Paint or Powdercoat??

[captdigi]

I'm toying with the idea of tearing down my DB1 and refinishing the frame. I'm looking for opinions and reasons for finishing with Paint vs. Powdercoat. Thanks in advance for the advice.
Cheers!
John

[RoadHazard]

I'm no expert, but that won't stop me from speaking up!

The good news: powder coat is tougher.
The bad news: powder coat is tougher.

That is, a powder-coated frame won't scratch or discolor as easily over time. It wears like iron. That's normally good, unless you need to repair the frame. Then it's hard to get the powder coating off the affected area so you can weld it. And after you've done the weld, you can't really re-coat it.

Powder coating also hides small cracks, which paint doesn't. So you might not see that small crack developing underneath your beautifully powder-coated frame.

[Jon Jeffords]

John, a search on this topic should reveal some previous debates along these lines. From what I recall, powdercoating is more durable, but a b*tch to remove when repairing. Color is also a consideration for both, as lighter colors reveal cracks more readily than black.

[Phil Wellner]

I'm interested in responses to this question too -- I'm considering doing the same with my DB-1 this winter, does refinishing the frame mean that the belly pan has to be removed and then re-bonded/riveted after painting or powder coating?

[carnut169]

I've done both options and like the pc better as the paint did scratch easily... makes the chassis look old way before it really is.

[TimW]

I'm interested in responses to this question too -- I'm considering doing the same with my DB-1 this winter, does refinishing the frame mean that the belly pan has to be removed and then re-bonded/riveted after painting or powder coating?

Yes. And you'll need to mask and/or strip any finish on the surface of the frame you use to bond the bellypan.

Personally, I've always done paint due to its ease of repair, and when assembling a newly painted frame cover the obvious spots for scratch on assembly with 3M painters tape until I'm done.

Another option is using PPG DLP90 primer as the top coat on the frame. Its an etching primer so it is very hard. However it is not UV resistant so don't park your Swift on the street for days on end...

Tim

[formulasuper]

The guys that prefer powder coat are usually the guys that pay someone else to refinish their parts. You just about have to grind powder coating off to remove it & like someone mentioned, since it is more flexible than paint it will not chip off when the metal it is on is stretched or slightly cracked under the stress of an accident or hard bump. A good hard paint, such as lacquer will show damage best.

[Brian]

I go to two extremes on this, or possibly three... (no lack of commitment on my part, no sirreee)...

Powder coat is good for a car that needs to look good. It gives a great finish, it's strong and long lasting. You can loosen it up with a torch to get it off, after you burn it it's somehow not as strong.

A "power-coat simulator/alternative almost" is POR-15. The stuff is easy to apply at home, is better on rough once-rusty metal than on new, you have to go through application steps and it lasts really well. You can get a decent finish brushing it on, but it's not as good as powder coat. I haven't tried the burn it off method of refinishing, but somehow I think the flame wrench will win - it usually does

I wouldn't bother painting a chassis with high end car paint. It will scratch as bad as cheap paint, but you can touch it in. I hate working on cars where you have an expensive yet fragile finish where you need to be ultra careful with the bodywork all the time so you don't scratch the chassis...

Hence - What I use on my personal cars is rust paint from a spray bomb. It lasts about a weekend, on high wear areas, but I just re-spray them a couple of times a year...

Brian

[ghoneycutt]

I was faced with the same question when I did my frame-up in the winter of 2006.
For ease of future repair and the ability to notice cracked paint at failing stress points,
I decided gray enamel paint. I had an outdoor furniture re-finisher blast then paint the bare frame. He made a couple of aerosol cans of the color for me for touch up.

I wrecked the car kinda hard in October, 2007 and was glad I chose paint. Easy to remove the paint on some damaged frame areas for welding then re-paint to match.

Greg

[Garey Guzman]

....Another option is using PPG DLP90 primer as the top coat on the frame. Its an etching primer so it is very hard. However it is not UV resistant so don't park your Swift on the street for days on end...

Tim

I just went to a PPG paint training class and one of the sheets in the booklet is about the DPLF Epoxy Primer. It's listed as having 6 color choices

I thought I had heard about DLP90 that was available in spray cans but the PPG guy said he'd never heard of that.

[996kyle]

I went thru the same debate when looking at doing my car.
Paint will chip immediately and color powdercoating hides the cracks.
I chose to use CLEAR powdercoat, this way i can see any cracking (that may occur) and it looks cool. There should not any cost difference for clear other than the fact you will need to prep the parts really well.

Cheers
Kyle

[Larry]

I powder coated my Reynard chassis, and it looks good. In fact, it looked new when it was finished. After my first off-course, it showed a LOT of little stone chips and nicks. If I had it to do over again (which will probably be next year), I'd paint it instead, and I'd use Rustoleum. It's easy to match up, quick to fix and easy for repairs.

Larry Oliver
International Racing Products

[jwr914]

Doesn't normal power coating temperatures reach a level that artificially ages aluminum? A quick search of the web shows special low temperature power coat processes for aluminum. Hopefully your supplier is using the correct powders.

James

[Riaanc]

FYI, I place smaller powdercoated items in an Acetone bath to remove the coating. It works 90% of the time. Regards Riaan

[RobLav]

I painted my new Citation chassis with DPLF epoxy primer. The paint is fairly tough but still sands off easily - like to weld all those new brackets that you didn't think of before ya painted it.

[jgrooms]

Hi,

I am thinking about painting my DB-1 frame too and would like to know if anyone can help me with the original paint color/ paint code / paint type?

Thanks in advance.

John

[ZEKESPEED]

Kephos Coating

Kephos is a black, solvent-based coating made from a blend of resins, pigment and a phosphating base material.

Kephos is sprayed on and when stoved it offers an attractive low gloss finish with good corrosion resistance. Kephos also offers a high level of resistance to solvent, oils and lubricants, while allowing for crack testing of the component without disturbing the coating. These properties make Kephos an ideal coating for the motor sport industry.

Kephos is often the coating choice to follow a shot peening application.

[Greg Mercurio]

Rattle can Krylon or Rustoleum or some other cheap paint. When I had my VD stripped in December, the stripper asked what was on the frame. The price to strip powder is 2-3 times higher than enamel due to the extra labor and the media they have to use. It's also easier to strip at home as well. Touch up is just too easy to talk about.

[Alan Dezzani]

Greg makes a good point. If you plan on periodically striping your car (and frame) down for a complete rebuild, I’d also recommend paint. I had the frame of Royale RP24 powder coated a few years ago and it looked great. However This past year I decided to strip the frame down to bare metal to inspect for cracks and have it straightend. Removing the powder coat was a big pain. The paint shop I was working with stated it cost way more time and resources to remove the powder coat than to actually paint the frame (but they did give me a good price break). An option the shop suggested was to only remove the powder coat from around the welds and use paint at those locations. This would make future crack inspections significantly lest costly.
Most of the paints this application are pretty durable and available in a wide variety of colors. So if a section of your frame requires repainting, color matching is easier than it would be for powder coating. Also my experience with powder coating is that it does show any cracks that might develop in the frame, so I think it does have an advantage there. It was also my experience that brake fluid is a good solvent for removing powder coat.
Alan Dezzani

[T644HU05]

Powdercoat is for show cars, paint is for racecars.