Hood latch question: Powdercoat or not?

[bigdon-70blazer]

Originally Posted by C10-Driver

Whether you paint it or powdercoat it, the coating will probably come off the contact areas over time. Mine is powdercoated and it seems to be holding up fairly well although it is pretty fresh. (The white that you see is lithium grease). The nice thing about powder is that it doesn't soften with thinners or anything and will probably hold up better in the long run.

Attachment 310312

Attachment 310310

Depending on your color scheme, you may or may not be happy with silver. I had my hinges, door latches, etc done in silver initially then went back to black. The silver looked cheap against the paint color I chose for the truck. You can't go wrong with black as they say.

Did you completely disassemble the latch receiver before powder coating?

[Andy4639]

I had a friend at work going to do mine but he said they had to be took apart to do them. I didn't want to take the hood hinges apart. I ended up just painting and clearing them.

[C10-Driver]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

I had a friend at work going to do mine but he said they had to be took apart to do them. I didn't want to take the hood hinges apart. I ended up just painting and clearing them.

Those hinges look awesome Andy. The silver color I ended up with on mine (before I coated over them in black) looked nice by itself but looked cheap against the color of my truck. It was more of a "shiny" silver... Your's looks like a satin finish. If mine came out the color or yours, I probably would have stayed with the silver.

As far as taking the hinges apart, the only thing I took off of mine were the springs. In fact, they were coated silver then black on top of that so there is 2 coats of powder on them and I haven't had any issues.

[Andy4639]

Thanks,
He has just gotten into powder coating so I guess he would rather say no than take a chance on something not right I guess. Thanks about the hinges. I know they will wear out faster but it will look good for a little while.

[C10-Driver]

Originally Posted by bigdon-70blazer

Did you completely disassemble the latch receiver before powder coating?

Actually, it was already powdercoated on the front clip I purchased from a friend. With some other similar parts I have had done, I usually take off any "loose" parts like springs or anything else that is easily removed, sandblast and powdercoat. I haven't had any trouble so far. Some of the parts are a little stiff to move the first time but once the coating "cracks" in those areas, everything moves freely. As with any moving parts, I always apply a liberal amount of white lithium grease for lubrication.