Painting my crossmember

[bw4sale]

Well, I've got my crossmember ready to paint. Arms are next. What should I use to paint them? I was thinking just a Rustoleum rattle can job would be easiest. Is there something just as easy but better? What finish? Semi-gloss? I'm not going for a perfect restoration just a good clean driver. Thanks.

[j-dogg]

I did mine exactly that way, because I was only looking for a clean driver as well. I did the rear end also. I used flat black Rustoleum. It doesn't match the factory finish or something you might get from Eastwood designed specifically for frames, but it was good enough for me. At first, I didn't really like it because I thought it was too dark and too obvious that I had painted them, but it's been 7-8 years since then and I think it looks fine now. It's held up pretty well. I'd post some pictures, but I'm out of town right now. If I remember and have the time when I get home, I'll snap a few pictures for you.

[cparman]

find a powdercoater near you. IF your time is worth anything, it will be cheaper and better to powdercoat anything you can remove. Satin Black is VERY close to OE chassis black

[bw4sale]

My time is worth something, but I've got time. Don't have the cash for coating. Wish I did.

[RaceAGMC]

Believe it or not, coating is not that much more than what you spend on cleaning materials, rags, primer and paint, and they do it all. Clean and refinish. I just re did my front end and when i added how much i spent and how much time i spent, i would have been better off just having it done.

[matthufham]

i used rustoleum rusty primer and gloss black. did the whole frame that way. however on the lower control arms and crossmember, everytime you use a jack or put a jackstand on it it'll tear that paint off. also i had some brake fluid just destroy the paint under the booster. the primer stays on just fine but the black seems to come off easy. i have alot of brown primer spots showing. from the black peeling

[cparman]

raceagmc is correct. ny the time you buy all of the stuff you need to paint it, you could have had it powdercoated. My last car was a 67 Chevelle, and I powdercoated the FRAME. I spent $500 to do just the frame. I would not think it should cost 50-100 to do your crossmember

[bw4sale]

Do most powdercoaters do all the prep too or would I need to sand blast them first?

[j-dogg]

I never looked into powdercoating when i painted mine. I assumed it was going to be too expensive, and I was under some time constaints. That would have been a cool way to go if I had the time to do it. I do have the same problem that matthufham has with the paint chipping off everytime I put the jack underneath it, but it really doesn't make a difference to me at this point because mine isn't a show truck by any stretch of the imagination.

[Sammy]

This weekend I seen the results of a media blast with spray-in bed liner coating on the entire chassis looks great and durable.

[ChevyDude]

Originally Posted by bw4sale

Do most powdercoaters do all the prep too or would I need to sand blast them first?

I do powder coating and spray-in bedliners everyday. We will do the prep work at a cost for whatever time it takes to clean and blast the part. If you have it sand blasted tell them to use the finest sand possible so the metal does not get pitted. Pitted metal will not be covered by the PC in one coat. I recently power coated a roughly sandblasted Camaro radiator support and it took two coats to get all the pits covered, pain twice sprayed and twice in the oven = more cost. I use 60 grit aluminum oxide in my blast cab, works great on most stuff and no pitting.

[shovelhead]

Brent,
I just painted my frame & crossmember with Valspar enamel from Tractor Supply. It came out suprisingly good. The paint costs about $8 a quart and you can add a hardener. I attached some before & after pics. I wish I could get it powdercoated for a good price, but I too, am building a driver. I can't justify the expense. Good luck to you.

shovel

[Riveted1]

The beauty of Rustoleum is when you get enough nicks and scrapes, just spray some more on! LOL I will eventually have my frame PC'd, but until that day the Rustoleum spray bomb works