What colors should I use for crossmember swap?

[closer9]

Well, I got most of the front end out of my 82 donor over the weekend. Now the fun part, degreasing and inspecting.

I was thinking gloss black powder coat for everything that can be powder coated except clear for the brake dust shields and springs, or possibly red for the springs. The more I think about it, the red might not look that great on this truck, but...

My buddy thinks I should do gloss black for the crossmember then clear the rest. I'm not going for any particular look, and plan to eventually take the truck back to the original Fawn and white exterior with either white ralleys or gray Torq Thrusts.

All the parts that can't be powder coated (ball joints, etc) will probably get painted with "as cast" paint.

Just curious if anyone else had any thoughts.

[LVPhotos]

Black gloss would be easy to clean. I milled around on color myself, I like the "grain" on the bare steel. So I am looking at a Gunmetal grey gloss or nickel type finish. I like green but my buddy did neon green on his Mustang and its not a long term color. Use K.I.S.S. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. You like it now but can you live with it years from now?

[closer9]

Yeah, gloss black (easy to clean was my thought as well) would probably be best for everything. When I did my Plymouth I did just that even though I went a little more radical with the paint. All steering, suspension, brakes, even the block/heads and accessories are gloss black. Always looks clean, but very hard to find an oil leak.

[63burban4x4]

years back, I was fleet manager for a mid size const. company. We always ordered our big trucks (Macks, mostly) with red frames, which were available as an option. The mechanics and the drivers loved the fact that any leak was immediately noticeable. May not be for your truck, but that was our reason for buying them that way. Plus they looked pretty cool and were unusual.

[closer9]

I bet the red frames looked pretty cool. If I were going with red, black, silver, white, gray, etc, etc, that would look pretty cool I think, but tan doesn't go with much. So, probably stay with black and clear for everything.

Was watching one of the many auto restoration shows on Velocity over the weekend. They did a 68 Charger in full clear powder coat with black bumpers and trim. Looked amazing!