Mike H Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Can anyone out there recommend what to use to coat my ally panels with. When I've got them all drilled I want to apply some sort of finish as I won't be having a full carpet in this car. Should I get them powder coated or can I paint them? If painted it would obviously have to be hard wearing and fairly easy to apply to aluminium. Any ideas? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Powder coating is probably the easiest as preparing aluminium for painting can be quite tedious due to the primers you need to apply. I painted mine but only because they'd been fitted to the chassis by the factory. Powdercoating will be hard wearing enough and you can get it done in different colours if that takes your fancy. Make sure you put either rubber mats in the footwells or some form of anti-slip stuff because otherwise you'll find your feet slipping around down there when it's wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Seconded. It's a no brainer, especially if the panels aren't yet fitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonym Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Mine are powder coated black. Looks great with no weight also good if you get caught in the rain. (No smelly wet carpets) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike H Posted August 2, 2002 Author Share Posted August 2, 2002 Powder coat it is then, cheers guys. Thought that would be best. Not sure about different colours tho', but hey the body is 'Blatman green'! Mike rollon on tomorrow morning and pickup time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Incidentally, you can get things powder coated in gloss or satin finishes - most common is satin but just speak to the company you get to do the work and see what they can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard M Green Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Prior to any form of painting and/or powder coating it's worth getting the panels etch primed with a zinc chromate type substance. Better still get them ardrox bathed before being etch primed...... (Yet another aerospace technique) Regards all Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 But if they're being powder coated then it just sticks to normal aluminium - no prep necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBoy Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 follow the links to david and Jasons build. they, if i remember correctly, etch primed and painted their panels. pretty sure david east painted his too, and we all know how well his car turned out! . Painting - diff. And aluminium panels on the chassis with special primer and Satin Black Hammerite a pretty good colour match to powder coating of the chassis. David Esats build i painted my block and ally gbox with simoniz matt as a base then satin as a top coat. it is pretty resiliant stuff Painting Following this we decided that the aluminium alloy panels (already fitted) ought to be treated. Luckily for us Blobby works in the aircraft industry and had a tin containing the mother of all etching primers. To apply it you are advised to wear a chemical breathing mask, so we were told. To our surprise he even had these, so we set to work painting the aluminium alloy panels, blissfully unaware of the fumes around us. This primer is excellent, it's better than Hammerite special metal primer, dries quickly and encourages you to paint over it due to its disgusting yellow/green colour. We finished the task by spraying the underside with underseal, and coating all the panels with Hammerite Grey/Silver Hammer finish. While the finish is tough it tends to run and needs care during application. David and jasons diary there you go, done all the hard work for you....blat man has set a good example with his helpful ways! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard M Green Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 The yellow/green etch primer to which they refer is indeed a zinc chromate. It is available from H Marcel Guest the paint makers who rather imaginatively call it "Yellow Etch Primer" and sell it as a two pack in quantities from 1 litre upwards. For 5 litres of primer plus 5 litres of activator I paid £30 from HMG Coatings in Andover. It looks best if sprayed but actually produces remarkably smooth results if brushed, as it's actually a wash rather than a true paint. It acts as a very good base for virtually all subsequent coatings inc Hammerite. To echo the words of caution. It is nasty. Please use respiratory protection is you decide to use this stuff. Regards all Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike H Posted August 5, 2002 Author Share Posted August 5, 2002 But if they're being powder coated then it just sticks to normal aluminium - no prep necessary. So my panels just need to be clean for powder coating to work on aluminium then? that's good news, thanks. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted August 5, 2002 Share Posted August 5, 2002 Well I assume the coater used some form of degreaser but all the prep I did was deliver a shiny petrol tank to him with the various openings taped up and it came back nicely powder coated later the same day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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