Paint or powder coat the k-member?

[bull]

I'd rather powder coat it but I don't want to be scraping out the holes so the fasteners will fit back in. Has anyone here powder coated their k-member? Did it turn out ok or was it a pain?

[68RT4ME]

I asked this question to Troy (the other one)...lol, over the weekend. After discussing on how I'll be using the car, I'm going with the powder coating. It will outlast paint and take the abuse of the fluids and such that will no doubt end up on it from time to time. Costs a bid more but should be worth the cost long term. If I were flipping the car, I'd just go with paint. Since I'm keeping it, I only want to do it once. Light dremmeling should clean up the holes pretty quick but, whats the rush right?

[Rolling_Thunder]

I have powder coated K-members before...    never had a problem with things fitting afterwards. 

[bull]

Thanks. So should I do gloss or flat? I'm leaning toward gloss.

[8WHEELER]

I have always gone gloss, I have seen one done with flat, but I think gloss looks better, and
yes I powder coat every one. Hot tank it, sandbast it, then your ready to powder coat. Sandblasting
it and taking it home, gives you the time to sand off any light scratches, or weld splatters and make
it real sweet, you only want to do it one time   

Dan

[bull]

That looks nice, Dan. Did you weld the seams on yours?

[8WHEELER]

No I never have, never actualy thought about doing it till I did the K-Fame in the Dart Sport. That will
be a 360 car, and everything looked good on the K-Frame, so I just got the air sander out, took care
of some small grooves and weld blobs ''SP'' and had it powder coated.

Dan

[bull]

Dan, I don't think anyone here has a bigger cache of Charger pictures than you do. And I'm very thankful for it.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I always have them powder coated semi-gloss...     

[4aThrill]

wow that really looks great  I will write this down and pass this to my painter, we were going to coat it just flat, gloss looks to much semi would look great instead.  didn't think about doing the steering linkage will do that too. 

[Goldfinger71]

Here are some pics of my  K member dis and re-assembly.How the pics help ya!

[Goldfinger71]

More..

[Goldfinger71]

More...

[Goldfinger71]

More...

[Goldfinger71]

And to think that it all started from this....

[Goldfinger71]

And this!....

[gordo1968charger]

powder coat every time,
i took mine out last year,took it to a local place(who is in competition with someone else)
it was all pitted, greasy and a bit rusty.
i got it steam cleaned,shot blasted and powder coated(any colour i wanted) for 50 quid!
BARGAIN
plus it saved the most important comodity of all,
TIME!

[4aThrill]

wow  no sway bars? so the powder coat stays on the bolts and such? the powder coat on the bolts or nuts dosn't that make them bigger or how does that work. really nice work, but any troubles I need to look out for when I use powder coat on these items?

[Goldfinger71]

Thrill'
We have not put the front sway bar back on yet.When I had the pieces powdercoated,I also bought a front end kit.We may have had one small issue with one bolt or so,and thats a big may.

John over at uscartool is the company that redid my frontend.I know him personally.He is a good guy! They also offer a front-end rebuild service.Go check out his website.

uscartool.com

[4aThrill]

Goldfinger71,

1499 seems alittle much for a front end rebuild and powder coat. I have already bought all of my stuff for the front end rebuild and like to do the work myself  . but anyways thankx for the site, they seem to know what they are doing and it would be nice to have a lift to do all the fun stuff  .

[daytonalo]

Those lower control arms , are they grey primer with Gold paint ?

[Goldfinger71]

Thrill'
Why don't you give John a call and see what he would charge ya since you already have the kit?Keep in mind not only was the K powdercoated but everything was replaced and or stripped and repainted.
Tell him Larry with the 71 R/T sent ya!

Daytona',
Im not sure what the guys at the shop used.I was the first car years ago to get their font-end rebuild service.I do know that the paint was used to sorta give the effect of cosmoline without all the nast after effects.
I believe they use a few different methods and I think they do use cosmoline if the customer wants it.

[4aThrill]

GoldFinger71,

Maybe if the wife ever gets a car and if we live closer by we may go that way. I'm in Maryland and kinda stuck at home do to some surgery issues. Anyways the car is at the body/painter's house and I went there before I had anything done to me and he said late April the car should be done and ready for me to put back together. And this includes him and me taken the K frame off powder coating it and putting all the new stuff back on. But thankx for all the great info and sweet pics of the powder coating process; I know others will look into their company and have it done with them soon or later down the road.

Hey what color is your Charger going to be?

[Rob R]

I paint my stuff...easy to clean with a pressure washer and chamois...

[HeavyFuel]

Mine was cooked, blasted, coated with black POR-15, let dry to a light tack, then shot with a semi-gloss black. 

I'm thinking it'll last longer than I will.

[4aThrill]

the silver on the arms is that common or just want them to stand out? I was was just thinking of doing the K frame and arms and such a black either a semi or gloss 

[Death1970Proof]

I went the paint route with mine. I used purple power to degrease it, then headed to northern tool and bought an el cheapo sandblaster gun (about $25) then blasted it. Any other imperfections were taken care of with a wire brush and a drill.  I started with eastwood extreme chassis primer and then top coated it with eastwoods extreme gloss black chassis paint. It looks great actually and almost looks powdercoated as well.  We will see how good it'll hold up when the car goes together and gets used on regular basis. The nearest powdercoating place is a very far away drive and with the high fuel prices it's real hard for me to see. In short it looks good enough for me and keep in mind it's gonna be a driver NOT a showcar..

[Goldfinger71]

For what it's worth my car will be just as much a driver as a show :yesnod:car.

I have never driven my Charger.When I bought it,it did not have a motor.(I will be searching for it soon.)It's been almost 5 years!                 MAN,I CAN'T WAIT!