I have my frame disassembled and ready to get it sandblasted. What is better paint or powder coating? How close would powder coating look too factory paint? This is for my 70 stage1 4 speed car and want everything to be as close to factory appearance as possible. I plan on driving this car some and taking it to the track if that makes any difference. Thanks, Kraig
Kraig, I had gotten some real flak for powdercoating mine . I used a semi flat and it looks very close to original paint. When you powdercoat you cannot smooth it out if there are any pitts but my pitted sections are where they will not be seen . My total bill for the frame, 2 crossmembers, 2 rear stab bars, rear end, all 8 control arms was 760.00 blasted and coated.
Most frames I see have pitting. If you powder coat you will still have pits just with a powder coat. If you fill, epoxy and paint it you can get it perfect.
Exactly. I powdercoated mine and I love it. Been years already and it cleans up perfect, tough as nails, looks good (inside and out on convertible boxed frame) There is a metal filler out there now that supposedly will work with powdercoating, local shop is testing it, can't remember the name though...
Pitting isn't an issue with this frame since it spent its whole life in SW Texas. I guess my main concerns is how close will it look to factory color and will one be able to tell it's powder and not paint. Kraig
Here is a sample pic of mine. I didn't bother filling the scratches on the bottom of the frame under oil pan from road rash, it fits.Did dress out some splatter and minor marks here and there. Notice you can still see all the stretch marks from stamping the pieces. Its very tough stuff too. I'm completely happy with mine. If you want to be completely authentic you need drips and sags and crappy application. For me the catch here was the boxed frame, the powdercoating process ensures it is covered inside and out. There is nothing worse than seeing a painted frame, move slightly sideways and you can see the bare rusted metal inside where you can't spray. No mess either, blasted it, dropped it off, then picked it up next day. You can pick from hundreds of colors, have teflon it in, whatever you want.
It's called 'Lab Metal'. Info here: http://www.alvinproducts.com/ I bought some from the local welding-supply store. It's tough stuff!:TU:
It does depend on the powdercoater, I have a frame here for a '70 convert. that I'm doing (frame was done when it was brought to me) looking in all the holes its plenty rusty. As usuall I guess it depends on what you pay for and if the shop doing the coating cares or not! I've always wondered about having a frame e-coated, that way its submersed, and fully covered inside & out!
That is the stuff...have you powdercoated over it?? And yes the quality of powder coating does depend on the person doing it, just like wet paint. In my case I did a truckload of parts plus the frame and it cost me less than painting it with some good quality epoxy paint. Also, where I had mine done they actually prebake the frame to let any oils bleed out of the metal, then clean it again and then powder coat.
Another issue with powder coating is that if you ever do any modifications to your frame after you have it powder coated you can not easily have it touched up. As far as color matching to the original look, there are so many color variations out there that you should be able to find one that closely matches your application. I love powder coating and will be doing everthing possible on my new project except for the frame. Just my .02
