Geoff's Exocet build - Basingstoke

[wishful4444]

Good day Geoff

Your comment about powder coat or traditional paint touched a nerve with me. Over the past two weekends I have been rubbing down various parts of the chassis, suspension and steering. The car was registered as a Sonic in July 2011 and has done 1600 miles. During that time as far as I am aware it has not been out in the rain but the second owner (I am the third) did keep the car in an open barn albeit covered.

The powder coated parts have surface rust, flaking and pitting. I appreciate the car is 10 years old but considering the little use and non wet use I am unimpressed.
It may be the powder coating was poorly done. Maybe others can comment on the expected life of powder coating.

I have rubbed down the affected parts and given them 2/3 coats of Hammerite. If I were building a car I would not use powder coat.

[geoff]

Many thanks for that, it is a very hotly debated subject, and it is not a debate that can be easily done because, as you say, it could have been poorly done, and any coating can be applied poorly and then the coating is blamed and not the application. For example yours could have been done with no primer at all, I was thinking originally about going for a zinc primer then powdercoat. 

My gameplan is try a zinc primer and smooth black hammerite, a couple of coats, all from the rattle can and see how it performs. I am expecting the hammertoe to be fairly thin from the can, and may also try brushing as well to get a heavier coat. I obviously will not be able to ascertain the longevity of the test but I will be able to see how close I can get it to looking like powdercoat.

[wishful4444]

Certainly on some of the components I could see no primer.
I used a brush to apply the Hammerite Smooth. I suppose you could try a roller if you are so inclined.

[emdubya]

There are various kinds of powder paint much like there are for wet paint, and there are differences in physical and mechanical properties as well (such as gloss level, wear and abrasion resistance, temperature, bend testing,and so on). It's hard to generalise. In my experience, you will never get the kind of coachwork finish with powder paint that you can get with sanded and buffed wet paint, but you will never get the kind of toughness and durability with wet paint that you can get with powder paint. Powder will flow and cover a multitude of sins on pitted surfaces, especially if you limit yourself to satin or semigloss. If you want to get a good finish with wet paint on pitted control arms (for example), expect to spend a lot of time with body filler first.

If it were my choice, I would use powder for everything except aesthetic body panels. Find a shop that does good quality work and take their advice.

[wishful4444]

emdubya

Thanks for your informative post. I think the crux of the matter was the last paragraph, finding a powder coater who does a 'proper' job.

[phaeton]

Also depends on how long you intend to keep the project, paint is easier to touch up, powder coat is easier to drop off & collect when done, I went the 2nd option as I hate painting in any way shape or form.

[hutchey]

painting means you can correct, alter and repair much more easily

[geoff]

Hey everyone, thanks for the comments re paint versus powder coat, some good points made.

So I am now moving on with the prep of the rear end, shot blast cabinet arrived last weekend, and Energy Suspension bushes ordered from Stuart to arrive mid next week, so now I need to get it all ready for re-assembly. 

First, those two rear diff bushes, they were stuck solid, nothing would budge them, so I decided the only way was to split them to release the tension, so out with the hacksaw and carefully cutting through them without going too far and damaging the frame....almost. They come out when split and actually came out in pieces...
 


But both out and a little smoothing out out with a file on a couple of grooves, to ensure they do not bugger up the new poly bushes.



Next, I cleaned up the diff itself, wire brush on a drill and some picking in the hard to reach areas:



Then finally today, got some smooth hammerite brushed onto the diff, will probably do two coats, but looking good so far. Next I think I will set about the rear subframe and get that all wire brushed and painted....



Not a very well lit pic, but you get the idea.

[geoff]

Phew.....wire brushing, wire brushing, and more wire brushing this morning, all on the rear subframe. I resisted the urge to use the flap wheel sander on the angle grinder because that just seems too aggressive, taking off metal as well, so just went with a twisted wire brush attachment on the angle grinder, and then smaller wire wheels on a power drill....two hours later I think I am there:



Now, I was thinking zinc primer then Hammerite, but that would negate the rust treatment properties of Hammerite, so I guess standard paint with Zinc primer would be more correct....or just Hammerite on its own....so as I have a pot of Hammerite I will give this a go, the Diff is looking really good, so I think this will be OK. When I shot blast the suspension components and the callipers I will use a primer as I will be painting bare steel, and Hammerite will struggle with that, but for the frame I think as I am not all the way back to bare metal Hammerite on its own will be best.

[emdubya]

Just a quick thought . . . since you obviously have a decent compressor, can you get hold of a soda blaster? It will be an outdoors, total loss process, but might be worth it for these big items.

[geoff]

Some mid week work this week, unusually, managed to get the rear subframe all painted also got the first use of the new media blasting cabinet, with some good results. 



The diff bush plates I thought were toast when I took them off, then found out that as I am using poly bushes all the rubber had to be removed and just the plate left behind is what I need. Happy days....and yes poly bushes arrived, complete with a bag of Haribo bears...nice.

I also used some JB Weld to patch up the very minor grooves that I made in the rear diff holder, when cutting out the bushes, this worked really well, I put a very small amount of the mixed putty in the grooves, left it for a day and the following day filed down with a curved metal file and now there are no more grooves.

So today I finally started putting things back together....



Some touch up paint required, like in the holes in the subframe on the top, so doing all this with a smaller brush this evening. For the plates, they are now primed and will be painted later and then bolted on.



So really pleased with the progress so far, trying not to rush, and taking my time...next step....drive shafts, then suspension arms.

[geoff]

Jun 27, 2021 15:10:58 GMT emdubya said:

Just a quick thought . . . since you obviously have a decent compressor, can you get hold of a soda blaster? It will be an outdoors, total loss process, but might be worth it for these big items.

I am not sure that soda blasting will get through the years of corrosion that I have, from what I have seen Soda is great for light surface rust and paint removal, but for heavy corrosion you need something more aggressive. Many thanks for your thoughts though, and put me right if I am wrong.

[wishful4444]

"poly bushes arrived, complete with a bag of Haribo bears...nice."
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Poly bushes I understand but not heard of Haribo bears, where do they fit?

[emdubya]

Jul 1, 2021 12:58:07 GMT geoff said:

Jun 27, 2021 15:10:58 GMT emdubya said:

 Soda is great for light surface rust and paint removal, but for heavy corrosion you need something more aggressive.

You're right, soda is perhaps the least aggressive medium, but it's also harmless and may be rinsed away. Sand blasting might have been more appropriate for your rear frame, but it's harder to deal with outdoors.

[geoff]

Squeezed another hour this morning, got the rear subframe all snugged up with the bush bottom plates, you can see from the pics one stainless stud for the one that sheared off, I cut a bolt to size and could reach the top with a spanner, so nice and easy fix. New hardware to look smart of course!



I also put the first coat on the drive shafts, so should have them back on in the morning tomorrow.