Reconditionin Underside Braces - Powdercoat or Bilt Hamber?

[scz4]

Afternoon all,

Need some advice as I’m in the process of treating and protecting my 2009 MX-5 father and son project car. I’m using Aqua Steel to convert the rust, then using Bilt Hamber

Bracesare solid, so pleased with that. Would you recommend powder coating them or treat them? I’ve had mixed results in the past with powder coating, but also never used Bilt Hamber to know how durable it’ll be.

I guess the other option is to to treat them with Aqua Steel, then powder coat?

[GreenV8S]

My experience with powder coating is that if applied really well it gives great protection until it is chipped, at which point water gets behind it and you're left with wet, rusty metal covered up with a sheet of plastic. If not applied well then you get that without it needing to be chipped.

Last time I needed to paint a chassis I used the POR15 chassis paint system. It's held up well over the past decade or so. There are plenty of alternatives that I'm sure are just as good.

I'd be interested to know what people consider state of the art these days, but I would hope there's something better that plastic coating available. I see people talking about the Zinga cold galvanising system, and that looks interesting, but I haven't tried it.

[Belle427]

Im no expert on powder coating but they would probably need to be blasted and rust free for it to take and last.
Paint would be much better, POR15 is good but often gets used wrongly as it likes something to bite on to ie pitted surfaces.
Maybe look at one of the Epoxy coatings but again im not sure of its suitability to go over treated rusty surfaces.

[poppopbangbang]

GreenV8S said:

I'd be interested to know what people consider state of the art these days, but I would hope there's something better that plastic coating available. I see people talking about the Zinga cold galvanising system, and that looks interesting, but I haven't tried it.

We use Xylan coatings a lot for steel components primarily as anti-corrosion but also for aesthetics as it creates a nice surface finish. It's a tough coating with good wear and abrasion resistance. It's used a lot in subsea applications and similar for example.

The surface does need to be perfectly clean, solid and grot free though!

[GreenV8S]

poppopbangbang said:

The surface does need to be perfectly clean, solid and grot free though!

I can see that being a bit of a challenge for the average restoration.

[ShortBeardy]

I'm not convinced that powder coating is the best solution. POR15 has a great reputation and is likely easiest & cheapest way to get long lasting result, but IMO the best approach is to get it bead blasted and hot dip galvanised and then put something on top (like an enamel paint or powder coat).

If you really want to go mad then do the above and then spray it all with wax and promise yourself you are going to steam clean the underneath and reapply every few years (But be honest...)

[RustyNissanPrairie]

If you can get it blasted then use Zinga.

If not blasted but wire wheeled/flap disc etc then use a rust converter on the remaining pitted rust followed by a few coats of Jotun Jotamastic87w.

Apply a Jotun Pilot ACR or Corroless RF16 top coat over either the Zinga or Jotun.

[Master Of Puppets]

Over the years I've had great results with Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80, as long as you clean away any flaking rust it really does
what it says on the bottle.

The problem is it looks like it's being discontinued, everywhere is out of stock, even on the BH website, anyone know what's
happening?

[Mikebentley]

I was watching LegitStreetCars latest video. He used a Waxoyl spray coating first which doesn’t dry properly and was black in colour then went over it with an Amzoil spray which effectively 95% cured the finish. In a quick fix way it seemed it would work really well.