Fork Brace

[tvrla]

Whenever I get around to painting a frame, this is the way I'll go - brush it on, smoothes out without brush strokes and hard as nails. About $30 for enough to coat several frames.

http://www.por15.com/

The frame on my RS had been powdercoated (who knows how long ago) and it's horrible! Flaked off in places with rust snaking along underneath. Took me quite a while peeling off the compromised coating, cleaning off the rust and touching up with rustoleum. One of these days it's going to need a complete tear-down.

I have heard that powder coating can be durable and not chip, but it must be applied not so thick, and all rust completely handled beforehand. I've heard some powdercoating can be touched up, but that's another issue I don't care for.

I believe powder coating was developed for a manufacturing environment due to quickness and ease of application, but for us individuals, there are better solutions!

[Dave 2]

Very Interesting experience with powder coating, I'm beginning to think that in the long run paint is a better solution for restoration work because it is able to be refinished with relative ease [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif]

[tvrla]

The frames originally were gloss black with a yellow undercoat. That stuff was amazing! My 90/6 had a few areas where the paint had rubbed through or chipped and a little rust had formed, but it was a piece of cake cleaning it up. A bit  of touch up paint and you had to look close to see there was a problem. The paint really endured!

Sometime in the early 80s (I think it was) BMW went to a semi gloss that didn't hold up - awful stuff! It definitely wasn't powder coat as it seems to just rub off. I think German regulations were changing about toxins or paints around that time and this stuff is horrible!

[nhmaf]

Both suecanada and I are long time advocates of the POR15 chassis black paint and a paint brush!!

[tvrla]

How far will a pint of that stuff go? How much to do a frame?

Did you use the POR15 and the Chassis black, or just one. How did you do it?

I'm new to POR15, but I'm sold - as you can tell.

[nhmaf]

The frame on my R65LS was in fair shape, but had a number of scuffed spots and several spots with light rusting.   I just hand sanded those areas and used the Chassis Black and brush.   They have a primer that is definitely recommended if you've got heavy rust and/or a fair amount of bare metal.   The paint has lasted for 5+ years now and I still (if the lid is still sealed as well as I think it is) have half a pint left.   I didn't re-paint the whole frame entirely, but I would expect you could get a whole frame done with a pint if brushing it on.  Some spray guns have more waste than others, so maybe a pint would work with spray gun application too (it is too thick to work straight with many spray guns unless thinned).

[Adrian]

As I'm respraying and repainting my old girl the long and hard way - but still using a rust killer paint and undercoat - I was chatting to a guy who belongs to a custom car club. This POR15 is very popular with these guys as a one process respray for there expensive car builds. I guess that says heaps about how effective this stuff is.

[tvrla]

Thanks! The Chassis Black is the semi gloss - did it match the original color? And it evidently stuck ok to the bare areas if it's lasted five years now. I think brushing it on is the way to go.

The paint has lasted for 5+ years now and I still (if the lid is still sealed as well as I think it is) have half a pint left.   I didn't re-paint the whole frame entirely, but I would expect you could get a whole frame done with a pint if brushing it on.  

[larstorders]

While we're discussing frame paint, I'm doing the G/S this winter and will be using PJ1 'fast black' It's an 'epoxy' in a rattle can ( of course real epoxy paint as we know it, requires the mixing of two seperate components). It seems pretty tough, though.  I've used it on fork sliders wth good results. I finished painting the swing arm last week. Stripped it mostly to bare metal, removing all rust, retaining a bit of original paint (heavily rubbed down) here and there, used 'acid 8' etch primer, undercoat. Looks a nice silk finish. And the great benefit of paint over powder coat, I can retouch it when neccessary.

[tvrla]

And the great benefit of paint over powder coat, I can retouch it when neccessary.

The original factory finish is paint, not powdercoat. And I don't get the idea yours was powder, otherwise you'd have complained about how much trouble it was to remove. And rather than feathering and blending the old covering, you'd have stripped it all.

[larstorders]

You've got hold of the wrong end of the paintbrush 'wirespokes'   . My reply is not suggesting that  powder coating has been applied in Munich,

I forgot to say, however,  that the aforementioned PJ1 'fast black' 'gloss' paint', produces a finish which looks very similar to silk powder coating.

My G/S rear subframe does, in fact, have a nice, black silk powder coating, so, I am hoping this will match in quite nicely with the rest of the chassis when painting is complete. This may be a useful bit of info for other frame painters.

[tvrla]

Ah! I see the confusion now - it looked like you said you'd painted over powdercoat, when in fact you were saying why you liked paint better than powdercoat!