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Suspension components - what paint to use?

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J

JPrisbe

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As I rebuild the suspension of my '70 Spit, I will be cleaning up the components (control arms, vertical links, spring top plates, anti-sway bar, etc.) and repainting them.

Any recommendations on what paint to buy? I plan to go with black but want somethign that will be durable.
 
Rustoleum...that's about as durable as you're going to economically get that's readily available.
 
I used SEM Rust-Shield with the catalyst. This is not the rattle version. A bit pricey, but sprays and covers well with a hard durable finish.
 
Eastwood's Chassis Black is good. Covers very well. It is over double the price of most retail products, but is very durable and goes a long way.
 
Hi,

I went a little nuts on mine. I variously hot tanked or acid dipped all the steel suspension, frame, and brake parts and then painted them with POR-15. I top-coated everything with this single-part alkyd-epoxy enamel from MAB Paints:

https://www.mabpaints.com/prod_group.cfm?groupid=1372&product_type=Paints

Here's the main link to their site:

https://www.mabpaints.com/splash.cfm

NFI, YMMV, bow wow, woot woot.

This was pretty much the same treatment I gave my frame during the car's body-off restoration.

It's very nice paint for the price, and they also make some interesting two-part epoxy finishes--which I have not yet used.

Regards,
 
Hi,

I paint suspension parts with plain old engine paint.

It's resistant to heat, but that isn't really a consideration except for areas right around the brakes (drums, dust shields for example). Perhaps more importantly, engine paint is also resistant to grease and oil, too, some of which is usually on suspension parts.

A main reason I use engine paint is that I don't want a heavy coating that might hide a crack or other fault in these critical parts. Although a UV-safe version would probably be the most durable finish to use, powder coating flows during curing and is particularly good at covering up rough areas. Some of the other coatings mentioned go on pretty heavy, too.

But I want to be able to easily visually inspect these parts, so I choose not to use PC on them and prefer the thinner coating of engine paint.

Other reasons include that engine paint is cheap and widely available in rattle cans, and it holds up reasonably well. Some parts I painted 25 years ago on my TR4 still look good when dusted off and degreased today. Also, a semigloss black engine paint right off the shelf is a pretty good match for what was used originally.

Plus, it's relatively easy to remove if and when that's needed. Disk brake cleaning/degreasing spray will usually remove it. Powder coatings and some of the other chassis coatings are real buggers to remove - some require very nasty chemical strippers - if that is ever necessary.

One other thing, some powder coatings are especially resistant to heat, but harder to cure. Most standard types are okay up to their curing temperature around 400 F. Others are special low temp versions (approx. 250-300 F) that might melt if close around hot brake parts or near exhausts.

Finally, engine paint is easy to touch up if needed. Powder coating is not.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
I had sandblasted mine to bare metal primed and painted with decent rattle can paint. I was not satisfied with the durability so purchased POR-15 topcoat in silver. Went on easy with a brush and is very hard and slick, just what I was looking for.
 
I have used Rust-oleum to paint the racks on my truck and other things with excellent results. It is a good product, and if properly applied works well on frames, suspensions, and other out of sight places. The key to all these paints (including powder coat)is preparation and proper application. Even the POR products require more prep then meets the eye. In my opinion, you hear very little about Rust-oleum in restoration and repair work because the company does not target advertising to what for them is probably a niche market.
 
I vote powder coat. Will last forever. Though I can see the fun of the Eastwood and Por. You get the I did it satisfaction.
Don
 
For suspension parts, small stuff I powder coat,
the bigger things I use engine paint for heat and grease resistance.

The Crypt Car has no field experience so all
the new paint is holding up very well!

d
 
[ QUOTE ]


I paint suspension parts with plain old engine paint.



[/ QUOTE ]

I am a rookie here, but while I understand and agree with the motivations for engine paint, I undersand a benefit of POR-15, Eastwood, etc. (Rustoleum?) is the anti-rust, or "rust-conversion" properties. POR15 I belive advertises hardness, to avoid chipping and rusting from stone chips.

Thoughts?
 
OK Jeff. I took your advice and ordered the Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black for my chassis repainting this winter. Pics to follow at a much later date. I did order a quart of the rust inhibitor in the event I see any surface rust after washing it all down. With all of the oil leaks over the years, I think that I'm in decent shape, but just in case....
 
Hey Paul,
I used the Eastwood chassis black paint and found that I had to wait 7 days (on the label) for a second coat or before applying any other tops coat. Any sooner and it will lift. The chassis black is a high solids paint that can easily be overpsrayed and dripped so keep this in mind as well. When dry though, it is a nice smooth hard semi-gloss finish.
 
Thanks for the info Peter. Was it tacky during this period? As long as I can drive it home to let it sit, I'll be fine.

Edit by me: I just found this on the Eastwood site and it is for the EXTREME Chassis Paint, not the regular.

"Prime Rusty Metal with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. 15-20 minutes between coats of Extreme Chassis Black. Can be recoated at any time without lifting. Not recommended for use over self-etching primers."
 
A consideration to make concerning powder coatings, is having to work on them later. Last year I helped a friend rebuild his suspension on another LBC marque. A very particular person, he had powder coated everything including the frame. Since I had the necessary tools for pressing bushings etc he brought it over. While trying to be as careful as possible, we still wound up putting many major chips into the finishes which we ultimately covered with rattle paint can't remember which kind. And recently had occasion to use Rustoleum (Walmart supplied) and noted that the resulting finish wass better than I've ever seen. Better living thru chemistry.

Tom Lains
TS8651 & 58107
 
Has anyone tried water-thinnable epoxy paint, such as the paint from Nelson Hobby (https://www.nelsonhobby.com/paint.html) on cars? I use this for painting bicycle frames, and I find that it is really tough stuff, and easy to apply, as long as you prep things properly. I haven't tried it on cars yet, but for small areas like individual parts, it might be quite good. Supposedly, it's petroleum resistant, but I haven't tried it anywhere, yet, where it might come in contact with gas or oil.

I've also used Rustoleum, and had good results. But it's not as durable as other options.
 
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