Rustoleum, EP + paint or powder coat?

[myredracer]

Am restoring a 60 year old car starting from a total strip down. I'm not sure what finish to put on suspension and other parts under the car. I'm thinking items under the car would be more exposed to dirt/grit & air flow which could damage some types of paint and maybe wear it away?.

Take the trailing arms for example. They are rusty and crusty and they way they're made I can't media blast into some areas of it to get all the rust off. I could cut a re-inforcement piece off and weld it back on to get it 100% blasted if I have to. Providing I've thoroughly cleaned them, Rustoleum would be the easiest solution. I can use epoxy primer by mixing a small amount and brushing it on (too wet & cold for spraying outside this time of year). Or I could take them to a shop to get powder coated but it would be waaay more expensive and doing other parts & pieces would get even more expensive really quick. Rattle cans are simply so easy and so convenient it's hard to resist if it'll work...

If I use epoxy primer, what type of paint should be used over it? Would an extra coat or two of Rustoleum help? If Rustoleum is okay, would it be better to use their primer first before the top coat? Not looking for show quality, I just want to protect things. The car will never ever be driven in rain either.

What do most do and what's the recommendation?

Thanks!

 

[Retlaw 66]

My preferred method for my muscle cars is: sandblast to bare metal, treat with metal conditioner (Picklex), epoxy prime, fill defects and reprime/seal if necessary, and a topcoat of of either epoxy or urethane for durability.
My goal is show quality that will last.
If you want something easy and durable, the por-15 products are pretty good. You don't have to remove all the rust as it's designed to cover it and seal it.
If you are happy with the existing surface texture of your parts (rust pitting, etc) and don't need to fill defects, the por-15 is a quick and easy method.

Powdercoating isn't necessarily expensive compared to conventional prime/paint and it is usually much less time/labor intensive. Get a quote on a pile of parts to be sand/media blasted, phosphate treated for rust, and coated. .... it'll likely be less than doing the same with paints.
Again, powdercoating doesn't give as much opportunity to fill/smooth surface defects in the metal.

You choice would depend on existing condition, final appearance desired, intended use, and cost.

 

[gnpenning]

Electrolysis might be an option. As mentioned por_15, rust bullet and others are possible solutions. Be sure and follow the directions. Por is not UV stable and will need a top coat if exposed to sun.

 

[SteveH-CO]

When I repainted some Land Cruiser axles, I cleaned them and spray-primed them, and then followed with two coats of brushed-on Rustoleum satin oil-based paint. By brushing on, you get a nice heavy coat that lasts. I have never found aerosol paints to provide enough film thickness to last under cars - the paint just gets sandblasted off quickly as you drive.

If it's driven a lot, it will eventually need redoing, of course.

 

[CJM8515]

I usually strip whatever down as best as possible, then prime and sand. Then I spray rustoleum professional with some heavy coats. i did an axle for my old pick up that way, it came looking like it sat in a muddy field. Couldnt tell it was the same axle after I was done.

 

[bradpac]

Rustoleum Professional is quite a bit tougher than the standard stuff, I've found. A good coat of primer and a couple coats of that and let it cure before killing it and it should hold up as good as what the factory put on it.

 

[cybrdyke]

I really like truck bed spray paint. It's thick, dries hard and has alot of texture that covers surface imperfections. It's normally black, but you can color over it.
CD

 

[myredracer]

Thanks for the comments.

I totally forgot about POR-15. I even have a pint of it on the shelf in plain sight that I was going to use in some concealed cavities in the body. I think POR-15 will be just what I need for some parts and is pretty tough stuff. The negative tho. is that you can't easily put a second coat over it if needed like you can with other paint types without roughing the surface up with sandpaper if it has dried. I haven't used POR-15 before and looking at their website yesterday, I see that they have a range of various products I didn't know about which may be of use.

I have been using Rustoleum professional grade lately and it's very good. Have been using standard Tremclad (a Canadian Rustoleum product) on many things over the years and it's not as good.

These are a couple of photos of the trailing arms that need painting (a little minor straightening is needed in a couple of spots). If I were to use epoxy primer & paint, I'd have to blast them clean which isn't possible because there's a couple of pieces of metal about 1-2" apart that I can't get blast media or paint sprayed in there unless I were to separate the pieces by drilling out the spot welds. I'm looking for less work, not more...