# Chassis paint



## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

So after sorting through pages of search results on the subject I wanted to ask a few questions. The frame will be back from blasting next week and its time to make a decision about how I will finish the frame. I have narrowed it down to eastwood chassis black or POR15. people seem to have opinions about which is better but I was hoping to get some feedback from folks who have done these. How is your process holding up? I am aware of POR15's ability to "weld" parts together but done right that durability is appealing. If the color is matched correctly will anyone be able to visually tell the difference between the two coatings? Other than starting with a freshly blasted clean surface what tips do you have for prep work?

Thanks in advance!


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

I epoxy primed and painted my frame chassis black over 10 years ago. Now my car sees minimal street usage but the frame looks as good as the day I did it. My point is even if you use your restored car as a DD either way will be better prepped than the factory did it and should last considerably longer. If it is a garage queen show car or garaged occasional cruiser as my car is it should last forever.


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

I was leaning towards Eastwood's products but I felt they were overpriced considering the mixed reviews I had read. Friends of mine who I got my car from have been doing professional GTO restorations for quite a while now and I did what they suggested. I epoxy primed everything with Medallion epoxy primer (2 wet coats), then top coated that with Rustoleum Professional High Performance Protective Enamel (Semi-Gloss). Looks great, and is very durable. Everyone on here has their preferences though. Some people swear by POR15. Personally I think POR15 is more trouble than it's worth and too easy to screw up from what I've read. Other people have used Rustoleum and hated it too. It's all in the prep work and your personal preference.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

:agree with these guys...the key is the epoxy primer, it will seal the metal from moisture and i also used the Rustoleum enamel on the areas that were not rustproofed from the factory (front frame rails) and its held up good over 3 years. The por15 is made to go over bare rust scaled metal and i have heard of some problems applying it over any primer or paint.


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## 68Resto-mod (Nov 10, 2009)

*Frame painting*

All of the methods described above will work. I used Por15 on my frame. It will “bite” nicely to sand blasted metal. If it is smooth metal, forget about it. The secret to using Por15 successfully is in the preparation of the metal. You have to follow the system exactly.

1 – Sand blast
2 – Remove all possible oils or blasting residue with Por-15 Marine clean (love this stuff)
3 – Etch metal with Por-15 Metal Ready (I used Eastwood’s Fast Etch, same thing)
4- Rinse with water (lots of it). Frame will flash rust but that is a good thing, better grip.
5- Paint with Por 15 black, let dry for a few hours (I was in a hurry and skipped this step)
6- Paint with Por15 Chassis Black
The finish will not be as smooth as spray epoxy or powder coat but will be very durable and looks pretty good. If it ever chips, you can touch it up with more Por15. Try that with powder coat.


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

I used por-15 over a freshly blasted frame, I coated it about 2 days after sand blast, I also did the rear end. After seeing how nice it came out with just brushing it on I then proceeded to do EVERYTHING.
complete bottom of the body that I stripped the undercoating off with a grinder
engine bay,fire wall, inner fenders,rad support, hood hinges,springs(do in open position)horns, underside of roof, trans tunnel, trunk, gas tank, etc etc etc
I have had zero issues with it,super easy to apply just be forewarned
DO NOT LEAVE IT ON SKIN- wash immediately or you will have it on for at least 3 weeks(speaking from 1ST hand experience:lol


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

POR -15 means "Paint Over Rust". If your frame is rusty, it may be the way to go. Personally, I would not use it. I'd use Rustoleum semi-gloss black. The frames originally were not primed...just shot with semi gloss black. Here is a photo of the original frame paint on my '65 GTO after I wiped some road grime off of it. This paint has never been touched, and this is how they came 'from the factory'.


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

Thanks for the replies! At this point I am leaning towards the epoxy primer route. I have never worked with HVLP so now I have a few questions for those that have.

1-will it work just fine with my little 30 gal compressor in my garage.
2-how bad is the over spray?


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## 68Resto-mod (Nov 10, 2009)

It depends on the CFM demand of your spray gun. I have a DeVilbiss Finish Line HVLP gun that eats up 12 FM. My 65 gallon compressor will not keep up. I can only do a panel at a time before I have to wait for the compressor motor to catch up and stop. For all of my priming, I use a $15 HVLP gun I bought from Harbor Freight. Requires only 6 CFM and works really well for what it is. This is the perfect gun for what you are doing. The basis of design for the HVLP guns was to cut down on over spray and reduce VOC pollution. An old siphon gun will scatter over spray all your shop and you.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Yep get the Harbor Freight special used one to lay all the primer on my car with a 30 gallon tank. dial it in and shoot...its a frame, no one will ever see a run. Who knows by the time you get done laying a half dozen coats on the frame you might get good and want to paint the whole car...but for that the gun will be a little more pricey. The factory paint on my firewall has a huge run, did not catch it during restoration but when looking at the photos i took along the way the flash on the camera makes it stand out. We spend so much time trying to make these cars perfect and the truth is they were built by humans on an assembly line and had flaws. And since i just cleaned scuffed and sprayed the engine bay it is still there...i think of it as a factory option on the Tempest 



A friend painted his 20' work trailer with a gallon of rustoleum from home depot cut down with enamel reducer 6 years ago. He does asphalt and sealing so it gets abused and cleaned regularly with paint thinner to get the sealer off, paint is still sold as a rock and i think he had under 100 dollars in materials to do it. We are all on some sort of budget and these cars can eat whatever you think yours is faster than you can say BOO! I looked at the money saved on a part of the car that no one but me will ever see and not sacrifice quality or safety can be used towards something else i truly needed.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

noahfecks said:


> Thanks for the replies! At this point I am leaning towards the epoxy primer route. I have never worked with HVLP so now I have a few questions for those that have.
> 
> 1-will it work just fine with my little 30 gal compressor in my garage.
> 2-how bad is the over spray?


You can fashion a make shift booth in your garage with some plastic sheeting and wet down the floor. I put about 4 box fans under the garage door and sealed the rest of the area under the door off. I used an old window fan on the vent in the gable of the garage and I had a poor mans "downdraft" paint booth and it worked perfect.

I painted my whole car in the garage like that and I agree with Instag8ter....practice on the frame, then on cutting in the jams and you'll be able to do your car yourself. Many members on here who aren't body men have done it with great success. BearGFR did his car and painted it *Black* :cool and it looks excellent.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

But Bear, Like Yogi, is smarter than your average bear!!


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

spraying paint is the easy part, and I did it to the car 20 some years ago. Making a 20' body look perfect from every angle, now that's a trick, one that I know from experience I cant pull off. The frame, no problem, but I will leave the bodywork and paint to someone with a knack for it.


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

In the interest of keeping all of my dumb questions consolidated into a few threads as possible...........

.....As I am reassembling the chassis I have a few more questions about paint color. 

The trans cross-member isolator isolator brackets, chassis black?

The rear axle? 

I surf the other restoration threads looking for the answers but I see many/most paint the rear axle black but several "concourse" restorations have them painted other colors. None of my restoration guides have the answers either. My goal with the project is to have a finished car as close to the day it rolled off the assembly line as possible. Thanks in advance


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

buehler.......buehler......buehler

Is the rear axle color possibly an assembly plant variation? Mine was out of Freemont, any idea the correct color?


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Chassis black satin. It's what I used. Didn't want the high gloss look. The Satin is a satin/semi gloss. Extreme Chassis Black is more resistant to paint chipping. I used both, in Spray and paint on. Its excellent and wears like iron. 

Eastwood Chassis Black


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

I used Eastwood Satin Chassis Black too, only the 2k Ceramic version:

Eastwood 2K Ceramic Chassis Black Kits - Chassis/Frame Paints - Under Car Coatings - Paints & Coatings

Bear


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## super.delux (Jun 5, 2013)

I used POR 15 after we had our frame sand blasted. It came out really well, the cars not done yet but I think it will hold up well.


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

I painted the rest of the chassis with Eastwood 2K chassis black and bought enough to paint the axle. I just wondered if black was the correct color when I saw a couple of "concourse" restorations with axles painted other colors.

Thanks for the responses!


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Like everything, be a little cautious about using those concours cars as examples. The first year I showed the Beast at the Dallas Autorama, there was a beautiful 67 GTO there that ran away with top honors in the "original restored" class. It had all the correct paper tags and paint markings in all the right places...... and it had a Tri-Power. 

That's just another aspect of living in the Pontiac world. Sometimes even professional judges don't really know much about these cars. I don't mean to take anything away from that car because it was drop-dead gorgeous, but "original" it ain't.

Bear


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

Thanks Bear, that's why I ask here. My goal is not a concourse restoration, it's to get the old girl back to what she was when she left the facotry before I have to part with her.


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## noahfecks (Jul 28, 2013)

My next dumb question....

anybody have any tricks or tips for getting the upper ball joint bolts tight? The ones that look like rivets. I know they dont need a lot of torque but mine dont even get the threads of the bolt all the way into the nuts before I cant hold the head from spinning. What's the trick?


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