Clear coat front suspension?

Shaun @ Tru6 · 03:33 PM

I'm redoing the suspension on the E this spring and my original plan was to bring the parts down to bare metal, shoot wtih cold galvanizing compound and then semi-gloss black for the A-arms, Chrysler Orange for the Koni's.

After getting down to metal though, the struts and A-arms have this great industrial look and I'm wondering if you can just clear these.

Will they rust? dumb idea?

mb911 · mb911's Garage

POWDER COAT

this will keep them nice for a long time

the · 02-27-2007, 03:30 PM

If you like the look, you could clear powder coat.

But even with regular clear paint, they wouldn't rust any more than they would with colored paint. Clear paint is still paint.

Wavey · 02-27-2007, 03:32 PM

Hey Shaun!

I've done some clearcoat on sandblasted or glassbeaded steel and aluminum, and it looks great. I'd definitely recommend the blasting process (followed by a solvent wash) as it really cleans the metal, provides a more consistent finish, and provides a "tooth" for the paint to grip. No reason why it wouldn't hold up as well as pigmented paint. A catalyzed automotive paint is going to be a lot tougher than anything in spray cans though, and would be more suitable for the abuse that suspension pieces get.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 02-27-2007, 03:32 PM

Thanks Ben, can you powder coat clear?

or are you saying to go black on the A-arms; Orange on the Koni struts? Are than any issues with the thickness of powder coat in the ball joint hole?

lateapex911 · 02-27-2007, 03:34 PM

If you clear, I'd powder coat. They'll get lots of raod hash down there and normal paint will chip, esp without primer. Then it's rust city, and fast.

I powder coated mine at home. Fun and easy.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 02-27-2007, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wavey
Hey Shaun!

I've done some clearcoat on sandblasted or glassbeaded steel and aluminum, and it looks great. I'd definitely recommend the blasting process (followed by a solvent wash) as it really cleans the metal, provides a more consistent finish, and provides a "tooth" for the paint to grip. No reason why it wouldn't hold up as well as pigmented paint. A catalyzed automotive paint is going to be a lot tougher than anything in spray cans though, and would be more suitable for the abuse that suspension pieces get.

Hi Dave! Look for an email, was thinking about you the other day. Powder clear is starting to look good. I took these down with stripper and grinder/brush. They've got a lot of "history", that's for sure and perhaps too much tooth here and there!

I'll look into some coaters around here.

lateapex911 · 02-27-2007, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
Thanks Ben, can you powder coat clear?

or are you saying to go black on the A-arms; Orange on the Koni struts? Are than any issues with the thickness of powder coat in the ball joint hole?

No, the ball joint hole, like other holes gets masked or plugged.

heres a shot of mine, ....

lateapex911 · 02-27-2007, 03:46 PM

Ooops...sorry, wrong file....

here's what they REALLY look like. (I'll just leave that for the heck of it, OK?)

Shaun @ Tru6 · 02-27-2007, 03:50 PM

From a color perspective, that was exactly what I wanted at first.

Love brunettes!

yes, please leave that pic.

nice work on the strut and A-arm. Sent a PM, can you send one back with info on the colors you used.

also going iwth ER bearings, but just sold the ER front sway bar hoping to find something as effective, but more period correct.

cbeers · 02-28-2007, 09:31 AM

Hey Shaun!

You and I are working in parallel again

I currently have my front suspension off and just last night got done cleaning and prepping for the install. Also got the ER stuff all set up last night and will install tonight.

I can appreciate the amount of effort that must have taken to get those to bare metal. Even just cleaning 20 years of road grime took some time for me........

Pics coming soon. I hope

-Chris

lateapex911 · 02-28-2007, 01:06 PM

Chris, just make sure your pics have some "content", if you know what i mean, wink wink...

cbeers · 02-28-2007, 01:46 PM

Jake, I laughed my ass off when I saw that pic !!!

I was thinking, "thank goodness this didn't happen in an email or something to someone you wouldn't want seeing that!!!"

BTW, nice job on the other thread!

-Chris

rs6er · rs6er's Garage

Take a look at my fan.

DW SD · 02-28-2007, 02:35 PM

You can use Por-15 as well. It comes in clear.
That stuff is very durable, similar to powder coat and you can apply it at home.
www.por15.com. I like their small cans. You can open up and don't feel bad about throwing away the remaining.

Doug

Shaun @ Tru6 · 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by cbeers
Hey Shaun!

You and I are working in parallel again

I currently have my front suspension off and just last night got done cleaning and prepping for the install. Also got the ER stuff all set up last night and will install tonight.

I can appreciate the amount of effort that must have taken to get those to bare metal. Even just cleaning 20 years of road grime took some time for me........

Pics coming soon. I hope

-Chris

Hey Chris, how is the install going?

I'm still where I was a week ago. ebb and flow of business is killing all my play time, but then that's a good thing.

thanks Doug for the POR15 info, something more to consider.

scottbooth · 03-02-2007, 08:42 AM

Shaun (and others) - those suspension parts look great.

Wondering what you guys recommend to strip the old paint, dirt and rust off. Bead blast (or some other medium)? Chemical paint stripper or parts cleaner? Wire brush?

I am stripping the undercoating and PVC from the bottom of my car and plan to POR-15 it when done. So I will be stripping and refinishing the suspension pieces as well, since they will be removed from the car. (This is a "while you're in there" that started from a single spot of rust discovered during my oil cooler upgrade.)

After the pain of stripping the PVC from the body shell I am thinking that a bead blaster might be a great help for the smaller parts. Or for the tub if I could go back in time.

Thanks
Scott

Shaun @ Tru6 · 03-02-2007, 08:54 AM

Scott, a bead blaster with proper media would be great for parts like these. Just have to be careful not to pit the surface, so perhaps walnuts would work well.

I found that a torch and heavy duty scraper worked well for me when stripping a 73 tub. Media tends to just bounce off undercoating, which is really just doing it's job if you think about all the road dirt that hits the underside of your car.

For these parts, I used stripper and grinder/brush and am happy with how they came out, just a lot of work and you'll never get into crevices like you can with media.

cbeers · 03-02-2007, 09:06 AM

Hey Shaun,

It's going OK, but slow. It wasn't until last night that I finally started putting parts back on the car. It takes a while to clean and prep parts! Plus, I had the Elephant stuff to get on too. I am stuck with one of the self aligning washer stacks, clearance issue with the crossmember. I'll get it sorted though. I hope to have it done soon and back on the road!

I hope all is well

-Chris