Chassis Parts - Powder Coating or POR15 or ??

[Toffynose]

Hi
Just getting around to preparing my A arms and other black underbody parts.

What's the best protection coating that matches originality but will last?

Thanks in advance

[uai]

I use cataphoretic painting - or zincplated plus cataphoretic painting dependig whether embrittlement is an issue.
Just my 0.02
Don't know about availability of providers in the US. It has been difficult to get that treatment in the past as the companies offering the service only wanted to handle new parts to protect their baths. But nowadays this is not a problem anymore and there are enough companies offering that service. For my bike I had the frame first done with cataphoretic paint and afterwards powdercoated - this is done e.g. also for farm equipment.
POR 15 is also pretty durable but too glossy and it needs imho well prepped surfaces just like the above procedure so I go for KTL.

Cheers
Uli

[csbush]

I found a spray epoxy primer from Eastwood that I like. Functions a lot like the POR 15 with a lot less mess. Still need a good prep- rust remover or converter depending on the condition of your parts. Then finish with a black satin spray paint (Wurth or Rust-Olem). Pretty easy, pretty much how it came from the factory, and will last for many, many years.

Powder coating is nice in that you drop off rusty parts, and get back shiny ones with a bulletproof finish. Kind of overkill in my opinion and can get pricey.
That is just the opinion of a hobbyist.

[Richardnew]

I've had parts powder coated to encapsulate them and then painted over the pc to get the correct finish. That's probably overkill.

Richard Newton

[Elferhelfer]

Hello together,
I would also recommend Ulis way, I’m doing doing nearly the same.

When you powdercoat parts it´s nice and shiny, but quite often you will get problems after some years. Stone chips will hit the powder coated surface and you can get some minor cracks. Than humidity will get on the surface and it will begin to rust. After some years tit doesn#t look great and it#s on the surface....

A „painted“ surface you can control bettr and also repair.... the POR15 would be probably the best.

[mshaver51]

for what it might be worth, i would add that your shop will often force you to move in a certain direction, with certain products. in many cases, they have deals with suppliers that prevent them from shooting other products. i had performed a lot of research and tested several alternatives in my garage, including the high-end Eastwood products, POR-15 and others, but my shop was committed to PPG.

if it helps you, when POR-15 was applied perfectly, in perfect circumstances, it was, by far, the most stubborn coating. in order cases, i had situations where the finish simply shredded (with no duress applied) in certain areas, which required me to remove all coating and re-finish it. in every case, i used the recommended marine clean and fast etch prior to the POR-15, so i have no idea what caused the failure.

the Eastwood products (chassis black, extreme chassis black, etc.) did not have the same failures as POR-15. however, they were expensive.

personally, i like powder coating and will probably use it for the suspension pieces on my next project. i never considered powder coating the structural steel, however. the portions of the structural steel that are to be covered by bodyshutz would seem to be somewhat immune to the cracking problem, because rocks/stones would likely be absorbed by the schutz.

take all of this with a grain of salt. i'm just a hobbyist.

[Ivan Fuller]

1) I do not believe Por 15 is UV stable. One might sat thats not a problem under the car....
2) Powder coating does not address any rust pitting that may be on the 50 year old parts we are dealing with - Yep it will be good and duarable but may not look that great unless you are starting with perfect parts.

Call me old fashioned but media blast. Epoxy prime. Detail. Top coat with 2 pack top coat "semi gloss"

Nothing out of a spray can will hold up. I can show pics of single pack aka spray can after 15 years - worse than what the factory did.