Powder Coat Frame Prep

I am about ready to take my CJ-6 frame in for powder coating. I was wanting to know if there is anything I should do or be aware of to prepare the frame for coating. What I mean is, should certain sufaces like shock threads, spring hangers, or other areas not have the coating ? What about grounding issues? I am having the cross member coated as well as the rear bumper / hitch receiver. Is there any other hardware that I should consider having powder coated as well?
Here are a couple of "Before" pictures of the frame. I have re-welded all of the spring hangers and boxed some of the frame above the rear hangers. I boxed the rear frame channel with some pieces I got from McRuff. The rear bumper has become part of the frame for strength and to cover the mangled back end of the frame. I ended up lowering my p/s unit to a more conventional location and will use the hole I put in the crossmember to route the solid lines through the frame to the pump.
I hope to get the frame in fo blasting & coating this week if work permits. BTW, the fresh rust is thanks to the 1st rain here in So. Cal in some time.

 

the shop that does the powder coating would/should tape all the threaded parts with a special tape to cover them; you should point out everything/anything that you are concerned about, they will work with you.
Powder coating will have a tendency to fill in the inner diameter of your bolt holes; some folks say that you should drill out/relieve the holes to the next larger fractional size drill bit before powder coating; what can happen is that 3/8" bolt won't go back thru the hole without drilling; powder coating usually chips when drilled, so you can see where I'm headed here.
If it's an area that doesn't show, no worries.....
I only had a couple of instances where I had to re-open the hole.
but when you spend the $$ to powder coat, you want it right as well.
anyway, my thoughts and experiences

 

Ron (rondog) just did his I am sure he will chime in shortly. Good luck with yours.

 

My only powder coating experience is with some steel KH wheels. They turned out great except a thin or minimal coating took place at sharp edges and cracks created by separate pieces coming together (inner wheel section and rim). These areas soon developed some light rust. I don't know if it's the process or the quality of work itself that caused the problem.

 

Some excellent points. I will slightly enlarge the various holes on the frame so they won't need to be drilled out later. I also plan to have a couple of nut/bolt set attached to the frame that I will use to keep frame bare for grounding purposes.

 

You could also use a Dremel or something similar to grind off a spot for grounding. Powdercoating is good, hard, tough stuff, but it's not like the porcelain on an old cast iron bathtub, you can still work with it somewhat.

I just had my chassis done, and it looks fabulous! I went with "chassis black", which is a 60% gloss, I think he said. I don't even want to guess at what the powder # was, but he knew exactly what I wanted.

Main thing to remember is, the more work the blaster and coater have to do, the more it will cost you. I recommend you get ALL pieces just as clean and dirt/grease/oil free as you possibly can. I took mine to a carwash with several cans of engine degreaser and hosed it down, don't forget to get INSIDE the boxed areas of the frame! You don't have to wirebrush the whole thing, but if there's spots of really thick paint you might hit those with a wirebrush on a grinder, to cut down on the sandblaster's time.

Get all repair work you want to do done now, including any welding, grinding or dent hammering. Keep in mind that powdercoating doesn't cover flaws very well, rather, it can make them stand out more. So, the better it looks before you take it in, the better it will look after. I put off having mine done for months, so I could spend more time going over it again and again to get it prepped to my satisfaction.

FWIW, my front bumper was pretty rough, so I bought a new one from Walck's 4WD. The quality was outstanding, but I still took a file and dressed the edges all around it to knock the sharp corners off just a little. I figure that, someday, me or someone else will grab the bumper and pull on it for some reason, so I wanted it user-friendly. I also drilled the holes for the towbar in it first. Even if I never put it on, the holes are there and ready.

Also, they told me that every time you have a load of parts done, they charge a "setup" fee, and you'll get a better price if you take in as much as you can afford at one time. I think there's also a setup fee to change colors, so if you get stuff in the same load done black, white, and red, for example, you'll have three setup fees. At least that's what the guy told me at his shop.

I'd consider getting as many pieces of the chassis done at one time as you possibly can, including the m/c bracket, clutch and brake arms, you know, the little stuff. Maybe even the tow bar too if you have one. When you go to start reassembling, you just know you're going to get so far and suddenly need to install parts that are still nasty, so you'll have to stop.

If you have the crossmember, bumpers and other stuff bolted to the frame when you take it in, it might save you some money, but all of the mating surfaces will not get blasted or coated, and they'll still be rusty and nasty where they're bolted together. That's why I stripped my frame as far apart as possible, but it cost more because they had more parts to handle separately.

And, yes, they taped the threads on the shock mounts, plugged all threaded holes, and plugged the holes for the cross-shaft bushing and the four shackle bushing holes too. Those holes are now rusty, but they'll clean up quick with a wire brush on a Dremel when I assemble things.

Go for it! You'll love how it looks when it's done!!!

And, of course, the requisite photos....actually, here's a link to my folder of all chassis/wheel/brake related photos too... http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/1956 CJ5 frame and chassis/?start=all

 

Very very nice looking!
except for the fingerprints on the front bumper

 

Very,Very nice Ron. That's what I'm talking about. Thanks for the tips on having the small parts done at the same time - gonna gather those up. My frame is completely stripped right now and I am going over it with the grinder & wire wheel looking for problems (cracks) and cleaning up welds. It isn't greasy thankfully. I hope my frame turns out half as nice as yours.

 

My axle housings and brake backing plates will be next! I'm re-using my old springs for now, since they're in good shape, but they'll just get wirebrushed and rattlecanned since I'll be replacing them someday.