Paint finishes

[richard sprint]

I'm toying with what paint to use on the (new lotus) chassis and the black metal brackets throughout including wishbones etc.

On the onehand sending the whole lot down to a local shop for shot blasting, electro zinc and powder coating in satin black. That would probably last a very long time.

Or doing the job in house by shot blasting then painting by brush with POR 15 black which I have found in the past to be an extremely hard and durable material.

The advantage in house is that one can be extremely precise whereas a local shop may inadvertantly apply powder coat to threads and inside the bushing housings making it very difficult when reassembling. Also in house one can make good any damage that can occur during rebuild.

[cabc26b]

hi Richard -

I have sent the pieces off to the plater and powder coaters and also done in house. latest is an example of the later

gloss is por 15 ( via spray in the case of arms)
brakes are natural Aluminum
ball joint is natural with clear coat ( i think)
hub is black anodized aluminum as supplied by dave bean

[andyelan]

Hi Richard

I had the chassis of my Europa shot blasted and then brush painted it with black enamal. That was 10 years ago and it's as good now as the day I did it (summer use only admittedly). If you do choose painting, however, make sure you get the blaster to prime everything stright away. That way it really sticks and is nigh on impossible to scrape off.

Andy

[richard sprint]

Cabc & Andy

Thank's for replies.

Very nice work cabc... that is just how I hope mine will look.

When you sprayed the por did you use their thinners to water it down and if so do you remember the ratio used?

Also how many coats did you apply? if more than one what time did you allow between coats? I seem to recall the optimum is when the first coat turns tacky - about 2 hours?

Also how did you address the fixed chassis threads for the front wishbones?

What silver paint did you use on the calipers and how well is it holding up? I see that POR do a silver paint - did you rebuild the calipers yourself? and if so what fittings did you use on the rear calipers?

[Elanintheforest]

Richard?.a thought on your callipers. They are now 35 years old, and whilst it?s tempting (and cheap) to put in new pistons and seals, and give the bodies a lick of paint, why not get them thoroughly checked out and re-conditioned?and re-plated. I?ve used Classicar Automotive in Cheshire for lots of calliper and servo work, and they have always done a superb job. They know what to look for, and have the proper test equipment to ensure that the callipers are up to spec when they are returned. They will also look like new, and last a long time.

For me, brakes and tyres are the last things to get wrong, and after such a long time, the brakes must deserve a complete and professional look-see.

Mark

[cabc26b]

Richard,

On the POR15 its very thin, so i shot it with out reducing it - worked ok , I did these about 4 years ago so I can't remember the no of coats or the time between coats ( tacky is what you would want before re-coat) on the rears I coated with por15 followed by satin-enamel while tacky. If you don't have a gun and compressor you can shoot it in a prevail spray kit -

For the threads I taped them off with 3m masking tape. I did not have the little rubber cones for the threaded inserts on the chassis so I had to re-tap after painting.

Calipers are made of Aluminum, not painted aluminum color, same with the rears - its an add lightness thing...

George

[neilsjuke]

http://www.rust.co.uk/
Have been using 2pack goes onto bead blasted bare metal no primer used by the RNLI for trailers that go int the sea and on oil rigs .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16638375@N ... 994252985/

Neil

[richard sprint]

Mark

You are right and I've spoken to them this morning, one of the resons I wanted to do in house was to be able to repaint the calipers with something more durable than the zinc or passivate plate.

They advised that I could overpaint them but to leave some areas like the pad slide otherwise paint would reduce the space.

[richard sprint]

Thanks to Neil and Cabc for replies....

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Mark

You are right and I've spoken to them this morning, one of the resons I wanted to do in house was to be able to repaint the calipers with something more durable than the zinc or passivate plate.

They advised that I could overpaint them but to leave some areas like the pad slide otherwise paint would reduce the space.

Yes that's the route I've taken before, the "full monty" with "Classicar" & then a brush coat of high temperature caliper paint.
There's quite a choice of colours.
I did one set in red (OK a bit Ferarri'ish but I liked it ) & another set in silver which wasn't so good because the finish ended up streaky, as is often the case with silver paints.
I also did a set with a "bake to dry" high temperature paint immediately after blasting & prior to re-assembly.
I wouldn't do that to completely assembled calipers though.

Cheers
John

[richard sprint]

John

I've ordered some high temp silver spray paint, but as you mentioned it can become streaky (por 15 silver applied with a brush is a prime example). Will await consignment from Frost's UK - also ordered a dark grey heat paint for the exhaust manifold.


Richard