Finishing Lower Control Arms

[JR_Charger]

Thank you! He's happy, and that's my main concern every time.

Powder doesn’t "dry" like wet paint, it's sprayed with a special gun onto a clean, previously media blasted surface to provide "tooth," and then placed into an oven to melt (cure). The powder particles then warm up to cross-link on a microscopic scale, self level and become very hard once the cure time is reached. Parts can go into service immediately once they cool off.

The end result is an environmentally friendly (low VOC) finish that actually bonds with the metal -- rather than riding on top like paint does -- available in thousands of colors and textures to fit virtually any application. Most don't realize the process has been around for decades but has filtered into nearly every manufacturer's finish line on metal nowadays.

Completely encapsulating metal with powder can affect very tight clearances, but a job done properly is only a few mils thick and generally doesn't interfere. One benefit of doing it that way can prevent the elements from reaching bare metal at all, a great barrier from future rust/corrosion that will preserve it for literally decades.

You may need a couple raps from a rubber hammer to tap your torsion bars out of the LCAs but they're unlikely to "stick" or peel powder off when they come apart. Never-seize is always recommended, especially on dissimilar metals.

I hope this helps! Give me a call if you have other questions along the way.

Can powder coat be done over Picklex20? You may not have run into that before, but I don't know who else to ask.

 

[snakeoil24]

View attachment 1280696

Almost there - I'm getting a black substance on the metal now, maybe it is time to change the vinegar?

I've got a little damage from trying to get the torsion bar adjuster bolts out with my impact wrench -

View attachment 1280697

Anyone think this is worth worrying about?

No your fine just soak the threaded bolt in rust buster. Second option heat the nut and remove bolt.

 

[Hemi2Much]

Not trying to hijack a thread but where do you guys get the plates to box in the lower control arms? Or do you make them yourself?
Thanks, JKent

 

[dadsbee]

Not trying to hijack a thread but where do you guys get the plates to box in the lower control arms? Or do you make them yourself?
Thanks, JKent

Make'm or buy them from PST...

 

[JR_Charger]

Not trying to hijack a thread but where do you guys get the plates to box in the lower control arms? Or do you make them yourself?
Thanks, JKent

You can get them from Firm Feel too - http://www.firmfeel.com/b_body_late_mopar_lower_control_arm_reinforcement.html

I've seen them at a few different places. You can even get them off of eBay.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Can powder coat be done over Picklex20? You may not have run into that before, but I don't know who else to ask.

I have seen it, and have a sample from competitor Toran. It discolors aluminum and left parts feeling sticky; it never saw a customer's part.

It looks like the PickleX could replace manual labor in large production shops -- basic grunge cleaning and minor phosphate rust/corrosion protection -- but replacing the blasting with a chemical is not something I'd even consider under powder. My little custom shop is vastly different than a manufacturer's powder coating conveyor line where quantity matters more to the Board of Directors and shareholders than quality does.

Undeaneath a microscope, blasted metal has hills and valleys which powder fills and self-levels when curing, creating a much struonger bond with the substrate. You can spray and cure powder on most anything that will take an electric charge, but whether it stays there or not is all dependent on what happens before the powder gun is hooked up.

I'd rather do it right and continue receiving reports of decades-old jobs still looking like the day they arrived. (I bet my washer and dryer manufacturer -- with 4-year old peeling powder jobs -- cuts corners at their place. I know the shiny metal and rust revealed under the peels shows blasting wasn't involved.)

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Not trying to hijack a thread but where do you guys get the plates to box in the lower control arms? Or do you make them yourself?
Thanks, JKent

https://bergmanautocraft.com/product/lower-control-arm-reinforcement-plate-pr/

 

[Robertop]

I’m doing mine in Quasimoline from Resto Rick.
I
http://www.restorick.com/search.php?pg=1&stext=Quasimoline&sprice=&stype=&scat=

My roadrunner did not have any coating on those arms (it’s a very early production), so when I removed them I soaked them in Evaporust. When they came out clean, I let them dry overnight and coated then with clear flat paint for plasti c models. Three coats and they still look new after 15 years.

 

[JR_Charger]

"Let them dry overnight . . ." I blew the rinse water off one of mine with a leafblower and then immediately followed with a heat gun, and by the time I had it dry it was already flash rusting.

 

[JR_Charger]

Progress on the LCA's -

I got a surprise when I went to put a 2nd coat of Eastwood Chassis Black on and I found a can of Rust-Oleum Pro-Grade Rubberized Undercoating in my hand instead. It was going on a little funny but I thought I was putting the paint on too heavy trying to get into every knook and cranny. Well, it was a mistake but I have to admit that it doesn't look bad and will likely hold up longer. Now I've got to figure out how to treat the reinforcement plates. I guess I'll leave them bare for the welder and hope I can figure out how to prime/paint the portion that will be inside the LCA later - although there will be little to no access. Maybe the stuff for painting inside the subframe rails will work. I doubt it hits every spot.

 

[CudaChick1968]

All modifications should be done before any finish is applied. Your welder guy is gonna love you. LOL!

 

[JR_Charger]

I'll remove the undercoating in the area that's going to be welded. After 3 months removing it under my car, it's my specialty.

 

[JR_Charger]

When it's done right, powder coating is only a few mils thick and will not interfere with your torsion bars seating properly. The insets CAN be blocked / masked off, but keep in mind any unprotected metal will eventually invite corrosion. This is the only Powder **** pic I got of @68Runner's LCAs before my camera battery died. He has more on his build thread.

View attachment 1268650

Have you got a picture of the bottom of that, so I can see how the reinforcing brace goes on?

Have you ever seen one of these Hotchkiss sway bar brackets -

I can't quite see how that is supposed to go on. That 3/16" steel side is surely not meant to bend around the top of the LCA like the stock brackets do.

 

[6872n73]

I’m getting ready to add a coat to door mechanisms and additional coat to k member

View attachment 1264186

Interested to see your final product

 

[t.flatt]

I got the idea from here.

View attachment 1264203 View attachment 1264204 View attachment 1264205 View attachment 1264206

Yep, those are mine! The Quasimoline worked great!

 

[CudaChick1968]

Have you got a picture of the bottom of that, so I can see how the reinforcing brace goes on?

Have you ever seen one of these Hotchkiss sway bar brackets -

View attachment 1294359

I can't quite see how that is supposed to go on. That 3/16" steel side is surely not meant to bend around the top of the LCA like the stock brackets do.