Steve W Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 I think I'm about to answer my own question ,but here goes. Last year as they were looking tatty I primed and painted the lower wishbones. After a year of use they are looking worst for ware again. Should I rub down and repaint this time maybe giving them a coat of clear lacquer or have them powder coated ? I've found a place local that can re coat them ? Also can you power coat the springs. Will it crack off like the paint ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 I had all of my suspension parts and springs powder coated without problem. You really need to make sure that the springs wave been very lightly grit blasted before coating to make sure you have good adhesion to stop the chance of cracking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 Steve, Everythong should be blasted back to bare metal, and if poss phosphated. the powder coat then stays on and if you chip it theres no rust. Arch can do this as you are up their way (ish)... Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 Steve, Another suggestion for stuff like this which I've been very happy with is to get the parts nylon coated. I use Kelcoat in Leek who also do powder coating, so I imagine many other powder coaters can offer nylon. I've used this for springs, anti-roll bars, the rear A-frame and will get the wishbones done this winter. The finish is excellent and the coating is flexible, very tightly bonded to the metal and extremely resistant to damage (unlike powder coating IMHO). For anything with metallastic bushes or other susceptible parts, these need to be removed beforehand as the coating is applied molten at high temperature. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Bucket Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 Paul, If you nylon coat (which I assume from your description is a dipping process) how do you keep the bushing areas clear ? I am assuming that the thickness of the nylon coat would prevent inserting new metallastic bushes. Also anyone know of a suitable place near Daventry / Silverstone ? Sorry for hijacking the thread a wee bit. Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 They paint the inside of the bushing areas with a sort of 'mould release agent' which then allows you to easily remove any stray material Paul Edited by - Paul McKenzie on 29 Oct 2001 21:23:47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkey Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 Does this nylon coating look the same as powder coating ? Any idea of the cost for a full set of wisbones ? Sparkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 All of the techniques being discussed are powder coating. Nylon, Polyester, Expoxy are generally applied as powders. There are two common methods: Dip Coating into a fluidised bed or electrostatic spraying. Both techniques use pre-heated components. Just like painting, the quality of surface preparation is really important if a high level of adhesion is required. Masking parts before coating is really straightforward and any commercial coater that can't do this is a bit of a prat. I agree with the comments about Nylon being better than Polyester or Epoxy and I have been using Nylon coating on rally car parts for years without problem. Nylon generally has better resistance to oil, petrol and brake fluid than many of the cheaper materials and also tends to give good coverage at low coating thickness. The cheaper materials tend to need thicker coating to avoid pinholes and I think this can spoil the appearance of some parts. I have always specified "Rilsan" which is a prorietrary Atochem product and I have some components under my Lotus Cortina that were coated more than 15 years ago and still look perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted October 30, 2001 Author Share Posted October 30, 2001 Ok thanks for the advice guy's. Looks like it's powder coating then. There is a place just round the corner from the office. There cheap so I'll give them a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 Sparkey, the nylon coating looks the same as the original powder coat. Also you can have different colours, Kelcoat do black, red and green if I remember correctly. The cost at Kelcoat is really cheap (but don't tell them that) and they do a great job including prep. My guess is they wouldn't charge more than 20 squid for 4 wishbones. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkey Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 Thanks, I think I'll give them a try on a few jobs this winter - Leek's not too far from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Reaper Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 Along these lines...is it feasible to get the chassis nylon coated too? If so does anyone know if Arch can get this done before they send the chassis to Caterham for the panel fittings on a new car? I like the idea of a rustproof chassis right from the off and this seems to be the way to get it.from what I have read here,the original 'powder coating' isn't up to much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted October 31, 2001 Share Posted October 31, 2001 It should be possible if you can find someone with a big enough facility. Whether you can persuade Caterham is another issue. If you can persuade them I have a good contact in the Powders division of Atochem, who manufacture high grade nylon and I am sure they will give me contact details of someone who will do the coating. I have always thought that the biggest problem with the standard finish is the lack of surface preparation. The parts of my chassis that have lost the original coating show no signs have having been grit blast nor primed before coating , so its not surprising it falls off and you would need to deal with this as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted October 31, 2001 Share Posted October 31, 2001 I had my front headlight mounts etc shotblasted, zinc passivated (a sort of powderey gold) as a key and then painted with the sot of under bonnet matt black that is used on crs these day. I haven't looked back. It's expensive to get done if you're only doing a few parts. If you're doing the whole lot, it'll work out cheaply relatively. not a spot of rust anywhere. Nigel Mills - 2.0 Zetec carbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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