Paint or Powder coat the grill frame

[green69rt]

I'm at the point that I need to clean up my grill frame.   I was going to order a new one from AMD but they are out-of-stock with no date on when they will be available.  
So it looks like my old one gets refurbished.   I'm thinking about having it blasted (probably soda) then coated.   Question is ....do thin sheet metal things like this take a good powder coat and does it last?   I seem to remember someone here saying that powder coat does not do well at the sharp edges of the sheet metal??  Tends to flake or chip off.   But that also sounds like paint would do the same. I've got a shop that I've used several times before and they are reasonable and can soda blast.  So......

[Mopar Nut]

  good question.

[tan top]

 I would paint it  !   

[twodko]

If I had the cash at the time I would have had my grille frame powder coated.

[green69rt]

OK, I have one vote for each, anyone else?  Any bad experiences or tips?

[garner7555]

Never powder coated any car parts.  I work in steel fabrication for side money, in this industry I have almost exclusively swapped over to powder coat. It is far superior in many ways in comparison to paints - more scratch and chip resistant being one of the biggest concerns for me. If you go with powder coat just make sure that you go with someone who will do a good job. There is a few steps of chemical washes before the powder that are very important.

Also, powder coat has become far more reasonable in recent years. The cost in not much more than paint now.

[Ghoste]

I was going to say paint it but garners post has me on the fence a little bit now.

[Dino]

It's a grille frame and it does not need that level of protection.  A good paint will do fine.  Either can chip, just don't turn it into a tool rack when you work on the car.  If cost is similar then powder coat but if it's much more than just paint it in a single stage acrylic and be done with it.

[green69rt]

The shop told me that they would soda blast it, dip/neutralize it and powder coat for $225.   For something as convoluted as the grill frame, that sounded pretty god.

[Dino]

The shop told me that they would soda blast it, dip/neutralize it and powder coat for $225.   For something as convoluted as the grill frame, that sounded pretty god.

Yeah I'd take that.  Will they remove any dents if present or are you doing that yourself?

[green69rt]

The shop told me that they would soda blast it, dip/neutralize it and powder coat for $225.   For something as convoluted as the grill frame, that sounded pretty god.

Yeah I'd take that.  Will they remove any dents if present or are you doing that yourself?

After the first inspection, it looks like the mounting "ears" need to be straightened.   Other than that it's really straight, just dirty and a little rust.

[Dino]

The shop told me that they would soda blast it, dip/neutralize it and powder coat for $225.   For something as convoluted as the grill frame, that sounded pretty god.

Yeah I'd take that.  Will they remove any dents if present or are you doing that yourself?

After the first inspection, it looks like the mounting "ears" need to be straightened.   Other than that it's really straight, just dirty and a little rust.

That's pretty common.  Just make sure the top is clean and not too pitted.  You may want to remove the rust yourself as soda can blast the surface rust but will not be able to take care of the deeper rust.  A coarse grit on a da sander should be able to make the metal smooth enough for powder coating as long as the rust is not too deep.

It would be a shame if you could see pitting after powder coating.  Primer + paint would be the better option in that case.

[autodynamics]

powder coated mine.......no maintenance and durable great finish, pain ti ok but it will wear faster.

[green69rt]

The shop told me that they would soda blast it, dip/neutralize it and powder coat for $225.   For something as convoluted as the grill frame, that sounded pretty god.

Yeah I'd take that.  Will they remove any dents if present or are you doing that yourself?

After the first inspection, it looks like the mounting "ears" need to be straightened.   Other than that it's really straight, just dirty and a little rust.

That's pretty common.  Just make sure the top is clean and not too pitted.  You may want to remove the rust yourself as soda can blast the surface rust but will not be able to take care of the deeper rust.  A coarse grit on a da sander should be able to make the metal smooth enough for powder coating as long as the rust is not too deep.

It would be a shame if you could see pitting after powder coating.  Primer + paint would be the better option in that case.

Sounds like I need to inspect the top a little more, maybe take my stripper wheel to it and see if I discover any pitting.

[Dino]

The shop told me that they would soda blast it, dip/neutralize it and powder coat for $225.   For something as convoluted as the grill frame, that sounded pretty god.

Yeah I'd take that.  Will they remove any dents if present or are you doing that yourself?

After the first inspection, it looks like the mounting "ears" need to be straightened.   Other than that it's really straight, just dirty and a little rust.

That's pretty common.  Just make sure the top is clean and not too pitted.  You may want to remove the rust yourself as soda can blast the surface rust but will not be able to take care of the deeper rust.  A coarse grit on a da sander should be able to make the metal smooth enough for powder coating as long as the rust is not too deep.

It would be a shame if you could see pitting after powder coating.  Primer + paint would be the better option in that case.

Sounds like I need to inspect the top a little more, maybe take my stripper wheel to it and see if I discover any pitting.

[bill440rt]

I prefer paint. 

[green69rt]

I prefer paint. 

Any reason why?  Just trying to get a reason for going one way or another.   I plan on having the bracket blasted anyway so taking it to one shop for blasting and final coat seems to make sense.

[JB400]

Only benefit that I see when it comes to finishing is that with paint, you can do it yourself, unless you just happen to have a large enough oven to do powder coating.

[autodynamics]

Honestly it's a NO BRAINER
Powder coat it!
If your going for a numbers matching resto then paint it
However for a driver, durability finish, COST
POWDERCOAT is the way to go
Pete

[green69rt]

Got some strong preferences for powder so right now leaning that way (unless Bill440rt comes up with a killer reason.)   So finally is this thing supposed to be gloss, flat or something in between??   I just checked out both of my newer cars (2003,2005) on that area is flat black (mostly plastic but still flat.)  and I like that look.

[twodko]

Semi gloss/satin

[bill440rt]

It all depends what your doing.
As mentioned paint will give you the most authentic look, because that's what they were originally: painted. For me, that was the no brainer part of it. Powder coating will have a different appearance.
Cheapo rattle can stuff of course will not hold up well, so a urethane auto-grade paint is best. Mine is painted and it's held up fine.
Semi-gloss black was the original sheen, so whether you paint or powder coat it if you are going for a stock appearance that's what you would want to use.
Bottom line is the choice is yours. Some people prefer one over the other.

[Dino]

Also whichever way you go, it will not destroy the planet so feel free to relax.     This stuff is reversible so I would listen to what Bill and autodynamics said.  Decide which is more important to you: originality or function.  If ever you sell the car and the new buyer trips over the powder coat part then it is easily remedied.  Same is true the other way.  If anyone ever wants it powder coated, it will not take much.  If originality is not an issue then powder coat is the better option just because it is more durable.  A Sunday driver will never have an issue with whatever method you use and if the paint is done right, neither will a driver.  But on one you can accidentally drop a wrench and on the other...well...   

[John L]

I had my grill frame and bumper supports powder coated. I'm lucky to have a good sandblast and powder coat people. Cost me about $125.00 for all of it. My powder coater does a phosphate wash before doing any coating, and the parts need a certain roughness to them. The texture of the sandblasting is not even noticeable after the powder coat is done.

John

[green69rt]

I've had other thing powder coated by the shop I'm thinking of.   That's why I'm leaning that way.  Just never had to go the soda blast route.  I'll need to get more info on their metal treating process after blasting and before coating.