a-arms & struts refinish

JTL · JTL's Garage

I have pretty much the whole front suspension removed from the car. The parts are blasted clean and waiting for the next step. The a-arms and underbelly parts should probably be coated with something durable, epoxy paint or powercoat?

I considered painting the strut housings either the original green or yellow to match the new rear Bilsteins. Aren't the rsr struts also yellow?

I have heard powder coating is pricey? Eastwood advertises some DIY powdercoating equipment for a fairly low price. Are those even worth looking at?

I'm looking for some ideas and options...

Thanks, jt
-84 targa

Evans, Marv · 03-09-2007, 08:51 PM

I'd just find a place to powdercoat them. Prices are pretty reasonable and it's a PITA to do it yourself, unless you want to do it for the fun of it. Remember to tell them to cover the places on the A-arms where you removed the rubber bushings - assuming you removed them.

JTL · JTL's Garage

Marv,
Thanks for you reply. Yep, the rubber bushes are gone. I'm replacing them with some ER bearings but couldn't bring myself to install the new stuff on the filthy arms. After getting the arms off I took one look at the struts and they came off too. This is also a good time to chisel the black crusty crap off from around the upper strut mounts.
In addition to the bearings new ball joints would probably be in order. I may also get a new sway bar.

jt

MattAlpha · MattAlpha's Garage

You can also try some aircraft paint thinner to remove the "crusty stuff" instead of the chisle.

RX911 · 03-10-2007, 06:22 AM

I powder coated mine and they turned out nice, but they take a beating form road debris. This was done at home, but i also had a lot of other projects to do so the cost of the equipment was justified.

shbop · 03-10-2007, 06:23 AM

Por-15 works pretty well. Especially on parts that don't see the sun.

the · 03-10-2007, 06:48 AM

POR-15 makes a paint called "Chassis Coat" that is excellent for suspension parts. Incredibly strong, I think it is as strong as powdercoat. It also is not affected by sunlight.

JTL · JTL's Garage

Nicely done RX. Is por-15 available at any old paint store or is it special order?

frankc · 03-10-2007, 10:36 AM

This thread it timely - I just dropped off my control arms, mounts & some fasteners to be yellow zinc plated yesterday. My plan is to powder coat the arms as the zinc alone won't hold up that long, but I wanted to plate them first because I am installing the ER bushings as well, and the ends of the control arms need to be bare metal (powder coating too thick according to Chuck) and I didn't want any rust forming there. Same with the mounts. I'll mask off the ends of the arms before coating.

So now I am faced with a dilemma. When I get the arms back, if they look really good in yellow zinc, do I use clear powder coat, or go with black to match the rest of the suspension components? Would yellow zinc arms be too blingy!? I guess I'll wait until I see how they look before I decide. The red ones above look better than I thought they would.

btw, I am powder coating my strut housings as well. I have the Koni struts so I had to special order the powder coat to match the Koni orange color. Since I'll have plent left over (with not much use for it), I suppose I could always coat the arms with Koni orange as well!

Johnb911 · 03-10-2007, 11:31 AM

Does someone have a link tp por15?

rfuerst911sc · 03-10-2007, 11:33 AM

There's nothing wrong with conventional paint either. While not as tough as powder coat it can be done at home and with clear shot over it holds up quite well. That's what I am doing to the suspension parts for my 914.

JTL · JTL's Garage

I found this:

http://www.por15.com/

DUK · 03-11-2007, 11:55 AM

Here's mine after powder coating and install.

I've also used Por-15 on suspension parts and it holds up just as well. But as said before it doesn't like the sun.

sempaipaul · 12-04-2016, 03:51 PM

Did you guys paint/powdercoater the immediate location of where the bushings sit on the control arms?

Thanks
Paul

Mrdi · Mrdi's Garage

Powder coating seems brittle for parts exposed to road rash.
A Por15 type paint would seem more appropriate.
You can touch it up after a run on the gravel road.

seafeye · 12-04-2016, 05:18 PM

I'm a big fan of VHT Chassis black paint. Has the Matt finish that is very close to factory and is easy to use, hard as crap when dry and is cheaper than POR and powder coating.

VHT Roll Bar & Chassis Paint -- High Heat Coatings

steely · 12-04-2016, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sempaipaul

Did you guys paint/powdercoater the immediate location of where the bushings sit on the control arms?

Thanks
Paul

No

shbop · 12-04-2016, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sempaipaul

Did you guys paint/powdercoater the immediate location of where the bushings sit on the control arms?

Thanks
Paul

I didn't powder-coat those areas because I kept thinking about clearance issues. I used paint on them. After installing the new bushings however, I'm not sure it would have mattered. Maybe someone who coated the entire piece will chime-in.