All: I plan to remove and refurbish the rear axle in my 73 Apollo. Once I disassemble it, can the axle housing be blasted and powder coated? Is this a good idea? Should I just prime and paint it? What is normally done when cars are restored?
Powder coating has become one of the most misused finishes in auto restoration IMO. It is best suited and cost justified when the substrate its protecting is frequently exposed to harsh environments where painted finishes won't hold up. Rarely ever do classic/antique cars fall into that category. Blast, epoxy prime and finish with a quality chassis paint is all you need for a very durable finish. Of course if you have disposable income powder coating is a good way to spend it. If you have the axle housing blasted take precautions to seal the ends of tubes if the axle shafts have been removed.
A quality paint is fine. To powder coat a rear axle housing, it will have to be very, very clean.....preferably hot tanked to get all the gear lube remnants out of it before going into the curing oven. Powder coating can cost less than paint, both in labor and materials. If there are surface defects than need repair (rust pitting for example), paint gives you the opportunity to fill/sand for a smoother finish.
I restore my axles two ways. I either do an epoxy prime,with urethane top coat,or I have them powder coated. ALL of my housings get hot tanked first,to remove all the old oil and contaminents. They are about the same price for either one,for me.
the short answer is yes, this is my 71 8.5 I took completely apart. had it powder coated in two colors. custom cast iron for the pumpkin and 40% gloss for the axle housings. When I got it back..I was whole heartedly in love with it. even though you won't see it. i bought the backing plates from a member here. he had them powder coated in the silver you see in the pics. i would have gone with black myself but the price was right. once you start with the powder it's hard to get off of it. I did my 67 boxed frame, boxed my lowers coated them all. front uppers and lowers ect. . Note: it got new 30 spline eaton posi, 30 spline moser axles, HD retainers. capped with an aftermarket moser cover. 3.42 gear
Powder coating the axle is a bit overkill. I did like most others 20 some years ago, blast it, etch or epoxy, paint it. If your going to drive it, its going to get munged up, like mine:TU:
Yes,it might be,but it also depends on the customer,and what the rest of their chassis looks like. If they say they are doing a frame-off,every nut & bolt restoration,then I know when they receive the rear,they will want it to be as good or better than everything else.The racers aren't as concerned.
I found what I considered extreme variation in powder coating costs in my area quoting from 3 different vendors. If you are still considering it probably be a good idea to get a quote and then you will be armed with more info to help you make the decision that's works for your budget.
It also depends on the quantity. I don't take one at a time. I'll take 8-10,to get a better deal. It would be $175.00 to do one,which is still fair,but if I take 8-10,I pad about $425.00-$450.00,so each one is considerably cheaper. They do my A-body frames for $450.00,blasted & powder-coated.
Only problem in restoration is there was NO SUCH thing as powder coating back in the day. NOR did they even bother to paint the frame, rear end, etc. body panels did not line up if it had too much bondo on the upper 1/4 to roof they just slapped a vinyl roof on it. SO really if you want a true restoration.... You better lay off all this labor...LOL. Cause they did not give a crap back in the day. They were all 4 years and throw away cars. No one expected a car to last as long as we expect these days. You could afford the car and that is what made them SOooo special.. MEMORIES....STORIES of what happened in your cars. You got a three to 4 year old hand me down car from the parents and ran it. HAve fun anyway you want to restore your car. Never know when you will run out of money...Have fun till you can't. Jim J D
Yes,we are over-restoring them,better than new. They weren't building showcars back then,but some of us are now.
Guilty..powder coated the frame and have been doing the best I could moving forward. It's hard to settle even when you know you should. I will say I haven't purchased TA stage2 heads and exhaust like some have for that big HP....yet. I did buy all my rear end internals from Jim@JDrace.
A lot of these cars aren't "restored" They weren't that nice when new, I like to think of them as "detailed/highlighted"p They are cool to look at and I appreciate all the labor and money put into it, but for me a clean up/paint and put into service is good enough:TU:
Right...all depends on the show you hitting...reason I said restore your car the way it makes you happy. Concourse show cars should be like it came from the factory NOT what we think it should have looked and done. We are basically trying to make the cars last as long as we can BUT also loosing the actual conditions the cars came in... so every year we loose a bit more of originality...guess there is not much we can do about that.
I can't help but to make it better than it was. I do everything the best that it possibly can be.It also has a direct relation to my business. If a potential customer would see something of mine,and it was all half-assed and cobbled-up,they would likely have second thoughts about having me do the work,and less likely to say "I want that". Same goes for the customer.If they bring me some mess,and appear to be half-cocked,I simply refuse the job. I don't need the aggravation,and they won't likely understand or appreciate what I did anyway.
When restoring a home we're not building them back the way they use to be. everything gets upgraded. Good by asbestos. I doubt many are running the old Frigidaire refrigerators. (mine ran forever) It's a long list of things that are always being upgraded. I don't see a problem with upgrading older cars as well. If there is a better way to do it then what was done 50 years ago Isn't that a wise choice. better and longer lasting. I have no rubber hose on my car. it's all Aeroquip. just better and longer lasting My.02
