Powder coat frame or por 15 it?

[abadsvt]

Hello all! I am slowing working on my 70 c10 swb. I am going to be using it mainly for a tow truck for my boat but also i want to enter it into shows and what not. I wasn't sure which route i want to go. Powdercoating the frame would look really nice but is it really worth the money? Especially for a truck that i will drive on a regular basis. Some where else i read someone por 15 there frame which worked great for them and helps keep the rust away. I am going to be using it to back the boat into the water so the frame might get wet on a regular basis. If i do powdercoat the frame i was hoping to do it red. Would that be a bad thing cause of chips and rocks that will come into contact with it? I am not expecting the truck to win the truckin nationals or anything but i would like the truck to look like it could have a chance. I hope that makes sence. Please help me decide. thanks

[shifty]

I'd powdercoat it.

[abadsvt]

Do you know how well the powdercoating will last with normal driving? What i mean is before it gets all chipped up and scratched. Thanks Josh

[motocrosschump]

Powdercoating is alot tougher than POR

[JameslovesJammie]

Originally Posted by motocrosschump

Powdercoating is alot tougher than POR

You're kidding me, right?

There are people on this board who have POR-15'd their frames and had it drip on the garage floor and can't get it up with a chisel and hammer!

I'd go POR-15. Brushed on or sprayed.

[incoma]

Depends on the type of powder used. Some powder coating is very "ceramic" in finish and will crack easily. Other powder is fairly pliable after it is baked on.

Another issue with powder is how the frame is cleaned before the powder is applied. If an acid bath is used, every inch of surface metal will be stripped. Powder is sprayed on and won't get into all of the nooks that the acid could, thereby leaving the frame unprotected. I made this mistake.

The perfect application would be an e-coating under powder. E-coating is basically an electro-static paint application that dips the frame into a vat of paint that is charged. It puts an even coat of paint on the surface of the metal (including the nooks where acid cleaned up the old grime).

In Jackson, MS there was a company e-coating frames for Nissan. The powder coating outfit would send a frame (and entire car bodies) up to be e-coated after they acid dipped it. Then they would powder over the e-coat. Really nice finish afterwards.

I don't remember what it cost to do all of that, but it took about 1-2 weeks with all of the travel.

I powdercoated my frame without the e-coating, as I didn't know that was an option. I used a polyester based powder, and I like how it sits. I had to use a hammer on a bracket, and it stretched / rippled the powder. It didn't chip. There's my .02. Good luck.

[abadsvt]

I don't think anyone around here will be able to e-coat it. So if i completely disassemble the frame. I mean every nut and bolt removed do you think it would be good? That is exciting new to hear how durable the stuff can be. I really want to do it right and powdercoat it but wanted to make sure 5 years down the road it still looks nice! Thanks

[roj2323]

this should be an interesting thread. i look forward to hearing both opinions as i'm about to tackle this project myself.
ondrew

[chevyboy55]

I would think that powder coating would be rather spendy for that large of an item. One thing with POR is it will run into the nooks & crannys. We used zero rust on my sons frame.

[bean]

I'm with James. Por15 is just about bulletproof. That's the way I would go.

[Longhorn Man]

I work on over the road truck all day lonr. Now, granted, I live in the salt belt, and abadsvt does not... however... every truck that comes through the shop has powder coating flaking off the chassis. I understand the salt, and the amount of miles... apples to oranges.... however;
The 4X4 crown... from what I understand... prefers the POR over powder, for it's resistance to rock chips.
We use POR all day long at work. We have an inhouse radiator shop, which specializes in tractor trailer rads...and bugger. Right now, there is a 12 foot tall rad sitting there getting over $7000 in labor alone on it. (an example pointing out the level our rad shop is at... not just some hillbilly with a soldering iron) When we rebuild the rads, many get POR on the inside and outside on the tanks... just about every freightliner does, they seem to be the absolute worst on tanks rusting off.
We did our own in house test. In the rad shop, we have these big water tanks for dunking the rads or fuel tanks in for checking out leaks. (pressurize the rad or tank with 30 PSI... look for bubbles) The are about 2 maybe 2 1/2 feet deep, and they are about 8 foot square... maybe more. They are filled with plain water, with some green dye added. Plenty of flux gets in the water, and solder does to, so i am sure the water becomes acidic over time, but we drain them every 3 months or so to help keep it to a minimum.
We bought a new tank, and before we filled it, we took another one, sand blasted all the rust off, POR'd the whole inside, and covered it with white rustolium paint. The new tank had an unchipped powder coat, and we painted it white with the same rustolium paint. (one gallon can and a roller... not spray paint)
Within 6 months, the new one was starting to bubble, the POR'd one didn't start bubbling until roughly 18 months.


My vote goes to the POR.

[incoma]

Does POR come in a non-glossy finish?

[LUV2XCLR8]

WoW, intersting read so far, I'm fix'n to do oner of these to my 2wd

[chevymad]

If you don't top coat the por then yes it will be non-glossy. Stuff is extremely tough. You can't beat it off with a hammer. If you leave the surface rusty it even sticks better. I did my frame, it's not a show frame, but the stuff definately isnt coming off.

[N2TRUX]

Get it galvanized...

[abadsvt]

Wow this thread switched fast. It started out all about powdercoating and now it is all about por 15. I will probably drive less than 8000 miles a year. Also does anyone have any pics of a frame with por 15 on it. I want it to look good. Like i mentioned before i would like to enter the truck into car shows. I am not looking to have a show class winner but i would like the closest thing you can get for an almost daily driver. I hope that makes sence. So you can brush on por 15? How does it look. Does it have brush strokes everywhere? Should i spray it? What if you get a run is it impossible to get off? Pics would be great. Thanks everyone for your comments!!!!!

[Longhorn Man]

POR must be top coated. Even frame work will start to look bad after a few years if it is an all the time out door truck.
It is high gloss out of the can... at least, the stuff we get it.
This is dry on the frame. Excuse the bad photo... the lighting in there isn't the best.

[abadsvt]

Thanks for the pic longhorn. Do you have a little more focused pic? I basically want to see what a frame that has been por 15 looks like. I know it is only the frame but i am weird and like everything to be perfect or close to it as possible. Thanks Josh

[Longhorn Man]

No, i don't have any better pics, and I've been driving it for 6 months, so it is filthey now.
If the metal is rust free and dirt free, it'll go on very smooth. When I did my hitch, i didn't want to give it a top coat... it looked that good.

[72SWBChevy]

I have just had my frame, upper and lower a-arms and the A-frame all powder coated in gloss black. It is a show finish and amazingly smooth and shinny. It would have taken me a week to de-grease and sandblast it to get it clean enough to paint. I also welded all the extra holes in the frame to make it smooth.

[Longhorn Man]

you powder coated over dirt, grease and rust?

[72SWBChevy]

no....you can just take all your parts in dirty and they sandblast clean and then apply the powder coat...they do it all!!! It comes back perfect.

[al's71gmc]

We painted my son's with xo rust. Took many, many hours of wire wheeling and prep. Then used primer and then top coat. Mostly brush and roller with some rattle can in the hard to reach places. Turned out nice, but is prone to chipping. I would have used the por15, but time and money spent elsewhere made me go this route. It brushed on very smooth.

[abadsvt]

72 chevy do you have any pics of your powdercoated parts? I would like to compare the two. Thanks everyone for commenting and helping me out. AL's71gmc what did you use? It looks good! josh

[al's71gmc]

Originally Posted by abadsvt

AL's71gmc what did you use? It looks good! josh

Josh, It's called XO Rust- Basically Rustoleum type product. The main reason I used it was poverty. About $30 worth between the primer and topcoat, and it comes in lots of colors.