Looking to see who had powder coated there frame, suspension and other parts. I'm not sold on it and I'm strongly on the side of paint. Only experience I have in power coating is with construction (fencing and such). I always see cracks and rust forming underneath and then chipping and flaking over time. Rust will take over and too late by the time you notice. Can paint over and repair, but will never be the same. That's a big negative for me. The frame and other parts flex and expand, how does the rigid coating hold up?

 

As a general rule powder coating is much better then paint for under car stuff. It resist chipping from stones a lot more then any paint even the ceramic epoxy's. The issue you are seeing is about UV resistance. Something that really does not matter on frame and suspension parts. Also not all powder coats are the same some can have good UV protection and some so not just like plastics.

You can also use truck bed liner but you need to know how to prep the metal. It is likely to lift and cause the rust issues you are talking about but if done right the stuff and be tuff to get off if you try stones are nothing to it.

If you want the car to look good and don't plan on putting a bunch of miles on it just use an epoxy primer and ceramic top, its still 10 times better then anything the factory did. .

 

Powder "paint" comes mainly in 2 sorts, Epoxy and polyester. One is more resistant to UV and used on urban stuff.
The one you saw cracked, probably would have been worst with a regular paint.
It also of course depends on surface preparation.
Take a fence post, if a car hits it and bends it, the coat will likely crack, allow moisture inside (brake the coating) and you'll end up with rust and peel off.
On a car, there is not much flex.
I am using a DIY kit and I can tell you it's easier to apply on small parts (you need an oven though), and it is resistant. You can stack parts and it won't affect the finish. No way to get that with a regular paint. I am using it for a couple of years so I don't have a lot of experience.
Same for stone chips, as said above, much more resistant.

 

Thanks guys.... Bear with me on this, one more question(s). If I use paint, what about the inside of the frame where cleaning can not occur due to access. I'm currently on the waiting list for the frame and other parts to be sand blasted and then epoxy primer. What about the surface rust that can not be fully removed from the inner frame. I assume the epoxy primer covers that and seals the rust? If its powder coated (assume not primered), how does the work with rust if not full cleaned and not sealed/neutralized with primer? .

 

You can't cover rust with paint. It'll continue to work underneath.
If you can't access for a mecanical removal of rust, you can use chemical (basically acids).
If you're talking about the inside of frame rails, ususally one use waxes to cover whatever is inside (surface rust, dust, ...) Wax will create a coating isolating the rust and helping in stopping its work, something paint can't do.
Powder coating will probably find its way inside. You'll then have to use those waxes over it.
Yes powder coating is applied to bare metal (it sticks to it with static electricity before being oven cured) so it can not be used over another coating (primer)

I work with https://www.rust.co.uk/ They are in UK so you'll likely not order from them from the US but you can learn quite a lot from their web site.

 

That helps.. Thank you

 

Howdy, guess we'll see as Ricky is going to be a test bed for powder-coating, paint, and truck bed-liner, all found in various places underneath. All the front-end parts like Pitman Arm, steering linkage, etc that were on the original car went to powder coat land, the pan and trunk were bed-liner, and the sub-frame, control arms etc are new and came painted. Time and the roads of America will tell. Here's a sample of powder-coated steering: