Steel Parts, Paint or Powder Coat

While I am just a couple months into my new project, I ordered the entire kit and have recieved the Fuselage and Finish kits obvioulsy way ahead of my schedule. The QB Wings are in the Philipines as we speak.
Question for the other builders; None of the steel parts are powder coated or painted. I need to protect them from corrosion for some time. What did you do?

Kept them oiled up as they came from the factory.
Primed and painted them.
Sent them off to be Powder Coated.

My first instinct is to gather them up and have them Powder Coated, just like Van's does on all of the new kits for other models. That would be quick and easy for me.

Parts I would consider Powder Coating;

Engine Mount
Landing Gear
Control Column
Control Stick
Flap Weldment
Rudder Pedals
Fuselage Corner Angles (forget what they call those)
Tail Spring Assy. (it was not powder coated on my 6, but are the new kits?)

I used grease

Interesting post. I noticed a couple months ago that some of my steel was showing the first signs of corrosion. I sanded it clean and then applied grease to all the parts. I haven't noticed anything since then.

I will be watching the thread to see what others have done.

I sent by steps off to be powder coating, but I did it too soon. I should have waited until after I had drilled the holes and bent the flange. Oh, well, I may have to have it sand blasted and redone, but I think the powder coating will hold up better than paint. For the inside, I used traditional boiled linseed oil.

I would powder coat everything but the engine mounts. The finish with powder coating is to hard and will not show cracks as easily as a good coat of paint. Any area that is prone to breaking should not be powder coated. Too many sets of lower engine mounts have been replaced in RV3/4 aircraft. BTW Vans doesn't think this problem exists.
Tom

Here's what I'd do...

JonJay said:

Kept them oiled up as they came from the factory.
Primed and painted them.
Sent them off to be Powder Coated.

My first instinct is to gather them up and have them Powder Coated, just like Van's does on all of the new kits for other models. That would be quick and easy for me.

Parts I would consider Powder Coating;
Engine Mount
Landing Gear
Control Column
Control Stick
Flap Weldment
Rudder Pedals
Fuselage Corner Angles (forget what they call those)
Tail Spring Assy. (it was not powder coated on my 6, but are the new kits?)

Click to expand...

Jon,

Several of these parts will need to be modified (such as elevator weldments) so you'll want to wait, though several could be powder coated now (such as stick and stick mixer). Steel parts rust quickly and I have found good old fashioned zinc chromate to be a good solution for some parts, especially those that will take a beating while being installed. Way back on my RV-8 I noticed that rattle can self-etching primers would not prevent steel parts from rusting while the ZC did, therefore on the RV-3 any steel was either ZC or PC.

Firewall/fuselage weldments for example: paint 'em with zinc chromate because they get beat while drilling and riveting and they also then get painted when you paint your interior. Powder coat would crack. ZC also accepts and holds paint well later with a simple scothbrite scrubbing.

In terms of prep (important) I first dressed any sharp edges with a Scotchbrite wheel, then I use maroon Scothbrite pad wetted with Coleman fuel (naptha) to wet scuff it thoroughly and degrease all in one operation. Wipe the parts down with a clean towel lightly dampened with naptha and shoot with ZC right away. ZC takes several days to set up fully so don't handle them much or you'll mar the finish.

I powder coated my gear legs and engine mount, but did so in white so cracks can be easily spotted, Tom is right about watching for that. Those could be PC now if you make sure to mask off the proper areas. Other parts you could do now would be the stick mixer, stick, rudder pedal brackets, ?

BTW, since we live in the same area I have a good powder coater for you... Tracy Miller, "Mr. Powder Coat", 11406 NE Rosewood Rd, Suite L, Vancouver, WA 98682 (360) 944-5010. He does good work and has always been reasonably priced.

Thanks Randy

Ok, I knew you had the answers for me. I have made the decision to ZC all of the steel parts for now. I will come back later and powder coat engine mount, gear legs, and perhaps a few other parts as I see fit at the time. My hangar is dry so the ZC should protect them nicely for a couple years.

Years?????

Your -3 has half the parts of your -6, therefore, it should take half the time to build, right? BTW, I am now back to building a -6(old school baby) and am going to make it nicer than the first one. It's going to have all of the speed goodies but trying to keep it simple and light. May stop by in mid April if your around. Aden.