Powder coat the drip rail? (1 Viewer)

[Slapshot]

Hey all. I’m in the middle of fixing my hard top. My drip rail is in decent shape but has some rust. I was trying to clean it and paint it mysel, but then I started thinking about having it media blasted and powder coated.
What do you think? Anyone done it?

 

[Skreddy]

I had mine blasted, but then painted myself with epoxy primer, followed by single stage once assembled. Are you repainting the fiberglass cap as well? Powder coating seems fine if you can get a good color match, but you’ll likely repaint it all after you get the rivets in, then seam sealer.

 

[Slapshot]

I had mine blasted, but then painted myself with epoxy primer, followed by single stage once assembled. Are you repainting the fiberglass cap as well? Powder coating seems fine if you can get a good color match, but you’ll likely repaint it all after you get the rivets in, then seam sealer.

I will be repainting the whole top ( not personally) so color match isn’t a big deal. I just want to clean the existing surface rust and coat it so it won’t rust in the future.

 

[Skreddy]

I would have it blasted, tap/repair all the threads and have it epoxy primed, then painted once it’s all assembled. I think it would need to be primed over powdercoat anyway so may be a waste to powdercoat it.

 

[Slapshot]

I’ll check with company doing the work if they can blast then prime.

 

[Pierps]

IMO, powder coating is great for parts that will experience light abrasion, or for small parts that you can blast and powder coat at home that aren't worth getting the paint gun out for. But it can be harder than paint repair if it gets scraped or chipped. It's also harder to prep if you have some pitting in your metal. I think there are specialized body fillers than you can use with powder coat, but I don't have experience with them. Otherwise, you have to get your metal work pretty spot on before you powder coat it.

Epoxy primer is an excellent moisture sealer, so for the drip rail, I would think epoxy and paint would be totally adequate and way simpler. If you powder coat it, you'll need to have your shop carefully scuff sand every little square millimeter before you can get a good bond with paint on top. So I don't think the complication is worth it.

 

[OPMACHINE]

There are many good epoxy powder coat primers and wet color paints that are compatible. You get the color match and finish of wet paint, with the protective benefits of dry powder.