dsommer Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 did you sandblast all the stuff yourself or take it to them straight after being torn off the car and left all the blasting and prep to the coaters for that price??? thanks I just took it off the car and gave it to them to do the work, blasting and coating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redneck1545 Posted December 15, 2010 Author Share Posted December 15, 2010 It's going to be heated to over 450F, so any parts that have rubber / plastic and those parts with u-joints and all. I wouldn't do the springs because the heat cycle may mess up the spring rates. I've been told galvanized parts may out-gas during the powdercoating process and thus can cause bubbles. there hs been much debate about this topic alone... I've heard that spring rates would not be affected or if they were it would be neglible (2-3lbs difference). The reason most people think it would be affected is due to the fact your heating up a spring and essentially "heat treating" it but powder coating is only on the surface of the spring and therefore only the surface temp would be affected and for the most part the "internal" metal retains the spring rate. The springs are only going to be in the oven at 450 for about 20-25 mins anyways. so again, not enough time for the internal or meturalurgical properties of the spring to change significantly. Although all this is hear-say and it would be very intresting to see the actual results instead of guestimating at what would happen wouldnt it??? now you guys got me pondering a trip to the good ole suspension shop and getting before and after measurements of the actual rates! thanks for the tips 240zip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zip Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 I found this gallery of powdercoated parts. Gives you some color ideas. http://keystonepowdercoating.com/gallery.htm Also, most professional places have no issue with springs. So I'd say go ahead and make them look nice. It would honestly be 'fun' to go with something other than black, but that would necessitate a third Z car .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Hmm, as an aside as to a method of coating them, how would those DIY home chrome plating kits work on springs? Not shiny plate chrome but the grey matte hard chrome? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redneck1545 Posted December 18, 2010 Author Share Posted December 18, 2010 (edited) thanks zip! im thinking of making all the parts that bolt to the car like cross members, steering rack (painted), strut housings and stuff going mirror black...the springs, tie rod ends, front control arms, TC rods, and real control arms going gloss silver or that metalic silver look...thought about the super chrome and giving them a " machined billet look to...but either way something silver to contrast the black cause im gonna have entire under side of the car painted in zero rust's black so i GOTTA have something to contrast all the black. what do you think about that? Edited December 18, 2010 by redneck1545 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zip Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Just a word of caution on 'mirror black'. Most people go with a semi-gloss black ... it's called satin or semi-gloss or 80% gloss. Chassis parts have tons of imperfections and a gloss finish tends to highlight them. Also ... it's going to get dirty. The semi-gloss just seems to hold up better to the grime. I think an interesting departure from black would be a gun metal semi-gloss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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