Suspension rebuild

[Dieschelan]

Hi

I’m beginning the restoration of my s3. And I don’t know if paint, powder coating or zync plated the suspension parts:
Wishbone, stud axle, steering arms, hubs …
I know originaly most parts were painted. Any suggestions?

Cheers

Diego

[alanr]

My thoughts are that whilst it initially looks nice powdercoating is bad news on anything that is exposed to the weather elements/road rash etc!
I personally would always paint. Any chip or crack that develops in powdercoat will lead to water being trapped behind the powdercoat layer and subsequent hidden corrosion.
Future overpainting of powdercoat cannot be done succesfully.

Alan.

[512BB]

'My thoughts are that whilst it initially looks nice powdercoating is bad news on anything that is exposed to the weather elements/road rash etc!
I personally would always paint. Any chip or crack that develops in powdercoat will lead to water being trapped behind the powdercoat layer and subsequent hidden corrosion.'

Powder coating nearly always receives a bad press because either the company applying it does not know what they are doing or the people having the work done do not want to pay for a proper job.

Proper pc is either a 3 or 4 stage job, can't remember which. 15 years ago I had new Lotus chassis powder coated PROPERLY. The company gave me a 7 year guarantee of the work. Still like new today. You get what you pay for.

Leslie

[elans3]

+1 to the above. People think that powder coating is the bees knee's, but most of it isn't, as (most) companies don't use the correct process. Most just blast the bits clean and then powder coat over bare steel, and the end user wonders why it fails after 5 mins.
Any good powder coater will blast, wash, phosphate coat (steel), powder coat, then cure.
It is a labour intensive (thus expensive) process. However, if you are prepared to pay for it, you'll get a hardy, long lasting finish.
If just one of the above processes is missed, you've wasted your money. Most companies that offer cheap powder coating miss out the phospating operation, some even miss the washing op.
Painting with a good quality paint after thorough blasting & cleaning exercise is a much better value & performance exercise.

[Mazzini]

+1.

[Baggy2]

+ another one...

[richardcox_lotus]

I did mine last year, and was advised to apply Rustbuster

Horrible stuff, but looks and remains brilliant.

Regards
Richard

[rgh0]

I would always use a paint system versus plating or powder coating.

I agree with all the powder coating issues previously raised.

Plating or hot dip galvanising can give a range of problems from distortion to hydrogen embrittlement and you need to do it expertly especially with items like the rear wishbones which are sealed brazed hollow tubes.

My preferred paint system for metal suspension and chassis steel components is sand blasting or wire brushing back to bare metal, then 2 coats of inorganic zinc primer and then 2 tops coats of alkyd enamel in the colour of your choice. The paint can be brush easily applied for a good finish

This is long lasting, is reasonably chip resistant and if chipped the inorganic zinc prevents corrosion under the paint and slows corrosion on bare metal. It can easily be touched up and if you have a crack in the underlying metal it will normally show through this paint system if its a light colour as a dark crack line ( I use a pewter grey) so you then know you need to do a repair before it fails. It is also easy to do at home at a reasonable cost.

cheers
Rohan