Frame paint

[oldsofb]

I used Magnet Paints Chassis Saver. 1 Gallon will do the frame, under side of the body and have some left over. Goes right over rust. It is UV sensitive, so I just top coated it with Eastwood Chassis Black in a 2K spray.

Hutch

 

[Rt Jam]

All these look great. So it seems like hardener is key to a quality long lasting job. Did you guys prime too.

I don't mind the cost but I'd prefer scratch it up and spray it black in 1 step.

 

[gnvair]

I media blasted my frame to get everything off. Fixed some of the terrible welds. I primered it with PPG DP90 epoxy and then coated it with Utech 3.8 that I dulled with a tint base. I did the same to the under side of the body once I stripped the factory under coated and blasted some rusty areas.

 

[mikester]

All these look great. So it seems like hardener is key to a quality long lasting job. Did you guys prime too.

I don't mind the cost but I'd prefer scratch it up and spray it black in 1 step.

The key to a long lasting job is the preparation of what you intend to paint. When I painted my frame I only did from the firewall up. At this point in my life there was no way I could take the body off the frame. I stripped the frame to bare metal with a heavy wire cup wheel on a grinder. Before I sprayed the epoxy primer I cleaned the frame with lacquer thinner and then fast drying wax and grease remover. Paint doesnt stick to dirt and oil too well so I kept cleaning until the rags stayed white. Control arms and anything else that could come off was sandblasted. That included the radiator support. I will say that I used rattle can semi gloss black on top of a self etching primer on the tie rod ends and pittman arm and from sitting outside under a tarp over a single winter those parts had a coat of flash rust and I had to redo them. The other downside to using aerosol paint is its very hard to get the paint to dry right if its humid and hot. Ive been waiting for over a month to paint my fan shroud. I tried spraying a sample piece of plastic and the paint blushed. Wont dry right with 70% humidity. It sucks.

Its your project and I know you dont want to go through a lot of work but in my opinion thats the only way youre going to get a long lasting job.

 

[86 Chevy El Camino SS]

Well, if it is frame off, i'd go for something like a line X spray on there.
But if that's well above your budget, I'd recommend using Por -15 frame coating.
It's self leveling, and leaves a rock hard finish. I used it on my frame and also on my floor boards.

 

[Rt Jam]

I ended up using black primer and urethane paint with activator. Scratched with Scotchbrite, shot with primer, then 2 coats of black. After the paint dried it was a tiny bit more satin.