(Mostly) coating the frame
Do you happen to have a spare, say, ten hours with nothing to do? Great! Can I recommend cleaning, degreasing, and then coating a car frame? No? Are you sure? It’s really fun!
Okay, so it wasn’t that bad. I actually went into the process with a good attitude, and came out the other side feeling pretty positive about it too. That’s not to say that the actual coating portion wasn’t a slog. However, if you don’t want to be forced to sand in between (and you’re lying if you say you are okay with that), it is four coats × two hours drying for a total of over eight hours of your day. At least you get breaks in between while the layers set.
In the end, it’s a pretty simple process. I used the POR15 kit. There is a lot of controversy around this product. Mostly what I hear is that it is too rigid, and doesn’t allow the metal to “breathe,” which causes the coating to crack. Obviously I can’t speak to that yet, so all I can say is “We shall see.”
Anyway, if you haven’t been exposed to this process, here is how it goes:
- Cover the whole thing in weldable primer - this way any exposed parts or spots you miss are protected. Any coating can go on top of the primer layer.
- Metal cleaner and degreaser - dilute, rub on to clean the rust and dirt spots, rinse off. It’s actually pretty amazing to see what comes off of the metal. Like, was it really that dirty? I guess so!
- Metal prep - I really have no idea what this does. Guess that’s just a simple way of saying I didn’t read the literature. But I did RTFM on how to apply! Spray on, wait 20ish minutes, spray on, wait 20ish minutes, rinse off. Boom, a prepped frame!
- Two coats of rust protectant - this is the “actual” black coating. The thing that is supposed to protect your frame. At the end of the day, it is like painting anything. Grab your brush and your earbuds, and get to work.
- Two coats of UV guard - so I guess the rust protectant is a little sun-shy. It needs some suntan lotion to cover it up so it doesn’t fade. No worries, what’s another two coats? The only struggle with this product was that it is a little more viscous, and that can mean it’s a little more difficult to get on. Like, it’s sticky, and I don’t like sticky.
That’s it. That’s all it takes. A long process, yes, but at the end you have a shiny black frame ready to hang parts off of.
I do want to point out one thing you may have noticed. Yes, I only coated around 2/3 of the frame. Why? Well, I wanted to leave bare the areas I might weld on. So, anything near the engine and transmission.
Next step? Assembly!