Frame ~ Powder Coat Or Paint ?

[VWNate1]

My frame will soon be off for bead blasting then re finishing .

As I plan to use this truck as a daily driver Shop Truck , I am concerned about what's the best thing to cover it with .

I've seen many powder coated Motocycle frames rust out from within and collapse after a show rebuild .

My frame is almost perfect now so after the original chassis black paint is gone I want to know what to cover it with ?.

Ideas , suggestions and personal experiences , especially negative ones , are sought please .

TIA ,

[dfrank]

I would go with paint. Reason being if a section of powder coating chips and then starts to flake off you have to remove everything from the frame and get it redone. If it is painted then you can just touch it up. What i would recommend is what i am doing with mine which is get the frame galvanized but not quenched afterwards then paint it. That way it will NEVER rust.

I deal with powder coating a lot with the handrails or company makes and it works good, but it is just easier to touch up paint.

[Sicklajoie]

^^^What he said. Paint is easier to touch up for frames.

[VWNate1]

THANK YOU ! .

Some folks may not be aware that powder coat isn't conductive so you almost always have grounding issues too .

The real danger (IMO) of powder coat is when it chips and then rust begins and travels underneath it , far worse than when you get chips in Chassis Black Paint

Keep the comments and ideas coming please ! .

.

[john@thepier]

Clean frame thoroughly, media blast with a product called Blackbeauty or its equivalent, clean frame again in sections with wax/grease remover, hand sand entire frame again with 180grit, clean frame again with wax/grease remover, paint with two part epoxy and then topcoat with a chassis black. Media blasting alone dose not give a surface that paint will super adhere to. This is how I paint all my sheet metal, a little more than the average guy will be willing to do, but a far superior job to any powder painting out there and like a previous poster stated, rust will spread under powder paint. Think of it like this, what paint is used in corrosive environments, answer is EPOXY

[Gmcfolife]

This is what I plan on using for my frame.

http://www.kbs-coatings.com/frame-coater-kit.html

[57taskforce]

Most trailers are powder coated now days. Look at a powder coated trailer after a few years. Like said above they get a scratch or chip in the coating and from there the rust travels under the coating and it all starts flaking and peeling. My '57 has the aforementioned 2 part epoxy/chassis paint on it and I'm nothing but happy with it. The epoxy primer is tough as nails

[KMC3420]

I agree with all above. Paint is the way to go. The only thing I would say is blast with black diamond blasting media from tractor supply, get the fine grit. I would not say to sand afterwards though. Just clean with wax and grease remover. Bare metal after sandblasting is the perfect base for paint to stick to, no further sanding required unless you are doing it for looks.

[dfrank]

If you really want powder coating you can galvanize the metal before the powder coating. That is what we do when a customer wants powder coating for something that is outside all the time. Then again we do a lot of just galvanized railings and beams and all kinds of structural steel in galvanizing. If you are going to paint over galvanizing then it CAN NOT be quenched at the end of the galvanizing process or the paint will flake off no matter what unless it sits long enough for the zinc to absorb the aluminum top coat. That is why galvanizing turns dark gray after a while. If you really want the ultimate in rust proofing then galvanizing is the way to go. Like I said in my earlier post my plan when I restore my truck soon is to sand blast the frame the have it galvanized WITHOUT being quenched then brush blasted and then finally a two part epoxy paint in satin black. It will NEVER rust.

On a side not if you want to have axles or anything with bearings inside blasted before paint then use walnut shell blasting media. If the walnut shells happen to get into the axles somehow then they will just disintegrate and cause no harm to the bearings. Sand on the other hand will do numbers to bearings if it gets into them.

If you are powder coating anything with bearings and seals then it has to be completely disassembled prior to the powder coating or the baking process will dry out and ruin the seals and cause any grease inside to melt out and run the powder coating.

Powder coating also has to be freshly sand blasted before the process with NO flash rusting or the powder coating has a very likely possibility to start chipping and flaking off or for rust to form underneath of it.

If anyone has any questions on rustproofing steel or anything to do with galvanizing or powder coating just send me a pm and I can talk to you about it. I have a good bit of experience with these processes from all the steel we do for the customers of our company.

[mandojunior]

Originally Posted by Gmcfolife

This is what I plan on using for my frame.

http://www.kbs-coatings.com/frame-coater-kit.html

me and my dad used this on my truck and his car. best frame paint ive seen. it is rock hard

[dfrank]

POR 15 is excellent as well. If you do the POR 15 on a sand blasted frame then you may have to go through all the metal prep processes they sell with it unles you use a coarser blasting media.

[Lee H]

I like powder coat for frames. As they are out of the sun they look great for many, many years. The frame on my 65 vette was powder coated 12 years ago and looks like it was done yesterday. Here in SoCal you don't have the rust issues either. IF it gets a chip just wipe with a dab of black paint. My latest, the 72 C10 was done two years ago and has about 12k miles, no chips yet and wipes down looking great and nice and smooth. I have done frames in paint but prefer powder coat for my vehicles. Now, if I lived in an area with lots of road debris that causes chips and has salt laid down in the winter, I would probably go with paint.

[Jahloha]

I just had mine sandblasted and will be painting with MasterSeries silver primer and black top coat. For me, it all came down to my ability to alter the frame in the future, if I wanted to.

Even only after a few days after sandblasting I decided on a few things that would require some frame work (trans xmember removal, tank relocation, and also removing a third xmember due to dirt (although if you pc that excess dirt would have been burned out in the oven).

Either way, for me it came down to $300 for blasting and paint vs. $800 for pc. I could use that extra $500 somewhere else.

Good luck!

[trkfrk]

I PC my frame almost 4 years ago. I run my swamp cooler in the garage for 5 months out of the year. The only thing rusting are my brake lines lol.. PC gets a bad rap by shops that don't prep the metal correct before applying. I ended up using a textured PC which really looks nice and hides a lot of the factory imperfections. I have dropped many tools on my frame and suspension parts and have no chips. Which ever direction you choose; the important part is all in the prep... Good luck and post some pics when your done.

[dfrank]

Originally Posted by trkfrk

I PC my frame almost 4 years ago. I run my swamp cooler in the garage for 5 months out of the year. The only thing rusting are my brake lines lol.. PC gets a bad rap by shops that don't prep the metal correct before applying. I ended up using a textured PC which really looks nice and hides a lot of the factory imperfections. I have dropped many tools on my frame and suspension parts and have no chips. Which ever direction you choose; the important part is all in the prep... Good luck and post some pics when your done.

Not only prep but a lot of shops use a very low quality powder which leads to the premature rusting and flaking. If it only cost $300 for the shop to blast, prep, and coat a frame then it most likely isn't the best quality powder. The company that does the stuff we make charges $350 for a shortbed frame just for the coating. You still have to pay for the blasting and prep. It would cost a total of around $700 to have a frame powder coated with quality powder and proper prep. Anything to be powder coated MUST be sand blasted to bare metal prior to the coating.

[VWNate1]

THANK YOU ALL ! .

My gut was telling me to go with black paint , I'll all Paco and tell him that's what I want as yes , this truck will spend much time on back roads with plenty of gravel and also in the Desert (my beloved Desert) where the sand flies .

Should I make a separate post about other details I want to ask ? .

[BLT gmc]

dfrank hit the nail on the head. Longest longevity is stripping, galavanizing, powder coat. Bruce

[67swb72klb]

powder coating is over rated
epoxy and paint

[leddzepp]

Whatever you use...paint, powder, epoxy, it will not rust out in your lifetime, so there is no "bad" choice.

[VWNate1]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Whatever you use...paint, powder, epoxy, it will not rust out in your lifetime, so there is no "bad" choice.

I don't know , I hope to have 30 +/- more years and I see a LOT of powder coating come off in 5 years .

Galvanizing isn't going to happen , more's the pity .

[leddzepp]

The frame has lasted over 40 years already, even if you did nothing to it now it will still last another 40 here in SoCal.

[VWNate1]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

The frame has lasted over 40 years already, even if you did nothing to it now it will still last another 40 here in SoCal.

Perhaps so but I can't see repainting everything else and leaving it with peeling paint and oxidized fuzz here & there.....

[KMC3420]

I say blast it, epoxy primer, then paint it with a two part chassis paint that includes a hardener for durability. I used Extreme Chassis Black by Eastwood, single stage, and it chips somewhat easy as I reassembled my frame, I had to touch up a few spots. If I could do it over again, I would opt for a chassis paint that had an activator or a hardener for it, just for a more durable finish. Just my two cents.

[VWNate1]

Professional paint , chassis or otherwise , always has hardener added to the paint cup .
I called Paco and his wife says she told him no powder coating ~ I'll go by in a few days to make sure the message was received ~ she says she up dated my Repair order to indicate I want epoxy primer and black paint on the frame .

it this job goes well , I'll have him address my Metropolitan FHC and maybe even my old Mercedes Coupe as the rust hole below the back light is beginning to worry me .

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I bought Master Series. Doing it the hard way with air craft paint remover and lacquer thinner. Once I final clean with W/G remover, they recommend using 80 grit and a wire brush. Then wipe off with a dry cloth. Brush on two coats of their primer, then brush on one coat of their top coat. I've heard good things about their product. Approx. $100 for two quarts of primer, one quart of top coat, one pint of hardener and one pint of thinner.

I've heard DO NOT spray Master Series or POR15, because the fumes can kill you.