Frame prep

[Ribbedroof]

Been looking at the frame that I want to put under the coupe....I'm thinking while it's out I should do something in regards to painting/coating it.

It's been a long time since I was into frame-off territory, we used to sandblast them and paint with a marine grade paint. What is the current "standard practice"? It's a pretty nice piece, so I'm not particularly concerned about POR15 or similar "restorative" type coatings. I briefly considered having it dipped to clean inside and out, but that seems to be waaaay spendy these days. I also don't really relish the idea of spending a month wire brushing it.

What's everybody done?

Snowballs....I can see it already

 

[TURNA]

Rustoleum 7777 is GM chassis black.

If it works on salt water ships it's good enough for a car chassis.

 

[superbon54]

Been looking at the frame that I want to put under the coupe....I'm thinking while it's out I should do something in regards to painting/coating it.

It's been a long time since I was into frame-off territory, we used to sandblast them and paint with a marine grade paint. What is the current "standard practice"? It's a pretty nice piece, so I'm not particularly concerned about POR15 or similar "restorative" type coatings. I briefly considered having it dipped to clean inside and out, but that seems to be waaaay spendy these days. I also don't really relish the idea of spending a month wire brushing it.

What's everybody done?

Snowballs....I can see it already

I had my frame dipped. I did a lot of fabrication work - reinforce factory welds, box center section, control arm gussets, frame notch - so it had to be clean.

I did the wire wheel and grinder thing once and I had dozens of hours into a frame where rust still bled out of areas like seams.

One product I found and really like is called Rust-I-Cide. Clean any scale rust and bush the product on - being sure not to get any on your skin! It’s not viscous so it wicks into areas you can’t reach and does a good job of converting the rust.

For paint, I used Eastwood’s internal frame coating inside the frame, epoxy primer and ceramic paint on the outside. I dropped a 3/4 wrench on it the other day and it didn’t chip. So far so good I guess.

As always, it depends on how perfect you want it and how much $ you’re willing to part with. I think the bill was about $900 to dip my frame, hood and core support. There are surely cheaper options but the trade off is usually time.

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

I have used a product by X-I-M 400 clear sealer bonder. It sticks to any surface and can be added to rust-oleum as an adhesive promoter for areas hard to reach. Spray right over light rust and apply your color over top. Comes in rattle cans, qts, gal. GOOD STUFF !

 

[Chevyman540]

I fixed any body bushing holes and any frame mods I wanted. then had the frame sand blasted. I then painted it with POR 15 and top coated it with their black topcoat. that is uv protected. I had less than $ 200 in blast and paint.
You could do all your mods to the frame and then have it blasted and powder coated for around $600 to $ 800.
Here's mine

 

[Ribbedroof]

Chevyman540, where/when was this....under $200 for POR's many required products/steps and blasting sounds really cheap, and I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm getting it powder coated for $600

 

[oldsofb]

Magnet Paint "Chassis Saver" http://magnetpaints.com/underbody.asp is what I used. Great stuff. 1 Gallon will do the frame and prob the whole under body as well.

Hutch

 

[Slowpoke]

Around here most powder coat shops charge around $400 for a single stage powder coat. I have called a few place all around the same. This is in AZ of course.

 

[Chevyman540]

That was about 8 years ago. I paid $100 to blast the frame and $30 a quart for the POR 15. 2 quarts of base and 1 top coat. A buddy of mine 3 years ago blasted his frame for $125 and another buddy just last year went the powder coat route. Here the pricing from a guy around me. http://www.wkendall.com/pricing1.htm

 

[Streetbu]

I used Rustoleum satin on mine. Same stuff Turna recommended. Sprayed it on. Works great IMO