Mspalding3

Alright guys, hopefully in about a month I want to go about fixing up my steering and suspension and I was just wondering how you guys would recommend that I go about refinishing my control arms?

Magna86

Sand blast and rattle can paint works just fine. Just be careful reassembling them to prevent chips. Or you can use paint stripper and then paint. Or some guys spend the money for blasting/powder coating them.

RandyS

If they have no pitting at all, I would have them blasted and Powder Coated. If they show normal light pitting, blast em and spray with a 2K rattle can from Eastwood. Regular rattle can spray paint gets marked up very easily.

Allan R

Randy, only thing about powder coating them is you have to then sand away all the powder coat from the bushing holes or they just won't fit right. I'm all for sandblasting, priming and painting. Much easier and you can run a bead of tape around the inside of the holes to keep them from building up paint.

RandyS

You can do the same thing when Powder Coating.........

Macadoo

I vote for just brushing them with rustoleum. They'll be filthy and chipped after a few drives. I like that I can just crawl under with a cheap brush and touch them up. But I'm being a pessimist today.

Mspalding3

Thanks for the replies! If you couldn't tell already, I've never really done this kind of thing before so I would like to know what I'm doing before I get into it. Do you think that putting a couple coats of clear on it would help?

RandyS

Not if they are powder coated. Yes, PC can be chipped or worn off, but not nearly as easily as paint. Parts that size can even be done at home.

Macadoo

Well, to be fair, I live on a country road where they spread pea gravel a few times each summer. Hopefully you folks don't have to deal with that.
Powder coating sounds great.

RandyS

So..... how's that new top coming along............

Macadoo

Oh lord......

Macadoo

Acually, I've got 3.42 gears sitting on my bench waiting for me. But we're going to refinance the house to get a better interest rate so I've been painting, fixing the plumbing and electrical, and....and...
Have you priced a new front door lately?!

Macadoo

Nah, skip the clear. Get the metal really clean, use a quality paint, and get extra for touch-ups. I like to bake metal parts in the kitchen oven at 170* for about 20 minutes before painting. It opens the pours a bit and helps keep the paint from running.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Mspalding3

Thanks for the info! I definitely will let Y'all know, but like I said it's gonna be another month or so. I'm not looking for a show quality car, I just want to get my car lookin nice

Allan R

Actually if you bake them at 350 for about 2 hours they come out so tender you can eat the metal right off the bushings...... JK Your missus is way more tolerant of what you did that mine would be.

Pores....not pours. Like your skin. Ok I'm not a metallurgist so explain to me how the pores in the metal are still 'open' to lock in paint when it's cooled to the touch?? Something doesn't sound quite right there. The secret to not having runs in the paint is not to use such heavy coats.

Macadoo

Lol, I've been spending too much time with the school foundry.

Heck, I dunno if the "pores" open or not. Or if there are even such a thing in metal. Just some old school learnin' from long ago. I imagine the heated metal dries the paint before it can run and allows for heavier coats for the impatient (like me). All I know for sure is that the parts I heat before painting are more durable than the ones I don't heat (again, it might be my impatience).
And yes, I DO have an understanding wife. Or it's possible that she just doesn't have the energy anymore to complain
Note: I never do anything that would contaminate our meals with toxins.

BackInTheGame

Here is how mine came out, a few weeks ago. Media blast, wipe with MetalPrep (light acid to etch the surface), rinse with water, blow dry with compressed air, wipe with Wax and Grease Remover, hang in my nifty little paint box, then cover with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator - eight or nine coats minimum of 15 minutes between "pairs" of coats, full day between fourth and fifth/subsequent coats. Then light sand with 320, wipe with W&G remover again and spray two coats with Eastwood Extreme Chassis black, dry overnight, three more coats X.C.B.

Time will tell how well they hold up. This car will only see Good Weather driving, and no gravel on the roads I will normally be on. YMMV.

Allan R

Looks great! Did you end up sanding out the bushing ears? I found that even the smallest amount of paint makes the tolerance too tight for a nice press fit.

BackInTheGame

Yes, I removed the paint from the bushing openings. I sanded them out with 120# wet-or-dry. During the painting, I tried not to get too much in there, but obviously wanted the best coverage I could obtain. When I pressed in the bushings, both the CA's and bushings had copious amounts of high-temp water resistant grease applied. It helps to have a HF 12T press, also

I'll do the same for the rear Control Arms in the coming weeks. The mechanics of the entire chassis are being refreshed; brakes, suspension, steering - all of it. Well, everything that can be done with the body still on, anyway...

Macadoo

Yeah okay, that looks pretty sharp.