough. But it's not even on the same planet as how tough powdercoating is. Problem is, it's really hard to get even a small dozer or backhoe like ours into an oven :)

3) Powdercoating can't be touched up easily? I can't believe people are still making that claim. Stop over at either Motor State or Heidts and we'll jack up my car and crawl under. I'll show you a number of places where I modified my frame/suspension by grinding off the powdercoat (only way to get it off), welded the frame, and then touched it up. If I don't point those spots out you'll never pick them out, and even when I point them out you won't be able to see the difference. It's EASIER to touch up because you DON'T have to worry about it peeling off. But even more importantly, you normally just don't need to touch it up. It's strong as heck.

4) Powdercoating and cost. Another myth. Here's an example. 2 yrs ago I dropped off my frame, A-Arms, Sway bar, pedals and a couple other things to my powdercoater. I didn't even scrape off the 42 yrs of grease and grime. 5 days later I picked up my sandblasted and powdercoated parts - all done. Cost? $450. Now, consider materials alone, then the labor of cleaning, then sandblasting, then powdercoating, then even going so far as to wrap the stuff up.

There's a reason why powdercoat is the finish of choice for competition wheels, suspension components, etc. BTW, most hitches are not powdercoated. They're painted from the factory. I know. I've removed mine, blasted them, and then powdercoated them. They don't rust anymore but you have to worry about the thickness of the media in the receiver. Still need to do that with my current truck.

I totally agree,if powdercoating is done right,it will not flake or peel, it is way more durable than paint.

[vdaviemusclecars]

I just did all of my susp. parts, even the bellhousing in a semi black PC. I also did all of my engine compartment accesories on my Superchared intercooled Cougar and it came out great. It cost me 550.00 bucks..its a lot of parts. It worked so well i'm having a custom motorcycle frame and some parts done now.

Vince

[Bryce]

I have black powder coated wheels on my daily driver mustang. I have 80K miles and 4 years of driving with no chips. It has held up great!

Back to original topic: Flat black looks good when its all nice and clean but a hammered finish would probably look better for a regularly driven car.