Just curious as this is something I am very glad I do. Especially last weekend.

Whenever I have the wheels off my car for some sort of repair, either brakes or suspension. I grab out a can of paint, usually Trim Clad rust paint in gloss black or last time it was a chrome colour paint and I paint everything with 1-2 coats. I will just sit there in the open wheel well and start spraying. Every Nut Bolt, Bracket you name it gets coated. It always looks nice with a fresh coat of paint and this weekend I really saw the benefit of it.

After driving my car around in the winter, snow ice, and salt everything usually gets a solid coat of rust on it. Well I had a suspension issue and had to pull the front end apart on Saturday, NO RUST, none at all.

I have been in the habit of painting everything. When my last tranny was out, it got painted FLAME RED. and I do go down with a spray can and touch it up when I am under the car. Sway bar, Control Arms, Cradle, Rack, everything gets painted at one time or another.

Cost is only a few cans of paint, and the 20 min or so do to the spraying. In the long run I am gonna bet it is going to save me many hours of fighting with rusted bolts and drilling out snapped off studs.

So back to my original question, how many people paint there suspension parts or underbody of your car.

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85GT 2.9 4spd MSD Everything, Big Cam and Nitrous. www.captfiero.com

That is good for the car but you would be better off if you could get undercoating it is like rubber it offers more protection and it holds better than paint and it will not rub off easily like paint.

[This message has been edited by Master Tuner Akimoto (edited 02-03-2004).]

I paint some parts when I have time, But also last year, I put the car over the pit and put about 10 cans of rubberized undercoating on her. I hope I dont need to replace anything underneath her

I just got all my 88 front suspension pieces back from the Powder Coater. It cost me $100.00 to have everything powder coated (main suspension pieces black, everything else red) will be posting a thread, with pictures, on the complete rebuild shortly. It is beautiful shame most of it in hidden under the car. But I won;t have to do anyting except wash it from here on.

Joe Sokol
85 SE 5 Speed 2.8
88 Formula/GT 5 Speed 4.9 Caddy

When i redid mt suspension i painted everything individually in my basement, too cold outside for it to dry. Looks pretty good still, the only thing that happens is rocks chip the paint off,

the old when i bent a lower control arm and the lower balljoint.

The newer with suspension painted flat black

Powdercoated suspension

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Power Coating is great guys, but that is for the person that is doing a full suspension rebuild and has the time to have the car apart for more than an afternoon.

I am talking mainly about the guys that are in the middle of a brake job reach back grab the can of paint spray on a coat or 2 of paint, then finish off the brake job.

Or the person that is changing a nose on a car and while the nose is off grabs the can of trimclad and sprays the hell out of any metal surface.

Or the person doing the oil change that is under the car anyway and gives the cradle a good spray while they are there.

The simple things that a simple person can do.

This thread is meant for the "Its So Easy Why Not Just Do It" jobs.

Dont get me wrong I love the look of power coated parts. I will myself do that to my suspension some day. But for the average joe schmo that just wants to keep his car a little more rust proof. Giving a quick shot of paint while you are working on something is a really good idea.

By the Way, Tina, just like always in Tina Fashion the car looks awesome.

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85GT 2.9 4spd MSD Everything, Big Cam and Nitrous. www.captfiero.com

Thanks, Capt Fiero.
Yes, I do paint/touch up occasionally as well.
Gotta be careful of "over spray" though,

2 things I found to be very helpful are tin foil ( easy to wrap around parts and press into place temporarily)
and paint tarps (the cheap thin plastic sheets with the adhesive tape already attached)

Tina

Yup! All suspension stuff is powder coated. Umm, and we painted the underbody.

quote Originally posted by nitro: Yup! All suspension stuff is powder coated.

That is probably better than new.

I remove surface rust and paint any time I work on mine. My frame is now *completely* rust free.

Seems like a good idea to me.

Maybe someday I can afford the powder coat but i figure the paint stops the rust.

Paint is just shy of free so why not.

quote Originally posted by Tina: Powdercoated suspension

<shakes head>... Maybe one day...

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AKA. "SmoothGT"....
Custom Built SHAVED~WIDEBODY~GT!!

Does burnt rubber count????

I used to wouk whith a guy that any time whe got slow he would grab a hose and can of spray paint and go out to wash the delevery trucks then black the rails. the trucks would look great for weaks after, Or untill I decided to take one up my driveway

When I took my rear inner fenders out, I coated everything with a can of ashphault undercoating, I also touched up the rusty part of my front suspension with the undercoating. While I was at it, I did the strip by the coolant tube where the frame is welded where all the holes for the rocker panel are drilled on both sides, because it looked like the paint was getting thin.

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Details on my Fiero here
Member of the Edmonto Fiero Club Please rate me if I helped you!

i didnt paint mine I powder coated it,

[This message has been edited by Fierokid87 (edited 02-06-2004).]

I plan on getting a parts car and taking parts of it and have cleaned and painted. Then I can take mine down for just 1 day and swap parts. Right now all my attn is going into a little 4.9 swap.

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http://home.cfl.rr.com/fierose
Central Florida Fieroshttp://www.centralfloridafieros.com

Just out of curiosity, approximately how much is it to powder coat parts?

POR-15 on my '87 3800na. I guess I just got carried away. Sandblasted it all and painted it. And as we've discussed elsewhere, POR-15 is never ever ever going to rust! Best of all you can brush it on and it comes out shinier than a nice clearcoat job.

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87 Quad 4 HO convertible

quote Originally posted by sennyGT: Just out of curiosity, approximately how much is it to powder coat parts?

It depends ... the more pieces you do at one time the cheaper it gets, adding a addional clear powderoat adds to the total.
Sandblasting, if not done my yourself, adds a lot a dollars fast.
Plus, most if not everybody I know who has done this, replaces the aging rubber/poly suspension pieces.
Add a couple of ball joints, ( that tie rod doesn't look too healty either) new bolts while your at it, ... it adds up quick.

But just to give you a idea.
My local guy charges my $80 to coat the intake, $100 for the headers, the heat shield, I believe was $50.

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quote Originally posted by Automoda: POR-15 on my '87 3800na. I guess I just got carried away. Sandblasted it all and painted it. And as we've discussed elsewhere, POR-15 is never ever ever going to rust! Best of all you can brush it on and it comes out shinier than a nice clearcoat job.

Ive painted alot of the parts on my car with POR15 and then clearcoated them...have you noticed that weather will dull POR15 when its exposed?

quote Originally posted by nitro: Yup! All suspension stuff is powder coated. Umm, and we painted the underbody.

Holy crap....I think I'm in love. I want one. Where's Archie with his pictures of the Stinger's yellow suspension?

quote Originally posted by Capt Fiero: Power Coating is great guys, but that is for the person that is doing a full suspension rebuild and has the time to have the car apart for more than an afternoon. I am talking mainly about the guys that are in the middle of a brake job reach back grab the can of paint spray on a coat or 2 of paint, then finish off the brake job. Or the person that is changing a nose on a car and while the nose is off grabs the can of trimclad and sprays the hell out of any metal surface. Or the person doing the oil change that is under the car anyway and gives the cradle a good spray while they are there. The simple things that a simple person can do.

Well if you don't mind putting a little more work into it and want something that'll last a little longer - get a spray can of rubberized undercoating, and just make sure the parts are clean and free of rust before you spray it. Looks good and washes great.

In the past I used Tectyl (kind of bitumen coating) but that is quite tacky if you have to remove it. On my Fiero I use some Hammerite-like paint. Also works great in the engine bay.

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1987 Pontiac Fiero GTR in progress
1969 Chevy Suburban

Beautiful stuff! This just encourages me to get more carried away with painting parts as I work on the everyday maintenance. Great job everyone.

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HeHe, I started a good thread.

Ok back to topic, I see that I am not the only one that likes to shine up the parts that not everyone see's. I dont go to the extreme that a few of you do. But everything always makes me feel better when it is at least semi clean looking. I take my car to get an underbody wash about once a month to keep the dirt build up to a minimum on the cradle and suspension parts. I also do the painting whenever it is apart. So with any luck rust and dirt will not be an issue when I do my next major suspension jobs.

So far there have been lots of responses to this thread. This is pretty cool, Lets keep em comming. I wish I had some pics of what my suspension looked like right after a fresh paint coating but I will have to wait until my next time to show it.

quote Originally posted by nitro: Yup! All suspension stuff is powder coated. Umm, and we painted the underbody.

I had to look at the pic for some while ...what the heck am I looking at here

Most have something to do with my current coffee deficiency.

Looks real good ... I like the color.
Great job

Tina
BTW Soo ... ive I bring my creeper along to the Dells.
Do I get a tour of the underbody?

That looks like a completely stripped Fiero chassis, viewed from the front. The large hole at the upper right is the brake booster location.

JazzMan