Finished dressing and prepping the frame ... its gone off for sandblasting as of this morning. My preferred plan for the moment is to paint rather than powdercoat the frame. Anyone care to offer pros and cons of each?
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Project XS
- Thread starter atom4488
- Start date
Powder pro= you don't have to do it, someone else does. 
Very durable.
Con= cost.
Paint pro= you can do it yourself
Con= you do it yourself... and frames absolutely suck to paint.
Not as durable as powder.
Very durable.
Con= cost.
Paint pro= you can do it yourself
Con= you do it yourself... and frames absolutely suck to paint.
Not as durable as powder.
There might be further alternatives. Powder coating is a bit thick and gloopy, but I found a guy not far from here who did stove-enamelling. He did a great job with my TR6 frame, looked like paint but tough - he said you could hit it with a hammer, but I didn't try that out.
It's decades since I heard anyone mentioning stove enamel. Once upon a time it was the go to frame finish. Finding someone who knows how to do it might be an issue? But for sure, it's a lovely job done correctly.
Thanks for the input, guys... while I can appreciate the durability of the powdercoat, to me the downside is that I can't readily fix damage or add brackets or whatnot once its done. A major upside is that it is much easier to ensure that all the nooks and crannys get coverage because of the electrostatic application of the powder. The paint scheme will be relatively monochromatic, so there will be lots of individual parts to powdercoat or paint, making it far cheaper to paint rather than powdercoat. I have the facilities to do the paint myself, so that's a +ve for the paint option.
@Raymond, I agree that powdercoat frequently looks "thick and gloppy", as if the parts were plastic-coated (which in fact they are!). My local powdercoater who works out of a home shop does beautiful work, with none of that thick look. He is also very inexpensive.
Stove enameling is not really accessible, as far as I can tell, but would be an interesting option, with similar advantages and disadvantages as powdercoat.
I am going to paint a test piece and will make a decision from there. I will definetly use powder coat for some of the hardwearing parts, like the peg mounts and such (minimal chrome is part of the colour scheme).
@Raymond, I agree that powdercoat frequently looks "thick and gloppy", as if the parts were plastic-coated (which in fact they are!). My local powdercoater who works out of a home shop does beautiful work, with none of that thick look. He is also very inexpensive.
Stove enameling is not really accessible, as far as I can tell, but would be an interesting option, with similar advantages and disadvantages as powdercoat.
I am going to paint a test piece and will make a decision from there. I will definetly use powder coat for some of the hardwearing parts, like the peg mounts and such (minimal chrome is part of the colour scheme).
Frame rotisserie, tach drive block-off plug and battery tie-down:
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Stolen!
thank you!
A relatively easy fab project made of materials at hand... quite a few turned parts, the the rest is just black pipe. As you can probably imagine, the strut that runs from the stem to the lower front engine mount lugs is essential. Otherwise, the frame just rotates around the stem clamp, no matter how tight it is.
PS: just to give credit where credit is due, this is not an original idea. I found something similar on the Web and just executed my iteration of it with what I had on hand.
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Personally, I'm not a fan of powder coating a frame. It's difficult to repair, and an unseen chip can lead to large swaths of delamination thanks to rust propagation. For frames, I usually use Eastwood's Chassis Black Frame Paint. I find it easy to spray and very durable. It can also be repaired.
I've also had good luck using PJ1 Fast Black Epoxy Paint.
I do like powder coating smaller parts, however.
I've also had good luck using PJ1 Fast Black Epoxy Paint.
I do like powder coating smaller parts, however.
... I agree on all counts, which is why I have decided to go with paint for the big stuff and powder coat for the stuff that will see wear/contact, like pedals and stand etc.
Checking in late, sorry. My opinion. Paint. Why, you might ask? Very little of the whole skeleton is ever in view. The front down tubes and the rear up tubes to the rear shock mounts. Only the front tubes are subject to stones, wear, pitting... With "one side" or high exhausts (scrambler or tracker) the lower rails are east to refinish/touch-up). I put this forth from the perspective of a guy who wants to have a decent looking rider...
Attachments
Agreed... paint it is.
Primed the frame today... looks encouraging. Its been in the works since way back, so this was a big step forward.
Painted frame...charcoal gray hammertone. Prepping of all the small parts is in process, but I want to get the engine into the frame as the next step.
lookin' good!!!
You gonna do the lay the frame on it's side method of install?
You gonna do the lay the frame on it's side method of install?
I lay the engine on the floor on a 2X4 and 4x4 to create an angle, then put the frame over the engine and install the bottom bolt.
I built a rig to suspend the engine on a hoist, so that's prolly what I'll always use. If I had it to do over though, I wouldn't bother. From what I've seen and read, laying the engine and frame on it's side is the easiest/best way to go.
In my youth, I just bear hugged 'em in and out.
At 72 now, I'd be hard pressed to bear hug a moped engine.
That's how I did my Beetle engine installs...just pick it up and put it in. Not sure that my back has ever forgiven me!I built a rig to suspend the engine on a hoist, so that's prolly what I'll always use. If I had it to do over though, I wouldn't bother. From what I've seen and read, laying the engine and frame on it's side is the easiest/best way to go.
In my youth, I just bear hugged 'em in and out.
At 72 now, I'd be hard pressed to bear hug a moped engine.
Engine run stand... tank, throttle, coil, condensor, solenoid, ignition and start switches all mounted...
Hopefully test firing later today...
Hopefully test firing later today...
