bare Who likes powder coating on chassis then?

[singlecoil]

I don't think I would have it myself, not on a car I was planning to keep for a few years. I've seen too many chassis now where the stuff is just peeling off.

I think the process itself is ok, it's probably that the chassis isn't properly prepared, the degreasing isn't thorough and the surface is too smooth for good adhesion.

I think if I was specifying a car I would have it delivered bare, prepare it myself, then paint it with two coats of Hammerite or maybe that Por 15 (haven't tried it myself yet, but I'm told it's good), and I would use different colours for each coat, so I could see which bits I'd missed on the second coat

Edited to add, sorry about the 'bare' in the title, this laptop does strange stuff when I'm not watching the screen

Edited by singlecoil on Friday 28th May 15:08

[CNHSS1]

personally i wouldnt bother with powdercoating as once chipped it promotes water ingress imho (certainly does on my Tiv). hammerite sold these days isnt a patch on the formulation that we all knew and love, current stuffs crap.
POR15 is immense, superb and defo the best coating ive used. Its as hard as hell, you can dent the steel and the stuff still wont chip!
POR15 for the win!

[pfwilliams]

How much would it cost to coat the chassis in POR15?

[Frankthered]

I'd be tempted by galvanising if it's practical.

I'd agree that powder coating is fine in theory, but in practice is too compromised by improper surface preparation and chipping.

[CNHSS1]

pfwilliams said:

How much would it cost to coat the chassis in POR15?

Probably £25-£40 worth

with galv, if its done well it'll last for donkeys years. Ive owned a number of cars with galv chassis and have heard that the factories had issues with the hot galv process distrorting the chassis but i doubt thats a problem these days as processes move on

[singlecoil]

The problem with galvanising, so I'm told, is that it's not much good for closed tubes, so that would affect most spaceframes. Apparently all the members have to be drilled so that the steam from the moisture inside the tubes can escape. Also it can add quite a bit of weight.

[RT Phil]

POR 15 is supposed to be good, i would use cellulose paint as hammerite chips very easily and will soon look messy on a chassis.

[rdodger]

POR15 is great though not UV stable. It should be used as an undercoat.

[p1doc]

POR 15 sounds cheap alternative,my murt is powdercoated but iknow acouple are flaking already-do you have to apply POR 15 to bare chassis?
martin

[rdodger]

It likes rusty metal.

http://www.por15.com/POR-15/productinfo/1GB/

[stainless_steve]

Bead blast,etch,zinc primer then powdercoat will last many many years

[The Black Flash]

I looked into getting my Dax chassis galvanised. I rang a couple of firms, and was told that it was really best not even to bother trying.
Even if you do drill the members, I understand that you then tend to end up with pools of zinc forming, which can add a lot of weight, and quite unevenly.

PQR-15 is very tough stuff though. Dries very shiny, so can be a bit hard to paint over though.

[GinG15]

these are the steps to do it...blast, zincphosphating and powder coating. the first 2 ones are the most important ones.

and how do the british car manufacturers do it:

maybe blast, no phospating, powdercoating

TVR often stored the bare chassis outside and powder coated directly on a rusty surface.

so no wonder when the coating started flaking after a few years and therefore coating hasnt a good reputation.

checked also today one of my kitcars. found a chassis tube which is located inside the passenger compartment , not exponated to water, stones or any other mechanical wear: the coating started to lift on a small area and bare metal underneath....so another company which hasnt understood what powdercoating means.

similar "problems" i found on cars from westfield, ginetta, sylva, fisher...basically the complete range of well knwon manufacturers.

[hal 1]

When took over an already started kit i stripped the chassis, took it for blasting then painted it with zinc phosphate etch primer, ordinary oil based undercoat then 2 coats of gloss, as singlecoil mentions two different colours, it will stand up to quite a few years before it will need any attention, far longer than the powder coating that was on the chassis when i bought it, the car hadn't been on the road but the coating had flaked off in vast areas and rust had got a firm grip,see chassis on www.haldane100.com/

[andygtt]

I dont like powder coat on a chassis and am 2 packing mine.... but most customers prefer the convinence of it being powder coated or at least properly painted from the factory rather than hassle of doing it themselves.

I think you'd be mad to galvanise a chassis... too much weight and a real risk of distortion... youd have to specifically design the chassis to suit the process which is a compromise not worth doing IMHO.

[GinG15]

galvanising doesnt add weight.

you mean hot zinc dipping which is a complete differnt kind of corrosion prove.