Painting my chassis.

[Brownsquare]

I'm planning to do a rattle can semi-gloss black paint job on my soon to be sandblasted '87 GMC frame and chassis components and was hoping for recommendations on paint and type. Typically I used Rustoleum products, but I've had issues with paint incompatibility between their primer and their paint before. I've looked into Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black Primer and Chassis black paint. It's expensive but seems to be good stuff.

Thoughts? Recommendations? If it makes any difference, the truck will be a driver, but since I've gone to the trouble of tearing it down this far and rebuilding both front and rear suspensions, I want to do a nice job.

Thank you! -Marc.

[Shifty One]

You spell your name correctly, so it makes me want to contribute my opinion...with the price of rattle cans now, you might as well go Eastwood...I mean they named the company after Clint, so you know it's tough. Add to the fact that it will last much, much longer, Eastwood is the way I'd roll.

Marc aka 'Shifty

[Brownsquare]

Thank you guys! Some of you commented about a spray gun finish. I wish I had the ability to do this! Unfortunately things have conspired against me. The full story: The frame is stripped bare right now and is ready to go for sandblasting. 90% of the front and rear suspensions have already been blasted and prepped. Where I work, the business owner very kindly allows and even encourages employees to bring their own projects in on weekends so they have a nice place to work on them, including our paint booth. The problem is, the service manager (who presides over our painter) is a controlling and manipulative sort, who told our painter if he has time to bring his own stuff in on weekends, he should be punching in and doing work for the company. So...we had to time it carefully and do the job in the fall when there is very little work.

On top of that, I had to somehow line up roughly a week of perfect no rain, low humidity days (which in Michigan is nearly impossible to achieve!) so I could open haul the frame to be blasted, open haul it to take it from the blaster to home to prep, open haul it to work to be painted on the weekend, and then open haul it home the following Monday after the paint cures. I had a couple REALLY nice weeks over the summer that would have been perfect for the occasion, but were fouled by other obligations. We were all set to go a couple weeks ago and the service manager put a stop to it again. At this point I'm not going to do anything that would create bad relations at work, I'm not wealthy enough to pay a body shop to spray everything, and I'm not even close to being set up to spray at home. So...sadly spray cans are my only option.

Overall it sounds like the Eastwood stuff might be a good option, and I plan to do a really extensive prep to hopefully avoid paint adhesion issues. I've lined up a couple days off next week to get everything done, so we'll see how it goes! Again, huge thanks for the advice guys, I love this site!

[Slammed84]

Rustoleum is terrible IMO, seems to never dry, ever. I dig the crap out of the Duplicolor low gloss black, DE1634

give it a spritz

[Willie Makeit]

The key to using Rustoleum is to NOT use the rattle cans but use the stuff in quart/gallons AND reduce it 1:1 with acetone. It will dry to the touch in less than an hour. Spray it with the cheap harbor freight purple gun, and throw the gun away when done.

[kipps]

If I had a nicely sandblasted frame to work with, I'd be calling up hot-dip galvanizing shops to see if any of them would give me a good price on dunking the frame and its associated brackets. I'm told the price is similar to powdercoating.

I'd skip the oil-quench step, and paint the chassis with any cheap black paint. When the truck is finished, it would get a yearly November coat of Fluid Film or something similar for more rust protection.

That would be overkill, but would be the ultimate chassis protection in my mind. I haven't actually done this though.

[Bloodhound]

Originally Posted by Brownsquare

I'm planning to do a rattle can semi-gloss black paint job on my soon to be sandblasted '87 GMC frame and chassis components and was hoping for recommendations on paint and type. Typically I used Rustoleum products, but I've had issues with paint incompatibility between their primer and their paint before. I've looked into Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black Primer and Chassis black paint. It's expensive but seems to be good stuff.

Thoughts? Recommendations? If it makes any difference, the truck will be a driver, but since I've gone to the trouble of tearing it down this far and rebuilding both front and rear suspensions, I want to do a nice job.

Thank you! -Marc.

This is what I used. It is pretty similar to POR-15. You brush it on, and then top coat it with whatever your preferred frame paint it, for the UV protection.

https://www.kbs-coatings.com/frame-coater-kit

[WorldsCrappiestTruck]

I sprayed on Eastwood rust encapsulator platinum…even though my frame was bare metal perfect, I wanted a primer and trust Eastwood to the end.

From there I sprayed Eastwood Chassis Black. As said above, cheap paint gun and cleaned it out nicely when done. I don’t know if it will work again or not.

[chrismoore701]

I used Eastwood chassis black, and it all pealed off on my Nova sub frame. Took it down had it reblasted and powder coated. not that hard on a sub frame, but a full frame is a different stor. just be careful out there

[72c20customcamper]

My Chevelle I epoxy primed and used PPG single stage with deadner additive. Been 15 years and still looks great . That being said I used VHT roll bar paint on my 72 when I replaced the motor was impressed with it . Can’t comment on longevity since it’s only been 4 months.

[cadillac_al]

I have always said every frame looks awesome when they are freshly painted. I would like to see what they look like after 10 years of driving on salty winter roads. I used the Mastercoat system on my frame 12 years ago and some parts still look awesome and a couple sections are weathered and need attention. The frame sections behind the rear wheels takes the most abuse and my Mastercoat paint is breaking down there. I have one section at the very rear of the drivers side that is crusty and depressing. It is right where the tail light wires are clipped to the frame and I may not have prepped that area good enough. I don't recall if I moved those wires or not but it would have been pretty dumb not to. If not for those 3 areas i would highly recommend the Mastercoat system. The next time I do a frame I will probably try the Eastwood Rust encapsulator or try the Mastercoat system again and do better prep work. Mastercoat says to use 2 coats of sealer in their instructions now. I don't recall doing 2 coats when I did mine. I brushed it all on

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by cadillac_al

I have always said every frame looks awesome when they are freshly painted. I would like to see what they look like after 10 years of driving on salty winter roads. I used the Mastercoat system on my frame 12 years ago and some parts still look awesome and a couple sections are weathered and need attention. The frame sections behind the rear wheels takes the most abuse and my Mastercoat paint is breaking down there. I have one section at the very rear of the drivers side that is crusty and depressing. It is right where the tail light wires are clipped to the frame and I may not have prepped that area good enough. I don't recall if I moved those wires or not but it would have been pretty dumb not to. If not for those 3 areas i would highly recommend the Mastercoat system. The next time I do a frame I will probably try the Eastwood Rust encapsulator or try the Mastercoat system again and do better prep work. Mastercoat says to use 2 coats of sealer in their instructions now. I don't recall doing 2 coats when I did mine. I brushed it all on

For use in salty conditions on my daily drivers I use Fluid film or wool wax . I just bought a new gun to apply as my old one seems to have walked basically an undercoating gun with a wand attachment for inside the frame

[old Rusty C10]

eastwood stuff or por 15 i generally brush on tho

[Honest Bob]

I brushed rustoleum professional primer/gloss black on my axles and have been pleased with the durability. I took my time letting it fully dry between the primer and black. The brush lets you put a thicker coat on with less waste and it really doesnt take THAT much longer.

[Jeepwm69]

When I did an axle swap on one of my Jeep CJ's, I used Tractor Supply Implement paint in gloss black, and added a hardener to it. It was much less expensive that POR15 or Eastwood, much better than cheap rattle cans, and dried hard as a rock. It's been very durable.

You could brush it on if you wanted to get a gallon and add hardener, or you can get the implement paint in rattle cans as well, but they don't have the hardener in them.

[MJN]

I used Eastwood rust encapsulator and chassis black on the frame for my '56 pickup. I had sandblasted and wire wheeled it first to bare metal and brushed on the encapsulator. Seems to have turned out really well IMO.

[WorldsCrappiestTruck]

Originally Posted by MJN

I used Eastwood rust encapsulator and chassis black on the frame for my '56 pickup. I had sandblasted and wire wheeled it first to bare metal and brushed on the encapsulator. Seems to have turned out really well IMO.

This ✅