Paint or powder coat?

[poolman]

I sand blasted all my stuff and a friend sprayed with Rustoleum in a Gallon can.Pretty tuff so far and easy to touch up.I have sanded and welded and rattle canned the piece and it matches perfectly.

[Vintage Iron Fab]

I would highly recommend going to the auto paint store and buying a gallon of what ever shade you want. In the end its cheaper than spray can and it won't get f-ed up the first time hot oil or gas hits it like a rattle can does. Its just a nicer finish --whats wrong with wanting to have a nicely detailed ride?

[PaulW]

I would highly recommend going to the auto paint store and buying a gallon of what ever shade you want. In the end its cheaper than spray can and it won't get f-ed up the first time hot oil or gas hits it like a rattle can does. Its just a nicer finish --whats wrong with wanting to have a nicely detailed ride?

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Good recomendation. Use good paint. The local auto paint shop now offers any oem or aftermarket auto paint in rattle cans. Choose the color and the type of paint, & single or 2 stage.
Paul

[sydude]

I'm extremely happy with what my Auto Body paint shop recommended, Dupont Corlar. It's their highest industrial anti-corrosion, strength and elasticity Direct to Metal (DTM) coating. Not too badly priced, I think it was around $140 for two gallons. Very good stuff. The exact product is "Corlar® 2.8 HG™ High Gloss Epoxy".

http://pc.dupont.com/dpc/en/US/html/vis ... t/dic.html
http://pc.dupont.com/bowstreet5/dpc/en/ ... chdic.html
http://pc.dupont.com/dpc/en/US/html/vis ... 2-8HGD.pdf

[Vintage Iron Fab]

I would say that a gallons worth of black single stage acrylic enamel- make them mix it btw. The stuff that is like industrial black paint for shelving and tractors is just simlply shitty and doesn't lay down nice. Lets face it if you are going to do a good job it needs too look like it-- at least thats my opinion. Anyway a gallons worth of single stage with reducer and hardener will run you about $75-$100 out the door. Combine that with a Harbor Freight HVLP gun and a 5 gallon drum of lacquer (sp) thinner-- and I guarantee you can paint your frame, axles, every little part you can imagine and have plenty left over do do your welding table, racks or whatever you want. The hidden beauty is you become more comfortable with your technique and spraying and then that can carry over to a vehicle. Canned engine spray paint is $6 a can and you can use 15 cans on a build in a heartbeat. Then all it takes is a bit of gas or brake fluid and its all toast. I painted my first complete over the holidays with basically nothing but painting parts, some internet learning and some professional tips and it turned out very very nice. There is no way I could have afforded to pay someone for the work that I did. HTH