I currently have my car getting professionally detailed as I may sell it this spring. He has all the wheels off cleaning everything and offered to paint the control arms. The car came from South Carolina and I’ve never really drove it here. It’s not all that rusty there just isn’t much paint on them anymore. It’s basically what 99% of s2000s control arms look like now a days. Is it worth getting them painted? Not sure if it’d really help the value but I don’t want to hurt the value either. The picture is not of my car but they pretty much look the same way. What are your opinions?

 

I typically paint any metal parts when they come off the car with POR15. Proper prep and application will yield a great glossy finish for years- needs to be over coated if subjected to UV as the paint is not UV stabilized.

is it worth it- sure, if the painter properly tapes and covers all the other parts you don't want paint on.

darcy

 

I have heard good things about por 15. It is on a CR which people want all original and it is all OEM. I just don’t know how picky potential buyers will be if they get properly painted, they’ll look way better glossy black. Kinda torn

 

One hack I developed years back when I had some extra metal paint sitting around. I am a bit embarrassed by how cheap this method is, but my simplified and cost effective approach is to brush the parts with black glossy Tremclad paint. I typically do this in winter months when I have nothing else to do and the car is up on jackstands wheels removed. I don't take any parts off the car. I don't even do much prep work other than giving the parts a simple cleaning. A light wire brush and simple degreaser (dish soap and water in a spray bottle). To be honest Tremclad paint is tough a nails on rusty metal like suspension parts, the stuff has never flaked or peeled off and if it ever did it would be a very simple touch up.

 

I would paint them, but not with POR15 - Too difficult, too glossy and too black. I would go for something like Seymour Cast Blast.

These were some crusty pieces I did with the Seymour paint to look like cast iron.

Attachment 141804

I've also used their 316 stainless steel color which was a more silvery color but still looked like bare metal.

 

Or best of both. Por15 and topcoat with color of your choice, like that cast iron look or even just matte or flat black. You're supposed to topcoat por15 anyway (it doesn't like uv, and even not much of that gets to undercarriage, still a good idea).

Por15 is about permenance. making sure rust never comes back, and withstanding severe abrasion.

 

POR comes in semi gloss black too. It mimics the factory color to some extent.

Their 1 part urethane is not UV stable.

They also have a 2 part (2K) urethane that is UV stable. No need to top coat. It's also got chip and abrasion resistance. Its 2X the cost of 1 part...but...no need to top coat.

I use POR extensively. I would agree the best way is to remove, clean, and paint. Don't let someone loose on your car with spray paint. I would be mad if someone painted over the factory zinc plated hardware.

Here is a sample of semi gloss.



And a combination of high gloss black on the arms and clear gloss on the ball joint caps.

 

Has anyone tried Sharkhide metal protectant?

 

Id blast them and powercoat, then assemble with new bushings. I used to do powdercoating in my ex's dads garage where we had an oven and an ac compressor with a blast cabinet. Its not hard at all, and id totally do that over paint.

 

With any of these, are there concerns with moisture getting under the coating causing rust underneath like with powdercoating? I admit, I have not looked into any of these coatings yet so am ignorant on processes.

I purchased AP2 rear subframe parts (subframe, UCA, knuckle) to put into my AP1 and would like to do this to the parts before installation.