I’m considering sending my wheel wells, A-arms, Cross member and radiator support in to get powder coated.
Just wondering how different from a factory finish does it look?
What do you ask for to get it close? Semi gloss?

My frame is already powder coated.
This will be a driver that I want to look stock but it WILL be driven a lot.
Thanks!
-peter

 

Some of the parts in the following picture have been powder coated in " semi gloss black " .
Some have been painted with a semi gloss black Rustoleum " paint plus primer " from a spray can .
You tell me what you think , which is which ?

 

The front end pieces on my ****** (drag and street) inc axle, tie rods, springs were all powder coated. Looked great for a year. Pretty soon, rock chips from street driving appeared and eventually led to the whole works looking like a bad case of acne. And of course, powder coat at that time wouldn't allow for touch up without a total strip and redo.

My second ******.......drag car only.....was rattle can'd in semi gloss black It too after a year began to show chips and paint shed. So, with a little brake clean and some 320 grit wet/dry, and a quick spray, good as new.

Short answer.......powder coat for non drivers, paint for drivers if you feel like the touch up process.

 

Powdercoat, when done properly, is much more durable than paint. As a painter, I always recommend powder coat for wheels, chassis, suspension, rear end housing, and any parts that may exposed to more abuse or chemicals than a paint job would. I have unlimited access and ability to paint, but my frame, a-arms, caliper brackets, etc are all powder coat. They can make powder coat any level of sheen you want.

 

I powder coated my frame, springs, radiator support, and control arms. The prep process is very important if you want the finish to last. I had all of the parts sand blasted and sprayed with a primer coat from the same company as the powder top coat. For the most part its a very durable finish, but my frame already has a few nicks where it was hit with wrenches and ratchets. Powder coat is not very flexible; it didn't last too long on my springs and flaked off after compressing the springs. I really love it on my radiator support; nothing seems to hurt the finish, anti-freeze, brake fluid, and other chemicals have not left any scars.

rodney

 

Thats odd. Powdercoat is polyester. Flexibility is part of the appeal. I think there’s lot of guys out there using inferior products, not blasting everything properly, mishandling parts, etc to get these results. Powdercoat should be basically bulletproof in comparison to paint. You should be able to bend and fold metal and straighten back out without cracking powdercoat.

When I have parts that are difficult to paint or are rusty, I have my powdercoat guy blast them and powder primer them for me. I’ve done my inner fenders, running boards, grille, and many other parts this way even though I’ll end up painting them with the body.

 

Jason
I've considered the same thing about powder coat being flexible. My springs were not new; I think the problem was there was still some rust under the powder coat or something that prevented the primer from getting a good bite into the metal.

 

To the OP I say paint. But it does vary according to application, aesthetics and price.

Any catalyzed paint will hold up better than and uncatalyzed paint. Lacquer & straight enamel paints use solvents to "dry". They're thermoplastic; they reflow when heat or solvent is applied. Catalyzed urethanes (and other "thanes") are thermoset; they do not reflow when heat of solvent is applied. So when you talking about paint vs powder coat it's good to specify paint quality.



As automotive refinish products go, the closer you get to a resin product the harder the product is, the less it shrinks and the less flexible it becomes. If you slam a shopping cart into a fiberglass body it wont dent like steel, but it will crack the gel coat. Corvettes (at least prior to the C4) are made from polyester resin; when was the last time you saw one get wrinkled up and smoothed back out? It's just the opposite; if you crack polyester gel coat you have to remove ALL of it before a quality repair is completed. It is anything but flexible.

 

Can't say enough about powder coating. Did all my control arms, rear end and associated 15 years ago and I just get underneath with a rag and some Simple Green every fall to keep everything clean enough to eat off.

 

Powdercoat can also be thermoset or thermoplastic. That may be the cause of some people’s poor experiences with powdercoat. It may be an applicator using a cheaper product that isn’t best suited for the application.


All automotive paint products have a resin base. It’s just a matter of what type of resin. Enamel, acrylic, urethane, polyester, etc. Urethane and polyester resins being much more flexible than acrylic. Your example is one where the resin is combined with fiber to make fiberglass to make it structural. That’s apples to oranges. Things like body filler and primer that are made specifically to be more flexible on plastic parts are made from polyester. Just because the fiberglass panels on a corvette crack, doesn’t mean polyester isn’t more flexible than the other available resins at the time.

https://garage.eastwood.com/eastwood...ting-flexible/

I know Eastwood isn’t exactly the end all source of information, but do yourself a favor and google the subject and you’ll find the results overwhelmingly agree that powder coat is the more durable, most flexible option.