Spindles ready . paint or powder coat?

[SHU]

Hello everyone been long time sense I been on here just getting back to work on my 68 ! Got the spindles off doner truck (78) this weekend and was wondering if I should paint or powdercoat them ? Thanks in advance for any help . Shu

[averagef250]

Practically speaking, powdercoat is intended and really only bonds well to thin cross section materials. Powdercoat shines in indoor sheetmetal applications that aren't exposed to sunlight. For stuff like that it's great.

Powdercoat doesn't bond well to thicker materials because they don't heat evenly in the bake ovens like thin parts do. parts and assemblies that have varying crssectional thickness are impossible to achieve an effective powdercoat bond in all places because the surface temperature of the part will vary with the thickness.

Also, my opinion is powdercoat is terrible to work with on anything with bores or bosses with "fits" for a bearing, pressed shaft, sliding shaft or threads. You have to mechanically clean any close tolerance features in addition to masking after the parts are coated. It may not sound like a bad job, but it can be a ton of work on some parts and on thicker section parts where the coating is poorly bonded the more it's handled, the more chips you will have. Poorly bonded powdercoat chips very easily.

For automatic chassis and drivetrain parts I recommend using a two part Urathane industrial/equipment coating if you want the best of the best. Two products I use with excellent results are Sherwin Williams industrial Polane and Cloverdale Clovathane.

Spray the parts after they're assembled. It may look nice to see all your shiny bolt heads poking out, but you will probably scratch the parts assembling them and painted fasteners will still look like painted fasteners in 10 years whereas zinc plated bolts will be faded and be rusty in a few years. Stainless is cool, but it isn't as strong as a grade 8 bolt.

The really cool part about not powdercoating stuff is in 20 years when the powdercoat is shot a painted part can be stripped without too much hassle and recoated. Powdercoated stuff might as well be tossed. The only effective way to remove it is to bake it off. If your part can't withstand a 1000 degree oven then it shouldn't be coated to begin with.

[Swegner99]

averagef250, it really seems like you have a lot of experience in this area... Thanks for all the info, I learned a lot

[SHU]

Swegner99 said exactly what I was going to say ! Sounds like I should strip everything down , blast it, prime it,put it back together then paint it all at one time. Thanks Shu

[averagef250]

Learned some lessons the hard way and happy to pass on what I know.

Search for businesses in your area that specialize in cleaning metal NOT sandblasting, rather alternatives to blasting. Sand gets everywhere and doesn't clean outside line of sight. You also have to put your faith in a guy who doesn't care much, who's eating sand, to not wreck your parts.

I use a local business for cleaning most of my parts. Their standard process for ferrous parts is a caustic soda then electrolysis clean and de-rust. You really can't beat it, parts come back looking better than new, ready for paint or assembly. They do aluminum parts as well in some sort of cold operation. The aluminum removes all paint and grease, but leaves corrosion so it will still need glass beaded.

The ferrous process is around 40 cents a pound, aluminum they price by the part, $5-$20 a piece.

[SHU]

Thanks again averagef250 ! I am worried about someone messing up parts that are hard to get (especially part where race's and bearings go ) . I talked to the guy at machine shop about pressing in and reaming my bushing's he want's to do his work first then I can get them cleaned up and primed. I am not sure about that, seem's like that could mess up the bushing's .What would be your input on this matter? Again thanks for help ! SHU

[averagef250]

Why is the guy hesitant to work on them once they're cleaned and primed? He doesn't want to scratch them?

[SHU]

Hello averagef250, I guess that's it he didn't give a reason also I didn't ask(guess I should have). I'm just going to clean and prime them first, then take them to him. It's easier to tuch up primer than paint! Thanks SHU