Best coat for rear suspension

[Philippe-J.]

I was about to have my rear suspension parts, e.g. wishbones, anti-roll bar, springs, radius arms, powder coated. But I red somewhere in the forum that paint should be in order for wishbones and radius arms as it is easier (and mandatory) to mask mating surfaces.
And recently I looked at a video by Richard Michael Owen where he talks about "black anodizing" for wishbones with respect to this aspect.
In a word, I do no more know what to think
Any advice welcomed!

Philippe

[Phil P]

Hi Philippe,
If you identify where the parts need to be masked by taping them, a good powder coating specialist should be able to do this for you.
For interface areas with fasteners eg washers, I used the fastener itself as a mask before I sent them to be coated although you then have to replace the fastener. Talk to your powder coater, you'll find they have most of the answers including which type to use.

Regarding the black anodizing; anodising is artificial increase in the thickness of the generally natural oxide layer by anodically oxidizing the part....hence anodize. It applies generally to aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys to enhance wear and corrosion resistance. However, unless the wishbones are made from one of the above, unlikely for either strength or cost reasons they cannot anodised.

Early e-types apparently had black suspension components. These may have been directly painted on the steel substrate or may have been a black passivated ( instead of clear or olive drab) cadmium plating.
Yours,
Phil

[rfs1957]

Philippe,

I would opt for sprayed black epoxy, every time.

It makes masking critical areas much easier, and there are a lot of those in the rear suspension, and it’s a tougher paint than standard car paints.

This is how I did my car. If you’ve got a reasonable compressor and a spray gun you can do it yourself - I’m no paint expert but was very happy with the finish I got.

I have easy access to powder coating but I almost never use it, the monkeys that run these businesses around here are good at gates but I wouldn’t let them near an engineered component.

[Series1 Stu]

Once again, I am in 100% agreement with Rory.

I'm not a fan of powder coating because it forms a shell around the component and doesn't really adhere in the same way as paint. You are far better off using a good epoxy paint system. If you can get a solvent based rather than a water based paint then even better. Masking is much easier than for powder coating too.

It's really satisfying getting a decent finish straight from the spray gun although you don't need to worry too much about it because it's mostly out of sight.

Regards

[mgcjag]

Another vote for paint from me....you dont even need to spray....iv done a few just with a brush....Eastwood chassis black is quite good....as is epoxy primer and brush applied 2k direct gloss.....Steve

[Philippe-J.]

Thank you all for your unambiguous answers. They give me a clear way forward
Moreover this way is at hand for me, so that's my working plan for the next bank holidays.

[Fspp369]

I have had great success with the product made by Dacrylate.
It’s east to apply and can be bought as : IMPLAMEL SPF.
It’s easy to apply and has proven good for 10yrs on some of my front gates at my pervious house. It takes a colour well and the surface isn’t too shiny.

https://dacrylate.co.uk/products/produc ... plamel-24/

[ysmalkie]

Cataphoteric paint. Perfect, thin coat, you do not have to cover any splines, threads as it's a very thin layer of paint. Looks very good.




Tadek

[44DHR]

I just use Smooth Black Hammerite by AkzoNobel on my rear suspension and mounting cage.
Used it for the past 20 years plus on the E Type. Readily available in spray or brush paint and easy to touch up if needed. Needs no undercoat and paints directly onto metal. It is durable and corrosion resistant.
I would be concerned with powder coating in case it was too brittle and could be subject to chips in an area potentially subject to road debris.
Cheers,
Dave

[RICHOT]

I’ve also used Smooth Hammerstein on the rear subframe - and it’s still good after 24years!!

Hopefully it’s still the same formulation now as it was then, as it may have been changed in this woke environment!
Cheers, Richard

[mgcjag]

As far as im aware Hammerite changed formula about 10 years ago....it became a much thinner product and had poor coverage needing quite a few coats....thats when I stopped using it......Steve

[Sander]

I have used POR-15 with great success on my IRS a few years ago.

Powder coating tends to crack and is not suitable for the IRS frame itself. In my opinion,

Hammerite is a very overrated product that does not provide very good protection. In contrast to Hammerite, POR-15 provides an extremely hard and strong surface and is far superior in terms of rust protection.

The disadvantage of POR-15 is that you have to follow the instructions very carefully, including thorough degreasing and using POR-15 Metal Prep first, which is an etching solution. Here in Europe it can be a bit difficult to buy POR-15, but I found a dealer in Germany https://www.por15.de.

Jay Lenno made a video about POR-15 a few years ago

[Philippe-J.]

Jesper,

I'd red and heard from POR15 already, but my issue was how and where to buy it to France. So thank you so much for the link to this german dealer.

Philippe