Best paint/coating for frame? (1 Viewer)

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my old rusted (complete with hole rusted all the way thru) and bent frame is gone to the scrap metal yard...

I now have in my possesion a pristine, practically rust free frame. though it isn't rusted heavily, some of the paint is gone with a slight surface coat of rust, nothing major at all.

Whats the best way to strip the paint? grinder with a flapper wheel seems straight forward, but what ya'll think? I also have a small sand blaster but blast media is $1 a pound roughly, so I'm not sure abt that.

what should i coat the frame with once it is stripped? i want it to look nice, but be tough and rust proof as possible. Por-15? I am rhinolining the interior sheetmetal, will rhinoliner work on the frame and stand up to abuse?

and one more question: how do you coat inside the frame rails? you know the "box" part of the frame? there are holes in it for bolts and whatnot, but not enough to shoot anything up in there to cover the whole inside.

many thanks in advance,

Fred
 
I used one of those small sand blasters to blast a car frame once. I even went to the trouble of building a tent to conserve the amount of waste. Never again. It took me a week and 10 hours. Now I take to a sandblaster and pay a small amount, under $100 and get a done alot faster and cleaner. As for covering it I perfer powder coating, but I have used a good epoxy primer and a black epoxy paint with good results. There are pro's and con's for each. Dave
 
As far as coating the frame: go with POR-15, it would be more cost effective over the rhino lining. It is also easier to work with.

I used POR-15 to stop a number of *bad* rust patches on my 62 and coudl not be happier. I am gettign ready to paint my whole frame with it (heck, I should just dip the whole truck ina big tub of it)


Good Luck!
 
30Jul2005 (UTC +8)

I was just asking myself the same thing... A buddy of mine told me to check Zinga out, as his friend sells that cold galvanizing thing for about US$100 per gallon. It's got impressive properties, and I'm kinda leaning towards it for a near future resto project.

Check out the FAQ section in:
http://www.zinga-uk.com/zinga_main.html

It's supposed to be better than hot-dip galvanizing (an Araco technique for our 'Cruisers), and would last up to 30 years even at sea!
 
POR-15. I have been doing it all in about 2 ft sections. I am pretty short on time and find the washing, degreasing, etching, painting, paintin, and top coating about all i can handle at once. As far as sand blasting I woudl forget it. I sanded a bit of mine and then started with the POR-15 and was PO that I wasted so much time and money with the angle grinder. Prep is the most important thing however, so take your time. Also you can skim coat any pits AFTER POR-15 to get that nice flat new frame look. I have heard a number of people that say their frame is stronger after all this. THe POR-15 if damnm near chip proof too. I painted a bit of metal and proceeded to bash it for about 5 minutes with a hammer and nothing. NO kidding. Oh yeah. and I am pretty sure it is a bad Idea to powder coat anything that has ever seen rust as it will trap it in there. Good :cheers: luck
 
Doin' mine with RustBullit. We'll see what the results are but the literature says it beats POR15 and is easier to apply.
 
I use the SEM products for just what you are describing. I got the recommendtion from cruiser solutions in New Hampshire, they do a fair amount of restoration. Bought a gallon of their rust sealer for about $52 locally.
 
Dosen't powdercoating protect the frame, or any metal for that matter, to the fullest extent? If I was to take everything off the frame and spend the money restoring it, I would get it powdercoated. Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of those paints or chemicals that you apply to the frame just cover the rust? None of those POR-15 products or moral equivilants eliminate the rust, therefore retaining the possibility of it returning.

Hypothetically, if you acid dip the frame, and then have it powdercoated, then all of the surfaces of the frame, including the boxed part, are coated. On top of that, powdercoating perminantly attaches the coating molecules so that the powdercoat essentially becomes the surface of the metal. If anything hits the coated metal, it dents, it does not crack, chip or seperate from the metal.

If you can prove to me that over 10 years in the Northeast, enduring the snow, salt, sun and rain, a POR-15 system will protect a frame just as well as a good powdercoat, then I am going to invest. Until then, I will save until I can have the best thing done to my truck, powdercoating.

:beer:
 
Ditto swampy on professional sandblasting - only things cost-effective to do yourself are small items you need in a hurry.

On powdercoating (been using for almost 20 years): it doesn't prevent rust on welds! I had glass racks on 2 trucks sandblasted & powdercoated (by the same excellent folks so there wasn't exposure to moisture in between) & they're both rusting at the welds. In Colorado!

Professional racers don't powdercoat frames because it hides cracks.

Having said all that, I plan to powdercoat my driveshafts, skid plate/tranny mount, sliders, & new axles.
 
If you powercoat over rusty surfaces you will get a "pocked" surface, simular to solvent poping on paint. The base material must be clean of paint, rust, oil etc. I've tried POR 15 with limited success, but the bottom line is that it is still rust and you know the saying...... rust never sleeps, no matter what type of "snake oil" you apply over it. If you are going to be buried (or hate to have to redo your work) in it sandblast it /dip it and powercoat it. If not cover it with some sort of POR 15 rust inhibiter. Basicaly it all comes down to how much time and money you want to put in it. Time to get off my soap box.............Dave
 
I'll conceed to Swampy here. For frame on stuff I went with POR but if I had a frame off and fat wallet I might dip and powder. BTW I definately wouldn't just blast and powder due to the above mentioned problems
Fish
 

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