Paint colors

[Loren At 65GS]

A tip on painting the trunk--before you spray the gray/white splatter paint on, spray the inside of the trunk with some gray paint.  I used rust-oleum gray in spray cans.  Let it dry a few days, then apply the splatter paint, then once that dries, apply the clear.  By spraying it gray first, it takes a lot less splatter paint to cover it, and the rust-oleum prevents any rust stains if the inside of the trunk gets wet.

Good tip Brian!

  Thanks,
   Loren

[WkillGS]

A more specific question on suspension and steering components.  What about sway bars, front and rear?  Bare metal color?  Including the fasteners for the rear sway bar to the lower control arms?  If so, will paint with steel colored paint to protect the bare metal.  I assume the same goes for all of the steering components: tie rods and adjusting sleeves, center link, pitman arm, etc?

Thanks,

Chuck

GM assembly plants usually gave the front and rear suspension a quick sloppy coat of black paint to make the car more presentable to the new customer.... looked better than seeing bare steel/iron parts that were already rusting. If you want to duplicate that, detail every single piece in 'bare metal', assemble, then spray half of it with black!
  But most of us prefer to see a detailed assembly.... steering linkage in bare metal. I like POR's 'Metal Mask' for the bare metal look.
Some parts had a darker bare metal look.... center link, part of the pitman arm, upper A-arm shafts, and front sway bar. I'll guess they had a different manufacturing process that changed the color.... maybe they were forged or heat treated or something. I use a darker metallic paint for those parts.

Hardware was usually Parkerized or phosphated. Had a gray sparkly finish.

[cwmcobra]

A more specific question on suspension and steering components.  What about sway bars, front and rear?  Bare metal color?  Including the fasteners for the rear sway bar to the lower control arms?  If so, will paint with steel colored paint to protect the bare metal.  I assume the same goes for all of the steering components: tie rods and adjusting sleeves, center link, pitman arm, etc?

Thanks,

Chuck

GM assembly plants usually gave the front and rear suspension a quick sloppy coat of black paint to make the car more presentable to the new customer.... looked better than seeing bare steel/iron parts that were already rusting. If you want to duplicate that, detail every single piece in 'bare metal', assemble, then spray half of it with black!
  But most of us prefer to see a detailed assembly.... steering linkage in bare metal. I like POR's 'Metal Mask' for the bare metal look.
Some parts had a darker bare metal look.... center link, part of the pitman arm, upper A-arm shafts, and front sway bar. I'll guess they had a different manufacturing process that changed the color.... maybe they were forged or heat treated or something. I use a darker metallic paint for those parts.

Hardware was usually Parkerized or phosphated. Had a gray sparkly finish.

Thanks for the tip on "Metal Mask", Walt.  Any other favorite paints used for these bare metal parts?  I've heard good things about "Real Steel", but it's expensive and hard to find.  I'm also looking at Rustoleum "Steel Tech", the urethane based paint in rattle cans, not the 2-part epoxy in quarts and gallons.  Both "Real Steel" and "Steel Tech" have "316L Stainless Steel flakes" in them.  Nothing like painting steel with steel!   

What has worked best for you guys?

Chuck

[WkillGS]

I wasn't aware of Rustoleums 'Steel Tech'.... it sounds like a contender!

Both it and POR's 'Metal Mask' are 'oil based polyurethanes'. Metal Mask uses aluminum for pigment, Steel Tech uses stainless steel.
You can learn a lot about a product by reading the MSDS or TDS (Technical Data Sheet).

For interior parts I use Seymour's 'Stainless Steel' spray paint. If I want to reproduce a yellow-cad finish, I'll use it as a base then mist on some gold paint.

I also played around with powder coating. Eastwood's 'Cast Iron' powder is one of my favorites.

[Mark Ascher]

I know this sounds crazy, but I shot spray can urethane clear on almost all the steering components in these photos.
They are otherwise out of the box bare steel.

I like Seymours "Stainless Steel", always have 3 or 4 cans of that on hand. I was trying to find some cast iron gray a few
weeks ago, just something off the shelf. I have used Eastwood Cast Blast and really like it, but was out. I picked up some
VHT Engine Iron Gray and like it. A little glossy depending on your taste, and would need some matte clear to look right.

Mark

[cwmcobra]

Thanks guys.  Your chassis looks good Mark.  BTW, what's with the SBC engine in the background?  Another planned project perhaps?

Chuck

[cwmcobra]

Walt, I think I'm going to buy some of the Rustoleum Steel Tech and try it out.  I'll let you know how it works and looks.

Chuck