Painting Roll Bar and Canopy Frame

[Goflyn]

I have searched the forums for specifics, but could use some advice for painting my roll bar and canopy frame. It seems that some of you (Roberta, et.al) have used rattle cans of Rustoleum or Sherwin Williams with good results. I would like to do the same, but what kind of preparation did you do to the powdercoated surfaces before spraying them?

[stan_markwell]

I have used 320 sand paper and have also used red scotch brite pads to scuff the powder coat then wipe with a tack rag and sprayed. Both my 8 and 9 I used fast drying semi-gloss black Rustoleum rattle-can paint with good results. On my glare sheild I used the same paint over Sem self etching primer (rattle can also)

--Stan

[roee]

I used Krylon Fusion rattle cans for my interior. Before actually painting my interior, I sprayed some test patches with this paint on every type of substrate that I intended to paint (alodined aluminium, the Sherwin Williams primer Van's uses on the quickbuilds, the Akzo epoxy primer I use, and Van's powder coat, etc.). I found that this paint adheres well to all the substrates I tested, including powder coat, as long as the surface is clean and lightly abraded (I typically clean with acetone and abrade with gray scotch brite pads).

Anyway, whatever paint/process you opt for, I'd suggest that you first do some test patches before spraying any large assemblies.

[robertahegy]

The tip up frame on mine was not powder coated, so I didn't need to deal with that. I just lightly buffed with scotch brite, cleaned with MEK, and sprayed on the rustoleum boulder grey paint with no primer.

My interior was left pretty much natural AL, painting only above the main longerons (above the canopy). Carpet and fabric covered pieces were glued between the longerons and bulkheads gave it a cozy finished look.

Roberta

[carguy614]

I have yet to find an aerosol product that has really good wear characteristics. Maybe there is a product out there, but I prefer to top cote all of the interior parts with a single stage 2 part automotive urethane. It is easy to apply, not real expensive, and is tough as nails. It hides well, and with care in application, I think you could save a tad of weight. To be fair, the canopy frame and roll bar don't get much handling wear and tear as lets say, the floor pans and seat backs, but could benefit from the application of a quality finish. Added benefits also include any custom color you can imagine, and the ability to use just about any cleaner without harm to the finish.
Urethane adheres to powder coat just fine with normal prep, per Dupont rep I questioned.
Well worth the effort and added expense IMHO.

Regards,
Chris

[alpinelakespilot2000]

At some point, the paint is going to wear or chip no matter what kind of paint you use. Thus, I'm a big advocate of using a paint that will touch up easily. Textured paint is very good for that.

FWIW, I used Rustoleum textured black over a compatible Rustoleum primer. It has proved remarkably tough over the course of 2+ years of banging into it, often with sharp objects, over the course of the build. The best thing is that you can touch up any scratches and the texture makes the touchup almost impossible to see. One thing to keep in mind regarding Rustoleum products: from my experience, the cure time is pretty long. I give mine a couple weeks at least. Once the cure time has passed, it becomes much more immune to scratches.

I prepped by lightly sandblasting the hard to reach parts with a Harbor Freight sandblaster attachement and scuffed the rest up with probably 200 grit sandpaper.