Hot Rods Powder Coating ok on a period roadster??

So, I bought this original fairly rust free 29 roadster this summer from a friend, and have been collecting parts since its been at his house. Together we built a narrowed orginal duece frame, while I have been gathering my suspension parts at home...and I finally have the pieces I need to bolt it together as a roller....

I am going for a late 40s dry lakes race car look to the car, with a 59AB Flatty, 39 top loader, lever shocks, and so on and want to keep it completely period correct. So far I have zero "new" parts, all original Ford or vintage aftermarket parts.

And I think Im going to powder coat all of my suspension parts and frame black. Obviously powder coating wasnt available in '49, but black paint is black paint right??

The question is: does powercoating look different enough from regular paint that it would be noticable? I guess Im worried about parts coming out "too smooth" (filling in pits) vs just painting them...I like the durability of the powder coat too.

Heres a mock up pic I took last week

Im probably looking into this way too much, but I dont want to spend a bunch of money and be dissapointed, haha...plus I havent posted in a while....

 

I really don't think anyone will know unless you tell them. If you want period correct use paint.

 

^^^ x2.

 

And brush it on. Then, it will be period correct. Anything else will NOT be period correct. Either its period correct or it NOT.

 

I think 99.999% of the people could look at it and never know the difference, and not even sure about that last .001 percent. Even Skratch, who pinstriped my 23, had to ask me if my frame was powdercoated when he did it. Evidently, pinstriping is hard to apply to powdercoating and he wanted to be sure mine wasn't. (it wasn't).

Part of my 27 is PC and part is painted and I really can't see any difference between the two.

Don

 

Don't forget your cloth wrapped wire and mechanical brakes!
I'm still looking for someone that sells period correct air for my period correct tires.

 

I use cloth wrapped wire

 

I powdercoated my 32 frame for the 29 roadster,and it looks like a clean paint job.Happy with it

 

I recently started bottling some in 28-40 lb containers let me know what you need, it also comes with a certification to it's authenticity (signed by me of course) .Just tell me what period and how much you need generally a 30 lb bottle is $49.99

 

I'd say go for the powdercoating. It's much more durable, and if you have to buy the paint materials and pay for sandblasting, you'd spend nearly as much to paint as to powdercoat. If you're wanting to be absolutely period correct, a 32 chassis back in 1949 would only have been 17 years old, and likely wouldn't have had any pitting or rust pebbling at all. Like Mataconcepts pointed out, a hot rodder in 1949 would probably have brush-painted the chassis, and at best, the prep would've consisted of a wire-brushing.

 

Powder coating is paint without the reducers. That's what a powder guy told us.

Why pay more money to just put paint on it?

Even if you were building a plow truck, powder coating ain't gonna last any better than a GOOD prepared paint job.

You're building fair weather cruiser, right? Paint will last and look right.

We have a lot of powdered parts on our Bonneville car. It still looks like a plow truck. Even gets bubbling rust under the powder coat.

 

the previous poster pointed out my first thought--a period build probably wouldn't have had a pitted chassis and components. there's a difference between period correct and the current affinity for patina.

 

Thanks for the opinions guys, I will probably go with the powder coating. There is a guy right down the road from me who does a lot of sandblasting for me who will hook me up with a good price on powder coating...

Also, Mataconcepts...the body WAS brush painted yellow back in the late 50s when the car was brought back to Michigan from Wyoming...

Not sure if Im keeping the yellow brush paint or not...

 

That's a nice car, no matter what you do.

And as long as every time you see it, you smile and say "I like it". It's good.

 

I don't mean to hijack this post, but can I get some more info on this air? Is this air that was originally around in the late 40's? NOS or used? And could you possibly compress the air in the container, so I could get more quantity but save on shipping?

 

Powdercoat it. No one will ever know. Many places are very affordable and its durable as hell. The place I go to will even let me bring in grimey, greased up parts and they don't even care. I've had entire chassis's and all their components done. In my experience (depending on the place) it comes out with a tiny bit of orange peel and and not as shiny as a two stage paint job. I think it would look just right, and save you a ton of time.

 

Don't forget your powder coater can "flaten" the paint. 90% will look about 5 years old, 80% 10 years, etc.

 

I have plenty of perod-correct dust and grime for sale

 

I am afraid compressing more than the 40 lbs may alter it's ability to inflate a tire properly,and yes it's the same air used in the 30's and 40's. I have verified it by the fact that there was a model A right outside the cave where I discovered it. Now I promise not to desecrate this post any farther.

 

The only tradition worth the worry is your own. Do it any way that pleases you and you alone.

 

Man, it's a bitch trying to please others.

 

there could an argument that todays paint would not be traditional.
dulux anyone?

 

Obviously powder coating is not period correct. But like most of the paints available today, some of the things it contains didn't exist back in the day. People use modern lubricants and "permanent" anti-freeze instead of methanol. As was said, few would be able to tell the difference. It is ultimately up to you to decide where the line is. That said, there are a lot of situations where I think proper prep, skilled application, and a good quality paint, is a better(but not cheaper if you are paying to have it done) choice than powder coat.

 

its too damn early to start the "period correct "thread of the day.you want it to look like crap ,brush it on like they did back in the day.you want a goodlooking hot rod,quit worrying about how everybody thinks and build your car YOUR way.

 

Sure it's fine,,anyone here that can look at a piece on a car that can tell the difference in paint or powder coat? HRP

 

Awesome! what a guy! How many pounds do you think I need will need for 2 7.50-16's and 2 6.00x5.25-16's on my 27 Modified. (OOPS now have to figure out my periods. Send me a box of Manpons to)
BTW could ya scrounge up a 10# spool of .030 for my 1927 Miller wire feed.

 

I do my own powder coating. I'd never use it on a period piece frame. Not because its not correct but it will not look right for my eye. Much too smooth and shinny. I want my rides to look like they were built in 57 and not 2013. I spray bomb many pieces because it just looks right on an old hotrod. These pro-built traditional rods look too smooth and perfect for my tastes. If they are perfect they don't look like period hotrods to me. others will disagree.

 

I actually tryed saving some air out of some old truck tires to make my old hooptie perfect. It worked but I couldn't find any 1950s gasoline, I even looked in an old old salvage yard and someone had already drained all the tanks. Damn the luck. I did find some oil in an old engine that I used and there was even enough that I drained from another engine so I could carry a quart with me. I carried it in an old blue mason jar with a zink lid for authenticity.

I think like a lot of the fellas on here that I have always done things the way I wanted to do them and let the chips fall where they may. I certainly don't look for anyone's approval about anything that I do. If I woke up in the morning and decided I have everything for a period correct build and wanted to powder coat the whole damned thing I would do just that.

 

Cripes! Powdercoat or paint? Then leave the body a different color than the frame?

Reminds me of a black Monogram Deuce frame with a red AMT '29 body on it.

Some say the car is half finished. Others say the car is half-assed. I say, "You gonna paint that?"

 

'So ya got to please yourself"