Paint or powder coat?

AlaskanJack · May 4, 2003

I wanted to paint some of my lift parts then I found out that they are powder coated from the factory.

So what do you guys think, would painted stuff look and last a while compared to powder coating? I had a friend years ago that did something like electroplating to metal. He would rub them down with a chemical then attach a wire to stuff and the paint would only adhere to the charged metal. Is powder coating so expensive that I will choose to paint instead?
I've never powder coated anything so I have no idea of what costs to compare.

Digger196 · May 4, 2003

powder coating will stay on better and will last longer. on the coils, if they are spray painted the paint dry completely and when you flex the paint will crack and will not stay on. with the power coat paint it moves with the coil and stay on. it is more expensive but it will last longer and stay on.

NOTAJP · May 4, 2003

Powder coating will last longer and is much tougher. But this process takes more time and special equipment. It's not very expensive to have stuff powder coated. Check in your local yellow pages. It's not very difficult to learn. To get the products yourself, check out Eastwood.

Bottomlesspit · May 5, 2003

I have had several items powdercoated this past year. The hitch on my wife's Expedition, and several metal parts for my boat.
You can get the powdercoating done in most any color, and it is definitely WAY tougher than paint. The price had been reasonable, more than paint...but you won't have to be spending it again anytime soon either as compared to paint.
I vote powdercoat...you won't be sorry.
Ken

matey · May 5, 2003

i have done some powder coating its not a complicated process just make sure every thing is super clean. may be you could go around to the place with the machine and srike up a deal with some one there .

BadBoy · May 10, 2003

I was thinking of powder coating some things on my explorer also.You can buy the powder coating machine for about $100.00 and they say to use a old oven to heat the coating.

I want to powder coat my front springs but was wandering if the oven heat would ruin the spring's they say you have to pre heat the oven at 400 degree's anyone know if the springs would get ruin.

Thanks
BadBoy

NOTAJP · May 10, 2003

Not a 400 degrees. Gets done all the time. Excessive heat like from a torch will ruin springs.

DeRocha · September 13, 2003

Por-15 I cannot praise this stuff enough. It goes on like paint, but is VERY tough & flexible. I had coated some paper with it and let it dry. I was able to crunch it up into any shape without the paint moving/cracking at all.. IMHO the difference between paint and POR-15 is like white glue vs Epoxy...
I was in the process of restoring my front end and was on the fence about what paint to use. Powder coating would be too costly and involve putting parts in the oven (try fitting one of your TT beams in an oven!). So I started out using Rustoleum primer and Rustoleum Heavy duty Enamel. The parts looked great, but they were extemly weak. They would be scratched if they came into contact with anything sharp or metalic. I used a wire wheel and was able to remove the Rustoleum almost instantly (1-2 secs), but it took 30 secs + on the Por-15.
Por15 Web site

Our POR-15 Rust Preventive Paint, acknowledged worldwide as the finest rust preventive coating ever developed, stops rust permanently and is the product by which all others are measured

Now some negatives:

Expensive
Comes in limited colors
The color is UV unstable (ie the sun will bleach out the color so top coat it)
A can will start curing once opened..

88vert · December 15, 2003

The under side of my doors and fender are por-15'ed and that stuff is as tough as nails

PAExplorer · December 15, 2003

Well, so far the poll seems to be overwhelming for Powder Coat. I'm convinced!! I'm having some stuff done this week.
-E

DeRocha · December 16, 2003

Powder coating is great, but I wouldn't have been able to put large parts in an oven. This is my front end restored using POR-15..

AlaskanJack · December 16, 2003

Wow I bet that took some serious time to Por the frame and all parts!! But it looks good, great job!

DeRocha · December 16, 2003

Thanks Kurt.. It took 2.5 months (which my wife will tell you and everyone else since we had to share a car). I removed the entire suspension and driveline, and sandblasted everything.

AlaskanJack · December 16, 2003

Originally posted by DEROCHA
Thanks Kurt.. It took 2.5 months (which my wife will tell you and everyone else since we had to share a car). I removed the entire suspension and driveline, and sandblasted everything.

Funny how women don't understand things like this. But I think my wife has had enough of the car sharing with me. I told her I was going to do a Body Lift this weekend and she said wait just a minute. How many weeks will I be without my car this time and is it necessary?

I giggled which wasn't very well received by her.

bates · December 19, 2003

I have a friend who is restoring a 1969 AMX, every square inch of the car has been PORed except the outside body pieces and trim. Every other nut, bolt, suspension piece, even the whole motor, and tranny and so on an so on has been PORed. Every metal piece. INSANE!

hydroxy · December 26, 2003

do you have to worry about the paint flaking off the leaf springs? I really want to paint my underbody, but I'm definetly not going to pay to get it powercoated. I have some rustoleum oil based enamel that I was going to use on the underbody. Think that will hold up?

DeRocha · December 26, 2003

Rustoleum enamel will be flexible enough. All the red paint in my previous photos in this thread is Rustoleum (over POR-15). I also use it on the rear leaf springs and haven't noticed any flaking at all... Please note that a lot of prep work went into the project. All metal surfaces were sandblasted and washed. Sandblasting gives metal a frosted surface that paint loves to cling to (IMO wire brushing doesn't even rate on the same scale).

I used Rustoleum heavy duty primer (2 coats) followed by their high strength enamel top coat (4 coats) on the gas tank shield. It has lasted about 3 years. I now notice that around the edges and drainage holes I can see rust starting to peek through the paint. My biggest complaint with rustoleum is that it scratches easily and any off roading will quickly ruin it. Once the paint is scratched moisture gets behind it and rusts everything out from behind the paint. That is why I used POR-15, I didn't want to continually touch up the undercarriage every few months because of going off road.

Paint or powder coat?

AlaskanJack

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Digger196

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NOTAJP

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Bottomlesspit

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matey

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BadBoy

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DeRocha

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88vert

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AlaskanJack

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