Powder Coating
I decided to powder coat some of the suspension and engine components. I purchased one of those home-use powder coat kits that are currently on the market. My particular unit is the the "Hot Coat" unit from Eastwood (the cheaper one of the two they offer). They had a pretty good selection of colors, textures, and affects to offer and I stocked up on some of the ones I thought would be interesting. Below are some photos of my progress.
I have to say that powder coating has been, and still is, a learning experience for me. I first tried the process on the peristaltic pump I built for my home brewery. It came out OK, but some oils from the milling process ruined small areas of it. When I started coating the suspension parts I was much cleaner but ran into other issues, mainly from oversight on my part. After four attempts to coat the parts with "reflective chrome" and clear coat I finally had something respectable.
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One of the front suspension links after the fourth attempt. The coating is called "reflective chrome" but actually came out more like polished aluminum for me. It looks sharp, much more reflective than any "chrome" or silver paint I have ever applied. |
A textured finish called "Silver Vein" applied to the rear plate of the rear brakes. It looks like a hammer tone finish with silver at the peaks and black at the valleys of the texture. |
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Axle and flange powder coated with a "reflective chrome" basecoat, followed by a translucent blue coat. |
Reassembled left rear suspension |
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Front coil spring after first color coat. This "chrome" base coat was followed by a translucent blue. |
Finished front coil spring |