Track Tac

paint or powder coat

couple of cans of walmart .97 cent spray cans of black. while i'd love to powder coat and all that, i look at it as a added expense. clean, sand and shoot it with a can of paint. lot cheaper and does just as good if you take care of your equipment. like it's been said, i don't mind touch up either...and the money that i save from not powder coating can go into the engine or tires. not that i wouldn't like a shiny new powder coated chassis, but on a limited budget it's a added expense that i can avoid and put the money in other places.

just my thoughts! :)
 
I grew up around racing and a lot of the car guys always painted roll cage/ chassis with industrial paint with gloss hardener mixed in. And they were able to shoot it themselves. My friend did his whole car body and all for less than 100. And it always held up on them. Anybody else ever tried anything like tat
 
same thing....just make sure that the chassis is well cleaned, sanded and primed. any paint that is shot right and clear coated will be easy to take care of. again, i'm not against powder coating and i've looked into getting mine done, but it's a expensive process when your racing on a budget....and no, just because i'm on a budget doesn't mean that i shouldn't race....it means that i look at ways to increase horsepower and longevity without breaking the budget on non-essential things like powder coating. and powder coating is non-essential because it does nothing to add to horsepower, chassis dynamics, set up or anything other than looks. it doesn't hold a chassis together any more or less than paint does. if the frame cracks or bends, it's gonna do it whether it's powder coated or painted.

again, i'm not against powder coating and if you have the budget that lets you, then it might be worth it. but when looking at expense, it's the non-essentials that can make or break your budget. a good looking frame and body may entice a sponsor, but it hasn't won a race yet...whereas, putting the extra money from painting your chassis instead of powder coating, could mean the difference between finishing first or being a back marked...which would you choose??

and truthfully, if there was anything other than looks in powder caoting a frame, then the chassis manufacturers wouldn't be offering a plain steel chassis (now it might be powder coated clear, i don't know)...but it's still for looks alone....

ain't wanting to start anything, jsut want to point out both sides of the coin!!
 
I agree. We don't do any big races. This is just a local track . track is so small we don't tech. The 2010 seraph I just bought is the needs kart at track. Some guys are still running chassis from the late 80 early 90s. So no worry about sponsors. Just like the look of a nice clean kart. I painted my other one a few years back and it looks great still. Except where the motor sits. The oil kinda took paint t off. What's the paint/ epoxy ur talking about jack? What what hobby shops. I'll go look for it.
 
There is a guy down the road from me that powder coats news paper boxes, and breaker panels, and large quantities of other things.
If I pick a color that he is currently working with, I can get it back pretty fast. If not, then I wait a week or 2.
He only charges $100 for a bare chassis.
 
mikey56 said:
couple of cans of walmart .97 cent spray cans of black. while i'd love to powder coat and all that, i look at it as a added expense. clean, sand and shoot it with a can of paint. lot cheaper and does just as good if you take care of your equipment. like it's been said, i don't mind touch up either...and the money that i save from not powder coating can go into the engine or tires. not that i wouldn't like a shiny new powder coated chassis, but on a limited budget it's a added expense that i can avoid and put the money in other places.

just my thoughts! :)
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I like it....rattle can it flat black.....put a sticker on the kart that says "I'm here to drink beer and kick @ss, and I'm out of beer" :)
 
Sickle Hill Kartway said:
There is a guy down the road from me that powder coats news paper boxes, and breaker panels, and large quantities of other things.
If I pick a color that he is currently working with, I can get it back pretty fast. If not, then I wait a week or 2.
He only charges $100 for a bare chassis.
Click to expand...

This works pretty well. If your local PC shop is running regular runs of some product and has room left in the oven its next to nothing to have them add your part to it. I had a whole bunch of stuff done in crinkle black that they dropped in with some backup power supply cases....it's a really tough finish and turned out awesome.
 
rkcarguy said:
I like it....rattle can it flat black.....put a sticker on the kart that says "I'm here to drink beer and kick @ss, and I'm out of beer" :)
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first time I've heard that one, like like like like.

From the desk of Al Nunley
Comments compliments criticisms and questions always welcome.
If the data does not support the theory, get a new theory. (Al Nunley)
 
The heat from powder coating does nothing to the frame. Never sand blast chrome moly tubing. Especially if the blaster doesn't know what he is doing. Sand etches the tubing' and if blasted in one spot too long, it will weaken the tubing. Walnut shells or plastic media is the best, or even having the chassis dipped. Years back, I painted all the chassis I made with Emron. Tough stuff, but expensive. I have a place that powder coats industrial washing machines. He has, white, and mat black. If I want another color, I go to the powder coating supply house and ask for a sample of the color I want. It's free. I take it to my guy and get it powder coated for $25.00' I have to strip it myself, but that's no biggie.
 
if your into powder coating, you can also do it yourself. maybe not on the scale of a chassis, but harbor frieght has a "home kit" for powder coating on a small scale. you buy the gun and the colors and then get a used oven at a garage sale....

rkcarguy....i like it too! got my knee cut on last week, so i'm out of racing until the doc clears me....but!! i'll bring the beer if you bring the can of whoop @ss!!!
 
Sandblasting: When done RIGHT, it does NOTHING to hurt the integrity of the frame. Done WRONG, it can. So, its not about the sandblasting, its more about how (who) does it. I have a vintage twin engine enduro kart frame that has probably been PROPERLY sandblasted and painted a dozen or so times since 1973. Plan to run it at Daytona this winter. Never cracked, never repaired, still handles great. And this idea of powder coating "stress relieving" a frame.... LOL!!! That's not nearly hot enough to affect it. Besides, bicycle guys do NOT use .083-.095 wall thickness 1-1/8"- 1-1/4" tubing either. They're stuff is paper thin when compared to what we use on karts. Not a good comparison.

How durable does something covered and protected with bodywork need to be anyhow? Make it easy on yourself, paint it. JMHO -Alan-
 
sandblasting can and does affect the frame....saw a mini stock frame that had been sandblasted the wrong way and then powder coated by someone that didn't regulate the heat correctly. the powder coat looked great! nice and shiny and bright!.....but the dang frame had a noticable twist in it that wasn't there at the start....never again drove right or was able to be setup correctly according to the owner....sold it as scrap. the same could be said for a kart frame...done right, everything comes out great....but one misstep with sandblasting a weld point or the heating/cooling of the frame once it's in the oven and it can become nothing but scrap metal. i'm not against powder coating because it does wear better than paint and it makes clean up easy....but like everything else, you just have to know the person doing the job and rely on them to do it right....

agree with vintagequest, paint it....put the extra money in tires or engine parts....

:)
 
jack burroughs said:
How about using the spray cans sold at hobby shops that is Epoxy and fuel proof?
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Those spray rattle cans are butyrate dope or polyurethane. Epoxy paint like Klass Kote is a two part system, both are fuel proof. If you're spraying epoxy paint you better have the right mask because it's highly carcinogenic. The mask has to have a fresh air source not just a filter.

Sundog
 
if your current powder is still in good shape just scuff it with a brown scotch brite pad , wipe it down with thinner and spray on a coat of primer and then shoot your color. We painted stock cars for years with tractor paint and it is tough but you don't scrape it on the wall every time you hit a low spot either like you do a kart chassis. the areas that get a lot of rocks and stuff still flake off and need touched up.I'm like you I like to change my stuff up every now and then and have done several like I just said to do and they last for the 2 years I'm looking for then start all over. If you want to do black or white I have found that the exopy appliance paint that krylon sells works really good for this type project. has a good shine to it and is very tough
 
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