I received the frame and most of the parts and pieces back from the powder coater a few weeks ago. Very excited to start putting this back together. Now if I could just remember how I took it all apart....
Looks great! Congratulations on the milestone. I see your springs are assembled. Did you have them coated together as packs, rather than individual leafs? Mind if we ask about what this step of the project costs?
Nice! After many hours of cleaning, grinding, wire brushing and hand painting the front and rear 1/3 of my frame, I decided to go ahead and have it blasted and powder coated as well. Should have it back by the weekend. Looking good!
The Springs and the Cost I did not pull the springs apart. I probably should have but I didn't. In regards to the cost, I had the frame, all body parts/panels and way too many small pieces to list all blasted. Of course not everything was then powder coated but most of what was powder coated is in the pictures minus a box of small parts. The total cost for all blasting and powder coating was $1700. At the time it seemed like a lot of money (still does) but now I can see all the work that had to be done and all the masking with the ubolts, front axle, etc. and it doesn't seem like too bad of a price. I have no doubt there was a lot of work there. The blasted body parts are at the body shop and I didn't post pics of those. Sadly after the blasting I realized it was more cost effective to buy 3 or the 4 fenders then to have them fixed. I am only paying to have the 4th one fixed because it has the curve for the spare tire on the driver's side and you can't find reproductions of those. You might be able to save yourself some money if you can figure that out prior to sending everything to the blaster/coater. I did that with some of the other body parts (tailgate, bed front, etc.) but I held out hope for the fenders. Sadly I don't do body work so the cost to get them right again would be $750 to $1000/fender versus reproductions that cost $300 to $500. It became a financial decision.
No matter what the cost is going to be it will be just as you wanted it to turn out as. Great work and it will be a great looking truck. Thanks for the updates on the progress.
That looks GREAT! All of the various mounts on the frame -- shock mounts, cab mounts, etc. -- did you just leave them riveted in place, and coat it all as one assembly? What else needs to be done for prep for the frame? For the axle? Thanks again!
RidesWithYah - I left everything riveted just riveted. There was even a front spring mount that had to be bolted because the rivets had gone bad so I just made sure that was tightened well and sent it to the powder coater like that. Would have been nice to have it all original rivets but that was not in the stars. As far as prep goes for the frame, the only thing I did was measure it according to the book to make sure it was straight and not bent. There was a small depression in the front cross member that the engine sits on that needed to be fixed. I took that to the frame guy and he bent it back to where it needed to go. So you just want to make sure it is all straight and dron there is went to the blaster who also happened to be the powder coater. He blasted it and then powder coated it. Areas that I thought might have some rust issues I did scrape and brush myself to make sure the damage was not too severe. I was fortunate that the frame was in nearly perfect condition (considering its age). On the axle I just had the king pins done and they literally had no miles on them so I was not willing to tear that down. I probably should have but I just had them mask off where necessary and it all worked out fine.
Haasman - Your frame looks great.... It looks like you are putting front disc on yours. That is the same thing I want to do to improve safety. Is there a particular supplier you would recommend for that? Are you by chance also doing back disc or keeping the drums? Also it looks like you are putting the anti-sway on the front. Who would you recommend for that? These are all things I want to do to improve the overall safety of the ride.
Doing a little more research on powder coating springs, here is Eaton's take on it -- Simply put, powder coating is a process where dry paint particles are sprayed onto the surfaces on the spring. Then the springs are heated which melts and bonds the paint particles to the metal. In order to get the paint particles hot enough to bond they must be heated very close to the annealing temperature of the spring steel. Annealing means the heat treatment of the springs is being removed. Annealed springs will no longer support any weight. Figure $225.00 to $250.00 per spring to fix this goof up. To have the powder coat work without softening the springs the heat MUST be held to less than 350 degrees. Painting should not have to be explained. I use high quality, hi temp engine enamel. Hang the spring by an eye and spray 3 to 4 coats of paint. Be sure to let the paint completely dry in between coats. Whether powder coating or painting, do not cover the top of the leaves nor the bottom part which is covered by the leaf below it. Either type of coating builds up a few thousands of an Inch per leaf. With several leaves in a spring pack the added thickness will be several thousands of an Inch. The weakest part of a spring is where the center bolt goes through the leaves. This section of a spring must be held with such a force that there is very little movement in the center bolt area. As a spring flexes up and down there is wear taking place between the leaves. If the inner surfaces have been coated this coating will wear through allowing additional movement in the center bolt area. The additional movement will allow the u-bolts to loosen and soon you will experience either a sheared center bolt or a broken spring. There is no warranty on any spring broken between the u-bolts. If the vehicle is driven, after three to four years rust will began seeping between the leaves of a powder coated spring. For a painted spring on a vehicle that is driven, after three to four years rust will began seeping between the leaves. http://www.eatonsprings.com/techquestions/powdercoatingandchromingsprings.htm
