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Trailing arm refinishing?
I searched on plating and found lots on spring plate plating but what are guys doing to their trailing arms? Yellow zinc? powdercoat? Rattle can?
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1980 911SC Targa 3.6L |
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03-21-2005, 08:58 AM
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Will program for food
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I am going to powdercoat most of my rear suspension, just removed it over the weekend.
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Greg Hnat 87 Targa Disassembled 90 944 S2 Auto-x, DE and semi-daily driver 98 Jeep Cherokee |
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03-21-2005, 10:49 AM
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polish
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'75 911S 3.0L '75 914 3.2 Honda J '67 912R-STi '05 Cayenne Turbo '99 LR Disco 2, gone but not forgotten |
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03-21-2005, 11:18 AM
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I left the trailing arm as-was. The bare aluminium looks nice, there's no rust problem, the part doesn't get that dirty, and it is not particularly visible either (e.g. through the wheelwells).
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1989 3.2 Carrera coupe; 1988 Westy Vanagon, Zetec; 1986 E28 M30; 1994 W124; 2004 S211 What? Uh . . . “he” and “him”? |
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03-21-2005, 11:26 AM
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I polished a cast swing arm on a motorcycle once. It look great for a while and then it looked like crap. I'm planning to grit blast mine and leave them like that.
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2014 Cayman S (track rat w/GT4 suspension) 1979 930 (475 rwhp at 0.95 bar) |
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03-21-2005, 11:29 AM
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Simple cleaning of the aluminum version was all that was needed ( remove cosmoline) to look good....I presume we're not talking steel piece.
Wil
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Wil Ferch 85 Carrera ( gone, but not forgotten ) |
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03-21-2005, 11:33 AM
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Has anyone ever painted their trailing arms? MichiganMat--how did you polish yours?
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1980 911SC Targa 3.6L |
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04-18-2005, 03:43 PM
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The trailing arms are pretty soft metal-- you could polish them, or send them to be polished, like Gunnar Racing does, but by the time you get done beating on them, dropping them, slamming them into the torsion bar tube, scratching them with the spring plate, jacking them up, getting grease on them from the CV joints, heating them with a torch to install bearings or monoballs, and just generally abusing them, you'll be happy that they are UNDER the car and not sitting on your coffee table at home.
Nor would I paint or powdercoat them. If a crack develops, you want to be able to see it clearly, and remember, they are under the car. If you drive off-track they're going to get scratched and beat up. I say pressure wash them, scrub them with a scotchbrite and call them cool.
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'66 911 #304065 Irischgruen ‘96 993 Carrera 2 Polarsilber '81 R65 Ex-'71 911 PCA C-Stock Club Racer #806 (Sold 5/15/13) Ex-'88 Carrera (Sold 3/29/02) Ex-'91 Carrera 2 Cabriolet (Sold 8/20/04) Ex-'89 944 Turbo S (Sold 8/21/20) |
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04-18-2005, 04:14 PM
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I cleaned mine up until they looked nice and then sprayed them with clear enamel (Rustoleum, Sp?) I thought that would make them easier to clean when on the car and hopefully prevent corrosion for awhile.
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Marv Evans '69 911E |
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04-18-2005, 05:01 PM
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Jeeeez John...you make so much sense it kills me! I was going to powdercoat mine clear.
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Jake Gulick, Black Rock, CT. '73 yellow 911E , & 2003 BMW M3 Cab. Ex: 84 Mazda RX-7 SCCA racer. did ok with it, set some records, won some races, but it wore out, LOL[/B] |
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04-18-2005, 05:13 PM
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Anybody have any pictues????
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Brian BLK 79-930 |
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04-18-2005, 06:03 PM
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Here's a pic to show what the brush can do
Just a few seconds with the wire brush-wow what a diff. I'll post a few pics when I'm done.
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1980 911SC Targa 3.6L |
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04-18-2005, 07:59 PM
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If I had mine off again, I'd do that baking soda blast I think. Otherwise, power wash & Scotchbright or somethng like Jon T above. Something that doesn't take much time... they ARE under the car...
I cleaned mine in a parts washing tank and rubbed them down with Linseed oil and Rottenstone... no wait, that was something else....
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"A man with his priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile." - Ferris Bueller's Day Off |
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04-18-2005, 08:55 PM
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Don't use a steel wire wheel on them. The steel particles will embed themselves in the soft aluminum and rust, making the arm look worse.
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'66 911 #304065 Irischgruen ‘96 993 Carrera 2 Polarsilber '81 R65 Ex-'71 911 PCA C-Stock Club Racer #806 (Sold 5/15/13) Ex-'88 Carrera (Sold 3/29/02) Ex-'91 Carrera 2 Cabriolet (Sold 8/20/04) Ex-'89 944 Turbo S (Sold 8/21/20) |
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04-19-2005, 05:50 AM
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A good point -- use brass. Or if that is too soft (unlikely) you can find stainless steel brushes too (tho they might still rust depending on how 'stainless' they are).
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"A man with his priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile." - Ferris Bueller's Day Off |
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04-19-2005, 10:57 AM
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I just went through the same thing with mine...
Started with the wire brush on the drill - WOW that looks pretty COOL !! Then took them to the bead blaster to get all the nooks & crannies - WOW that looks even better ! I wound up buying a rattle can of metal etching primer and semi-gloss black rattle can from a Savage auto paint shop and the final product looked pretty awesome ! Sorry I don't haev any photos with me here, but I'll try to post a thread of some of it later this week.... I thought the semi-gloss black would hide some road gunk plus be fairly easy to wipe down....
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Richard W. Red '70 E, 2.2 White (w/ Red & Blue), '82SC, "Frankenstein" -a bit tweeked |
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04-19-2005, 11:49 AM
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here's the finished product waiting for installation
Installed ERP's monoballs, polished with a wire brush, wiped down with thinner and then sprayed 3 coats of Eastwoods Diamond Cote clear coat. Looks good now but we'll see how they do after a few track events.
 
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1980 911SC Targa 3.6L |
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04-22-2005, 11:02 PM
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Southern Class & Sass
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Polish them? Paint them? They're going to look like crap in a week....
I just washed the worst of the dirt off so they'd be easier to handle while pressing in the bushings. (Trust me, they were filthy when they came out.) The only reason I plated my spring plates was for rust protection.
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Dixie Bradenton, FL 2013 Camaro ZL1 |
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04-23-2005, 05:05 AM
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Ok Debbie Downer! You're probably right but damm(*&t they'll look good for a few hours/days until I drive it. Its just hard to put a dirty part back onto a car while its all apart.
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1980 911SC Targa 3.6L |
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04-23-2005, 07:29 AM
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It'll be easier to clean if its polished.
No comment on whether this is worthwhile or not...
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"A man with his priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile." - Ferris Bueller's Day Off |
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04-23-2005, 11:34 AM
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944
Jeep
911
Helga
1975 Porsche 914
1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2
1979 Porsche 930 3.4
1979 Porsche 930 3.3L Turbo
My Camaro
