powder coating a whole chassis....

[pepesilvia]

I know that jeep people and stock car people sometimes do it.... And I also know how hard it is to combat rust when you live in north jersey like I do.... So I was wondering, has anyone here on the 240 community ever thought about getting their whole chasis powder coated? Has anyone ever done it? How much would it cost? And finally.... Would this prevent rust better then run of the mill paint?

I think we should open up a discussion about this....

[Razi]

Stock control arms are powder coated right?
I've found that they hide rust most of the time.
I'd sand a spot that has some surface rust, and discover more rust under the paint.

A good application of undercoating should be enough.
If you want to go crazy, there's a guy that restored his S14 better than factory:
http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php? ... 14a-refurb

[pepesilvia]

honestly, all i can ever think about is rust. i hate rust. i just wanna somehow rust proof my car, and i thought powdercoating would be a good idea.... but yur saying it just covers the rust? if i remove all the rust, would it still rust? also, powdercoating is mire durable then paint right?

[Hijacker]

Covering up existing rust will just allow it to rot under the paint, regardless if it's PC or traditional spray. Your best bet if you want to remove rust is to remove the cancer, patch in some healthy metal, and then protect the area with a proper sealer.

[pepesilvia]

so what would you say is the absolute best preparation and protection/enamel for bare metal (with no rust)? you guys are dashing my ideas here lmfao sounds like you guys dont think the powdercoating thing is a good idea....

[Hijacker]

Powder coating isn't a bad way I suppose, but it's expensive and after working in a metal shop, I can think of a ton of better ways to protect my car than PC. For the thickness of PC, a poor job will flake off and you can't spot fix it like you can regular paint. And it does chip.

POR 15 is a great surface sealer, but it's application can cause headaches. The type I've used in the past has required it be brushed on, but I'm sure a spray application exists. It's an epoxy sealer, so once it's laid on and cured, no moisture will get to the metal to continue to rust it away. I've seen it halt existing rust to a crawl (since the rust exists, it will continue to rust, but since oxygen and moisture are denied continued access, the rusting will just continue very very very slowly). M4trnch used Silver Bullet on his resto rebuild, but I know he complained about some spots rusting back through even after he had ground, cut, and replaced areas of rust.

PC just doesn't have the same beauty as an end product as regular spray, and so long as you prepare and protect the metal, you shouldn't have much to worry about. And the biggest thing you can do in Jersey is get a winter beater if you don't want your 240 taking the brunt.

[mechanicalmoron]

I'm going to say that that's not quite true, that rust will continue when sealed.

Once it starts it can be a chain reaction type of thing, but if there's no oxygen, there's no formation of iron oxide, period. If it's totally sealed, rust should be totally inhibited, started or otherwise.

[Hijacker]

Moisture is the requirement for rust to form, so even if you seal up the area, but moisture still exists or can penetrate the sealant, the metal will continue to rust. Mind you, water isn't used by the red-ox reaction between oxygen and the metal in this case, so the moisture can be held against the metal and do some damage if you're not careful. POR 15 has been one of the best inhibitors I've ever used as its epoxy based compound totally seals the surface. Spray on applications always leave something to be desired, and if the coating isn't thick enough, moisture and oxygen will get through. This is also why a lot of 240s have rotted rockers, Nissan used a poor sealer for the rocker seams and moisture could get under the paint and next to the metal. Also, Pepe's in Jersey. I've dealt with Jersey rust before, it's a very tenacious sort of rust.

[mechanicalmoron]

Well, I'll agree on jersey rust, I just got jersey coilovers.

On that note, yeah, screw powder coat, do something rubberized, because these coilovers are tein, they're super proud of their powdercoat tech, have patents on their thing, etc, but these are super rusted. All it takes is a tiny chip, and then, powdercoat being a plastic envelope, the water travels by capilary action and rusts out from inside the paint.

[Razi]

POR15 with a really good rubbery undercoating seems like the best bet.

[pepesilvia]

aight so i had another idea. A.) i need to move somewhere down south cuz im sick of jersey killing my car, and B.) they should invent some kind of wax undercoat for cars that can be applied like at car washes, or by hand, that you put on before the winter, before they start spreading salt. because wax is hydrophobic, it'll repel the moisture and water, like it does when you wax the outside of yur car, preventing rust. and since its on the underside of the car, it can be a thick layer and no one'll notice.... hmmmmm......

[waxdnuggz]

Only a couple problems with that. Wax melts. Your exhaust is under your car. If you put a thick layer it with expand and contract from driving and cooling fast in snow making it crack. And what if it gets on your tires or brakes? Your just asking for it then...

[mechanicalmoron]

aight so i had another idea. A.) i need to move somewhere down south cuz im sick of jersey killing my car, and B.) they should invent some kind of wax undercoat for cars that can be applied like at car washes, or by hand, that you put on before the winter, before they start spreading salt. because wax is hydrophobic, it'll repel the moisture and water, like it does when you wax the outside of yur car, preventing rust. and since its on the underside of the car, it can be a thick layer and no one'll notice.... hmmmmm......

Your car has corrosion-resistant wax in the frame rails, and maybe other places. It tells you about all the coatings in the body-shop supplement to the FSM.

Wax makes a good sticky coating, for a place like in a frame rail where it won't be hit by anything and it will have good surface coverage, but on the underside, it's just not sturdy enough, you're going to make a bloody mess of everything. Even though water won't get under it from chips like a powder coat, it will easily scrape and chip off. In a cold place, it will harden in the cold, and be brittle and scraped off on snow on your first drive.

I think the best solution is probably getting it really cleaned up and dry and then, at the proper temperture specified in the instructions, applying plenty of good quality rubberized coating on every square inch. To do it right you'd really have to pressure-wash it with the whole suspension, subframe, and motor, or at least transmission, removed, and then do it to the car and all the parts.

[pepesilvia]

Only a couple problems with that. Wax melts. Your exhaust is under your car. If you put a thick layer it with expand and contract from driving and cooling fast in snow making it crack. And what if it gets on your tires or brakes? Your just asking for it then...

aight so i had another idea. A.) i need to move somewhere down south cuz im sick of jersey killing my car, and B.) they should invent some kind of wax undercoat for cars that can be applied like at car washes, or by hand, that you put on before the winter, before they start spreading salt. because wax is hydrophobic, it'll repel the moisture and water, like it does when you wax the outside of yur car, preventing rust. and since its on the underside of the car, it can be a thick layer and no one'll notice.... hmmmmm......

Your car has corrosion-resistant wax in the frame rails, and maybe other places. It tells you about all the coatings in the body-shop supplement to the FSM.

Wax makes a good sticky coating, for a place like in a frame rail where it won't be hit by anything and it will have good surface coverage, but on the underside, it's just not sturdy enough, you're going to make a bloody mess of everything. Even though water won't get under it from chips like a powder coat, it will easily scrape and chip off. In a cold place, it will harden in the cold, and be brittle and scraped off on snow on your first drive.

I think the best solution is probably getting it really cleaned up and dry and then, at the proper temperture specified in the instructions, applying plenty of good quality rubberized coating on every square inch. To do it right you'd really have to pressure-wash it with the whole suspension, subframe, and motor, or at least transmission, removed, and then do it to the car and all the parts.

hmmm.... i was saying HYPOTHETICALLY they should make a wax kind of coating to help fight rust.... are cars nowadays rust proof?

[Hijacker]

Nothing's fully rust proof, but OEMs have gotten better at managing rust with better electro dipping processes, better chemistry, better metallurgy, but in the end, iron and oxygen will always form rust when moisture is present. The best thing anyone can do to help manage rust on a car is to take care of it. Regular washings, regular waxings, and trying to minimize salt contact.

[Feadz]

If you do decide to use POR-15, it requires you to sandblast/grind to bare metal before painting. There's also a "metal ready" acid you have to spray the bare metal with if it's smooth. Pain in the a**, but it comes out pretty clean. I just got done doing the framerails/underbody a few weeks ago.

[jbracy7]

Wat about rhino lining ,i have herd good things

[pepesilvia]

i appreciate all the reply's and stuff guys. givin me a whole buncha ideas. possibly in the near future im gonna do something nuts with my car. not too worried at the moment cuz my car dosent have any real rust or nothin from what i can see. but maybe i'll do some kinda write-up or something. thumbs up to all you nico-nuts