Reconditionin Underside Braces - Powdercoat or Bilt Hamber?

Reconditionin Underside Braces - Powdercoat or Bilt Hamber?

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Discussion

scz4

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

253 months

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

30,681 posts

296 months

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

10,177 posts

245 months

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

2,215 posts

153 months

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

30,681 posts

296 months

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. frown