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Paint or Powdercoat? I'm restoring a '64 Chevy C10 Stepside, and it's almost time to start preparing the frame. This truck will be a Sunday and occasional sunny day driver, so I want the finish on the frame to be durable. My first thought was powdercoating, but I've heard that it's brittle, and rocks will cause it to chip. This was told to me by my neighbor; he owns a 'Vette restoration shop, and I figured he'd know better than most. Then again, I don't see paint being any more durable. Anyone care to deliberate?

I'm no expert however I know several people who have powder coated their frames and have had no trouble with the finish cracking or flaking and certainly not chipping. The powder coating shop near me has a large piece of metal and they have a hammer for anyone to smack it with and I smacked it pretty good and the metal dented but the finish did not give it up.

Now understand that this input comes from the liquid coatings side of the aisle but it does reflect what I have seen with powder coating.
A friend manufactured several batches of pressure washer carts for a client and sent them to a custom P/C'er to be finished. They came back pretty, shiney and red and after about a year the P/C was lifting off in sheets. I do not know to this day if it was poor surface prep getting the steel ready, or the rust growing sideways lifting the film. I'm suspecting the former. I'd suggest talking to other customers for whom your P/Cer has done work to check satisfaction quotient as there appears to be some variability between systems/producers .
Bruce Palmer
[email protected]
Salem Oregon

Bruce that sounds like poor prep-work to me. I have another friend with a rail buggy that goes swamping and or off-roading every week end weather permitting. His buggy frame is powder coated and it's 3 years old been pressure washed plenty and the powder coat is still hanging in there.

Make sure that you do any modifications to the frame that you were planning on, because it's hard to fix the paint on powdercoat once it's done. Powdercoating works extremely well in most applications, unless the surface prep is insufficient. It also has a problem with chemically hostile environments (in some cases). I personally was going to use powdercoat until I heard of POR15. I plan to go with that when I get to that step (not finished with the frame mods yet). Other people might suggest that you use Zero-Rust or another rust inhibitor.
In reality, you can use anything that you want to paint the frame, as long as you prep it well. Most paints these days are very durable, even in a situation like frame paint.

Powdercoating is a pretty good solution, and if you make a volume deal with you local powdercoater, you can get a lot of your parts powdercoated at the same time, as long as they are all the same color. It's easier/cheaper for them to do a single color run than multiple colors. They typically reserve days of the week for different color types (2 days for black, 1 day for white, 1 day for red), to keep from contaminating other paint jobs, and to keep from cleaning the equipment all the time.

I think you're right, Vaughn. Preparation, preparation, preparation....that's all I've heard from everyone I've asked. I know I've asked my local coater what they do to prep, and they will dip the items to be powdercoated in an acidic cleaner which gets rid of all the bad stuff. And I have also checked to make sure about the 'runs' they do....in other words, I can get my frame done for $150, but I can stuff the oven w/anything I want coated w/the same color for no add'tl $$$. That saves a bunch, time and $$$.

I have been around race cars for some time now, and I know they've used powdercoating. I know of one car that had to be clipped, and the powdercoat almost wasn't able to be sandblasted off. In addition to being hard to get off, powdercoat's very thick, so if you plan on powdercoating, make sure you put a bolt in any threads that might get coated! If you don't, you will find it very frustrating trying to put everything back together when the bolts don't thread.

Okay, I'll bite.....what's POR15?

A friend had his running boards pc'd because he thought they would be more scratch resisitant. He was unsatisfied with the result. They scratch easily.

We do a lot of powdercoating at work (90% black), and the biggest issue for exterior applications, like running boards, is UV stability. Black will fade to gray in 18 - 24 months of exposure with standard polyester powders, regardless of manufacturer. There are more expensive powders (2x-3x price) that can extend that by a year, but don't expect miracles.
Underneath, interior, or trailer queen (no offence intended) that rarely sees the light of day, OK, but exterior of a driver be forewarned.

Bkndsdl, I was under the impression that everyone knew what POR15 was. It is a rust inhibiting paint (POR stands for Paint Over Rust). They have a website at www.por15.com. It's a good product. The only thing that some people on this board see as a problem is the presence of isocyanates which can be toxic, but only when sprayed. Naturally, thats what most of the naysayers want to do. They also have been provoking the fear that it will be toxic when brushed, but that simply isn't true. Nowhere near enough partictles become airborn in a brushed application to become a toxic or potentially harmful situation. The product is self leveling, so it really isn't an issue to spray it (unless you keep brushing the surface while drying, producing a stippling effect - it's like drywall, know when to leave it alone).
To give equal time, Bruce Palmer is a distributor of Zero-Rust. If I don't say something about it, he'll be sure to. It is a product that comes in spray cans, and is effective against rust. It is less expensive than POR15, and doesn't have any icsocyanates. The website is www.zerorust.com.
Both products are effective against rust. They use a barrier coating to starve the surface of the metal for oxygen. If there is no oxygen present, no rust can form.

Hey Chuck - I bet it would be really tough to sneak in parts of your truck into the order. Have you gotten the entire truck powdercoated by now?

Happy Holidays to all,

This is my first post to the list but, I been lurking for a while. I felt compelled to put in my 2 cents.

Powder coating is ok for a street car or show car frame and I have a friend who has done several. However, be aware that all racing associations and the FAA do NOT approve of powder coating on any structural componets. The problem is that cracks can not be seen under powder coating and also corrosion can go unnoticed until a failure.

My advise would be, have the frame blasted and inspect it for any damage or cracks before coating. Once you powder coat this you will only see big problems not small cracks or rust.

The other thing you may want to consider is having the frame painted with paint using the electostatic process. This method coats the frame very evenly while still using paint not a plastic coating.