Got Rust?

[JohnK]

I ordered my MkIV chassis uncoated because I wanted to make a couple mods and clean up the frame prior to PC, and I also wanted a color other than black. I ended up spending way more time cleaning up weld spatter than I expected. You don't realize how much weld spatter is on the frame until you see it on a bare frame and have to clean it off. All in all, I'm happy I ordered it uncoated but it was a lot of work to clean it properly and definitely more expensive to have it coated locally. All that considered, I'd still order my next one uncoated again.

[Briansshop]

I ordered my MkIV chassis uncoated because I wanted to make a couple mods and clean up the frame prior to PC, and I also wanted a color other than black. I ended up spending way more time cleaning up weld spatter than I expected. You don't realize how much weld spatter is on the frame until you see it on a bare frame and have to clean it off. All in all, I'm happy I ordered it uncoated but it was a lot of work to clean it properly and definitely more expensive to have it coated locally. All that considered, I'd still order my next one uncoated again.

Ordered mine bare for all the same reasons. Will blast and paint with brush on - no over spray probs - Rust-Oleum Hammertone. I've used it on roll cages and axle housings. Durable and easy to touch up if/when needed.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/1-Quart-S...aint/859821431

[67 Car Guy]

I brush painted my home built frame with POR15: it was a bit of a PIA but not horrible. It's a bit pricey but you don't use a lot. I wiped down the smooth tubing with solvent, but I would have sandblasted it if I realized how must better the paint would adhere. I've never used the Rustoleum Hammered, but I suspect after blasting any good paint will adhere well. My issue was really rust which started at coating breaks.

[Hoooper]

I did POR15 on my frame after making a few frame modifications and cleaning up heaps of weld splatter from FFR. I knew what I was getting into since Ive used it on other pieces before, and it did not leave me surprised at all. Definitely NOT a product that results in a perfect finish unless perhaps you are a POR15 expert. I would have gone for powdercoat if I wasnt covering up all of the frame other than the little bit of tube you can see with the hood off which is already pretty obscured by the engine, electrical, etc. If you are not making changes to the car the $400 cost of powdercoat is a good price, the only downside being that if you are expecting a concourse quality job for $400 you will be disappointed.

[Jonny30]

Any of you tried KBS coating?? There's a lot of good reviews.

[67 Car Guy]

Thanks for the tip-
I had not used KBS coatings but I looked up their products. Very similar to the Eastwood Internal Frame coating product, including the long plastic tube applicator with the cute multi-orifice nozzle at the end. KBS seems to take a slightly different approach, their product claims to be a wax-type substance that wicks into the tiniest cracks to prevent rust. The Eastwood product seems to be a paint with a zinc additive. I know from my boating days that zinc has magical properties preventing rust (it becomes a sacrificial anode) and even if it gets scratched or nicked the proximity of the zinc protects the nearby bare metal. My worry is that I'll have to drill access holes in frame members, and those will let in moisture. I would love to use one of the metal etch products to passivate the inside of the frame, but I'm afraid I could never totally dry them out, and they're water based I think. I'm thinking they'd be ideal for the outside of the frame though, If I decided to paint the outside. I could almost convince myself that a metal etch followed by a good chassis paint with Zinc could be the best solution for the outside of the frame. There's no question powder coating is the toughest coating, but if you do manage to scratch it, the bare metal will rust. I'll probably stick with powder coating on the outside, but I could see doing the insides with the Eastwood product and then follow up a week or two later with the KBS product to find it's way into any nooks and crannys that the eastwood coating didn't reach. From what I can see in the videos, the KBS product goes in wet, and can be sealed in as a rust preventer.

[Duster]

If the satin black is unacceptable as a color that is a problem, but a solvable problem. As others have said get a bare chassis and take it somewhere to be coated with the powder coating color of your choice. The money you save plus a few bucks more should cover it.

If you have welding changes in mind that you feel will enhance the build then engineer your way through the changes on your bare frame. The cost to powder coat your new and improved frame isn't going to change a wit at that point unless you welded a trailer onto the car.

In the building process a scratch or a ding to the frame is frustrating regardless. I think from my experience that PC will do a better job of surviving it then any other applied paint coating. Only PC is a baked on finish. But regardless of your painted coating you will need to repair that scratch if it is truly that important and visable an area. Most of those repairs will not look very satisfactory long term. Besides, as I have completed more and more of my car I see less and less of the frame.

Good luck

[ggunter]

Powder coating is a must in my book, for $499 from FFR it’s a nobrainer . The time you spend painting and prepping you could be building the car plus it’s just a major PITA.

[F-5-R]

How about we ask FFR if they can give us a stainless steel chassis option? Kirkham does it... I would rather look at a SS chassis than painted steel anyway.

[rich grsc]

Go buy a Kirkham then.

[GThompson]

”Instead, I first tried applying POR 15 to a cleaned up frame but it would not adhere properly. I then had the frame sandblasted completely and then applied POR 15 and a top coat of Eastwood chassis gloss black. It all turned out very well and I believe it is as durable as powder coat, if not quite as good looking. Several times since I have dinged the frame and the POR 15 did not chip off at all. The down side was that it was very time consuming to do all of this and it turned out to be quite a bit more expensive than powder coating. I would not recommend it.

I used POR on my Daytona and had it adhere VERY well. Did you use their cleaner and etching product first? The etch makes it look like it say in the ocean for a while but it gives the POR something to really bite into.

I went with POR because I added grounding nuts to the frame (2 in front and 2 in the rear for lighting grounds, one in front for the battery ground, and one under the dash for a grounding bar for the dash switches), modified the mounts for the fuel tank to raise it 1-1/2”, added some mounts to the frame for some eye-bolts to run the parking brake cables through, added a 1” square tube for a dead pedal, modified one of the tubes under the dash for better clearance for the brake pedal, and welded on new mounts for a modified Subaru console-mounted parking brake setup. If I had the powder-coat, all the patching woul have looked worse than the POR does.

Anyway, your car, your choices. Good luck on your build!!

[F-5-R]

LOL not an option ...but even Kirkham offers it as an option...its just under $5,000. Well worth it IMO. I'm sure Factory Five "could" offer that option in a cost effective way...maybe $3,500? Is it necessary, no but "necessary" is not why we build/own these in the first place.

[Straversi]

How about we ask FFR if they can give us a stainless steel chassis option? Kirkham does it... I would rather look at a SS chassis than painted steel anyway.

I've posted this before, but this is a one-off replica built by a guy in AZ (as told to me by the owner). Stainless frame all polished.



Whatever makes you happy, I guess.

-Steve

[F-5-R]

oh yeah!