Painting frame and suspension parts

CarolinaHD

CarolinaHD

Well-Known Member ?
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Location
Gold Hill
In the middle of a mini restoration on my 03 3500 and I'm wondering what's the best way to go about painting the frame and various suspension parts? The frame will be blasted to bare metal and the suspension pieces can be to.

I've read online about coating the frame in acid to make it rust a little to promote better adhesion. I just bought some rustoleum spray paint and primer but I want to do it right...

Primer?
Paint, spray on or roll on?
Rubberized undercoat?

I'm open to any and all suggestions, thanks



Update 3/8...
Well, a mini restoration turned into a full blown frame off this weekend so I'm now looking into having the entire frame painted proffesional. Still not done with blasting.....:kaioken:

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I don't have the space to paint all of it correctly and the weather won't cooperate for at least a month or 2. Does anyone have a shop recommendation? Google came up with Holbert Trailers

Paint & Body Repair – Charlotte NC Truck Repair, TrailerRepair, Truck Sales, Trailer Sales

Also any ideas on how to get in the nooks and crannies and inside the front frame horns better?
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I used Chassissaver from Magnet Paints on my TJ. It is tough as nails in some places and has big adhesion issues in others. I can't really hate on it because it was probably a prep error on my part... I guess what I'm saying is it's good stuff if you do it right.
 
You can blast it, use kleenstrip prep and etch from Home Depot.
Rinse rinse rinse dry and use epoxy primer. If you let the acid dry on it it won't adhere. Rewet with acid and then rinse rinse rinse. Or you can blast , hit it with rustconverter ultra and then top coat with rustolium pro in the can.


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Falko said:
I used Chassissaver from Magnet Paints on my TJ. It is tough as nails in some places and has big adhesion issues in others. I can't really hate on it because it was probably a prep error on my part... I guess what I'm saying is it's good stuff if you do it right.
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Thanks, I know prep work is gonna be key here so I wanna do it right the first time.


josh m said:
You can blast it, use kleenstrip prep and etch from Home Depot.
Rinse rinse rinse dry and use epoxy primer. If you let the acid dry on it it won't adhere. Rewet with acid and then rinse rinse rinse. Or you can blast , hit it with rustconverter ultra and then top coat with rustolium pro in the can.


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Thanks I wasn't aware of the rustconverter ultra.



I'm still leaning towards using rustoleum in a can because it cheap, readily available, and touch ups will be easier.
 
Rust converter is the cheaper route. Some folks put two or three coats on and run it. It's a polymer that is more resistant to brake fluid and brakeleen than spray can paint.


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I would guess that the stuff he is talking about has phosphoric acid in it like ospho
 
I say clean the metal really well, weather thats blasting or acid. Make sure there are no residue left. Epoxy/etching primer. Epoxy paint. Make sure the paint & primer are compatible.

I've seen way to many solvent pops in paint from cheap/incompatible primer
 
The more I research the more I'm shying away from acid. I think the best bet for the frame is sand blast and epoxy primer then rustoleum pro spray can as mentioned.


Any insight on suspension parts? Powder coating vs just painting it like the frame..
 
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POR15 is some tough stuff.
 
POR is good stuff, just make sure you prep it well. It doesn't work well if you have a smooth surface. Sandblasted surfaces or rusty pitted surfaces adhere better for me. I've had bad experiences with the POR chassis paint.
Here's a link to the prep and etch. Klean-Strip 1 gal. Phosphoric Prep and Etch GKPA30220 at The Home Depot - Mobile
I've not used the ospho stuff so I can't compare.
This is the converter stuff Amazon.com: Rust Converter ULTRA, Highly Effective Professional Grade Rust Repair (1 Gallon): Automotive
This stuff works well and holds up to chemicals, I don't know how. it's water based comes out of the bottle white, turns metal black and is pretty tough. Top coat if you want, or not. Budget friendly and easy clean up.
The epoxy on prepped frame is best of all. Just my opinion.


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CarolinaHD said:
How does powder coating hold up compared to painting?
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Very well, much better than paint in fact. The problem is that if/when the frame gets chipped or otherwise damaged, it's a lot harder to touchup or recoat powdercoat than paint. It's also very difficult to remove for welding, etc. If neither of those things are functionally a problem, then I would powdercoat for durability. Would I do it on anything that goes offroad? No. Street vehicles? Yes.

Powdercoat is great for suspension parts, because they're a lot easier to remove and handle than a full frame, so the damage or repair/welding issues are much more manageable. You can remove the powdercoat, or swap in another suspension part if needed.
 
The rustolium pro spray will lift itself if you respray it outside of its flash time. Make sure you got enough cause if you come back tomorrow and touch it up it'll piss you off. If it's not a show truck, get a quart and brush or roll most of it and do the corners with the spray can. It'll give you a much thicker build and flow pretty smooth as it dries.


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PPG shopline jp series epoxy. It's a two part you mix then shoot. You can get it in black or grey. It all depends on how crazy you wanna go with the budget. I restored a fiat 124 coupe last year for a customer (show car) we ceramic coated all the suspension parts. Stripped all the undercoating and POR 15ed and epoxy coated everything that wasn't ceramic coated. He's done well showing it. Did a cj5 last year and shot the Eastwood chassis paint with ceramic. It turned out well too. It was a 2k also. The Eastwood has a slight texture, it looks good but dirt will stick to it better.


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josh m said:
PPG shopline jp series epoxy. It's a two part you mix then shoot. You can get it in black or grey. It all depends on how crazy you wanna go with the budget. I restored a fiat 124 coupe last year for a customer (show car) we ceramic coated all the suspension parts. Stripped all the undercoating and POR 15ed and epoxy coated everything that wasn't ceramic coated. He's done well showing it. Did a cj5 last year and shot the Eastwood chassis paint with ceramic. It turned out well too. It was a 2k also. The Eastwood has a slight texture, it looks good but dirt will stick to it better.
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So why did you ceramic coat the suspension parts? I understand making them shiny metallic or whatever, but using a high temp ceramic paint on suspension bits isn't doing much else...
 
Ceracoat same finish used on guns. Bet we had nearly 10k in labor on that thing. I sure was glad to see that project go. Seems like was looking at the bottom of that car for months.


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Getting going on a 67 t bird 4 door now. Have the 428 back from the machine shop tomorrow hopefully I'll have it stripped down next week and ready to put the body on a cart.
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Customer like what we did with the front suspension and frame, and said to go ahead and pull the body and do it all.


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Lots of good info thanks guys, especially josh m. This is a 3500hd flatbed work truck I'm working on. It'll see a fair amount of time off road and in the mud. Think I got a game plan in mind, powder coat the small parts and do the rustoleum pro in a can. Probably gonna need half a case..
 
josh m said:
Customer wanted it. He wanted the best thing out there. Hell we even ceramic coated the axle.
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josh m said:
Ceracoat same finish used on guns. Bet we had nearly 10k in labor on that thing. I sure was glad to see that project go. Seems like was looking at the bottom of that car for months.
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Ah, that explains it. Cerakote should be pretty durable, yeah. An epoxy coating with ceramic particles in it (cerakote) should be just as durable as powdercoat, depending on prep and application thickness. Some of the best powdercoat chemistries are epoxy-based as well.

I was thinking you were using actual ceramic coatings for exhausts instead of a ceramic-filled polymer/epoxy.
 
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We used the cerakote baked on ceramic coating, Carolina ceramic coating stuff. Its used on exhaust primarily. It's tough stuff. The Eastwood stuff is a 2k air cure with ceramic epoxy nano blah blah.


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Rust Inhibitor and Concrete Coating. Garage Paint Rust Paint for Rust Repair. Stop Rust for Good! | Rust Bullet

That shit's incredible. I've used the silver on large galvanized valves that go on cargo vessels. Where we welded on flanges and such, you had to grind off the galvanizing. We'd use Rust Bullet to touch up instead of sending them off to get dipped again. Within a year on the boat, the galvanized areas were showing rust. The Rust Bullet still looked as good as the day it went out! And we really half-assed it. No prep, etch, prime, whatever. Painted over anti-spatter, one thick coat. It recommends two. It always stuck and did well. Stinks like hell, though.
 
catfishblues said:
Rust Inhibitor and Concrete Coating. Garage Paint Rust Paint for Rust Repair. Stop Rust for Good! | Rust Bullet

That shit's incredible. I've used the silver on large galvanized valves that go on cargo vessels. Where we welded on flanges and such, you had to grind off the galvanizing. We'd use Rust Bullet to touch up instead of sending them off to get dipped again. Within a year on the boat, the galvanized areas were showing rust. The Rust Bullet still looked as good as the day it went out! And we really half-assed it. No prep, etch, prime, whatever. Painted over anti-spatter, one thick coat. It recommends two. It always stuck and did well. Stinks like hell, though.
Click to expand...

I've looked at that stuff. I'll have to give it a try after reading your post.
 
catfishblues said:
Rust Inhibitor and Concrete Coating. Garage Paint Rust Paint for Rust Repair. Stop Rust for Good! | Rust Bullet

That shit's incredible. I've used the silver on large galvanized valves that go on cargo vessels. Where we welded on flanges and such, you had to grind off the galvanizing. We'd use Rust Bullet to touch up instead of sending them off to get dipped again. Within a year on the boat, the galvanized areas were showing rust. The Rust Bullet still looked as good as the day it went out! And we really half-assed it. No prep, etch, prime, whatever. Painted over anti-spatter, one thick coat. It recommends two. It always stuck and did well. Stinks like hell, though.
Click to expand...


We used that on our boat trailer that we took to the beach sometimes. That's some good shit
 
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