I'm in the process of tidying up the rear suspension on my Westfield. The wishbones are pretty tatty so do I :
- Send them away for blasting and powder coating ?
or
- Attack with a sander / wire brush / grinder and then paint them ?
The metalastic bushes are a pain to remove and look ok (ish) , but I probably should replace them. I'm assuming I would have to take them out and
mask off the bores before powder coating ?
Thanks
Tim.
Paint definitely.
I love the concept of powdercoating and I have a set of rims off being powdercoated as we speak, but I've seen too many powdercoated parts rust
and then look horrible when you try to patch them. On anything that might be subject to chips and touched up later or need to be modified (like the
chassis) then paint's the way to go.
[Edited on 3/10/13 by Texan]
[Edited on 3/10/13 by Texan]
Powder coating is ok if the part is blasted first, however it doesn't hold a shine like paint. I covered the leading edges of my bones with Helicopter Tape to stop chips.
Powder coating looks great to start with but eventualy you will end up with a chip and it all starts to go a bit wrong.
At least with paint, touch ups works well. Your challenge will be getting a good finish to start with.
David
Tractor paints, like for a John Deere, are extremely tough and they are easy to apply.
They come in a variety of colors too, even black.
They are designed to be chip resistant.
That's a surprise, I was expecting everybody to say powder coat.
To be honest, I'm not expecting a concours quality finish. The car is 23 years old and pretty tatty.
So, any sugestions for the best way to remove the old paint ?
I'd say get it properly blasted and powdercoated, the only problems mentioned above occur when cheaper powdercoating companies do the job and they don't prep it properly. Unfortunately its pretty hard to tell beforehand whether they'll do it well unless you've used them before.
Paint is a lot cheaper than even a cheap powdercoat job, a lot tougher (if you use decent paint like tractor paint, epoxy or POR15 hardnose) and you
can do it at home.
If you powdercoat make sure it's blasted first and they apply it properly - unlikely to be the company with the cheap quote.
Being it's the rear wishbones I'd say paint as you don't see them. Powder coat is a superior system when applied correctly, but paints are not far behind nowadays. A wire brush in a angle grinder to remove paint. If returning to bare metal consider POR 15 and a suitable top coat like chassis coat black.
quote:
Originally posted by Smoking Frog
Being it's the rear wishbones I'd say paint as you don't see them. Powder coat is a superior system when applied correctly, but paints are not far behind nowadays. A wire brush in a angle grinder to remove paint. If returning to bare metal consider POR 15 and a suitable top coat like chassis coat black.
Depends, how smart you want, I have just been dabbing mine with matt black touching up the rust as it falls off.... When I rebush them I will do what
I did on the rears which is take them back to metal all over with a wire bench grinder with a wire brush fitted (all workshops should have one) angle
grinder with wire brush where that wont get to, and repaint.
I have yet to find a paint that perfect at everything. You can do worse than Por15, certainly if theres a light rust as a key, but I have had the come
off in sheets too.
Daniel
Aircraft Stripper takes it off quickly. (and you don't need tacky music or much money)
quote:
Originally posted by iank
quote:
Originally posted by Smoking Frog
Being it's the rear wishbones I'd say paint as you don't see them. Powder coat is a superior system when applied correctly, but paints are not far behind nowadays. A wire brush in a angle grinder to remove paint. If returning to bare metal consider POR 15 and a suitable top coat like chassis coat black.
Powdercoat is a long way behind many paints in performance and always has been.
While it has many advantages (very quick "curing time", lack of volatile vapours, and speed of application by relatively untrained staff) you'll never see the scratch/chip resistance anywhere close to a properly applied high specification paint.
Sadly it's biggest advantage is it looks brilliant when delivered to the customer no matter how badly applied it was.
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Paint is a lot cheaper than even a cheap powdercoat job, a lot tougher (if you use decent paint like tractor paint, epoxy or POR15 hardnose) and you can do it at home.
If you powdercoat make sure it's blasted first and they apply it properly - unlikely to be the company with the cheap quote.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Paint is a lot cheaper than even a cheap powdercoat job, a lot tougher (if you use decent paint like tractor paint, epoxy or POR15 hardnose) and you can do it at home.
If you powdercoat make sure it's blasted first and they apply it properly - unlikely to be the company with the cheap quote.
£120 for an electrostatic magic kit.
The 1kg of powder for £5 which will coat easily as much as 10x £5 rattle cans if not more.
You can make make your money back quite easily. The only limiting factor is the size of the oven you have to bake them But if your time isnt worth much a heat gun can cure larger objects.
Whilst blasting is of course best, carefull preperation with paint removers, abrasives and cleaners can work as well. you can even etch primer first if you want to be sure of a clean non-reacting finish.
I went through all of this whilst deciding on finishes for components for the SabreG2 project - if you want a lasting finish that doesnt rust or chip
try blasting then chemi black and laquer - we use it on our wishbones and its the mutts in a satin black finish
Regards
Andy
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Sadly it's biggest advantage is it looks brilliant when delivered to the customer no matter how badly applied it was.
quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Sadly it's biggest advantage is it looks brilliant when delivered to the customer no matter how badly applied it was.
I cant really comment on the comparison of durability, if done well and with he right paints/powders, but I have certainly been fairly disappointed with a large number of powder coated components used on kitcars including my own.
My roll bar for instance, started breaking into rust within a year on one area, and several others 2-3 years in, and we're talking about the section behind the seat and the like. Its doing nothing but has failed.
Admitted the powder coat was thrown in with the already low price at the last minute, but still leaves me with failing powder coat, and about three hours work to remove it, and another three hours to replacing, regardless of how it becomes repainted.
Daniel
My experience is that paint is the more durable finish than powdercoat. Probably something to do with the millions of pounds of research that goes
into paint.
If you shop around for some proper paint some manufacturers will claim 15 year rust free for items under sea water. I may be corrected but I have not
seen any powdercoaters claiming those sort of statistics.
http://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk
And I have a electromagic static powder coater kit which I use all the time. It gives a fantastic quality finish in a very short amount to time and
effort. However I am not convinced of the durability of it however. Probably a unfair example but you have to be quite careful when bolting stuff
down lest it cracks off.
[Edited on 5/11/13 by Irony]
[Edited on 5/11/13 by Irony]
Brush paint them. You can then easily repair any scratches or chips. Whatever you coat them with it will get scratched and chipped.