Chassis: Skip the Single Stage, Just Epoxy?

H

Hugh Hef

Doing some fabrication work on a work cab/chassis truck. It may work everyday, but I would like the chassis to be real nice and continue to look nice for as long as I have it. I'm in the northeast. Should I just take the single stage budget and just put a few more coats of epoxy over the 3 I intended to use anyhow?
 
Yes, NO single stage can hold a candle to the spi epoxy 3 or 4 coats, and you have something!
Thanks, Barry. I will figure on 4 only because a lot of gymnastics need to take place to hit every nook and cranny and it hurts my brain to stay on track while jumping around.
It is possible that the chassis may be exposed and out in the sun before the body is mounted for a few weeks.Did I see you mention elsewhere that induction time needed to be increased for UV protection to kick in?
 
I did an experiment on a horse trailer axle a few years back. Painted it with just 2 coats of black epoxy and after a couple of weeks (maybe more) had passed I tried to scrape the epoxy off with a regular screw driver. The epoxy was resistant to even being scratched by my efforts.

The only time I ever add reducer is if using epoxy for a sealer. Shoot it using a 1.4 tip and it will look like this:
K-Frame in Epoxy.JPG


Upper Control Arms in Epoxy.JPG

Steering Knuckles in Epoxy.JPG
 
Thanks, Barry. I will figure on 4 only because a lot of gymnastics need to take place to hit every nook and cranny and it hurts my brain to stay on track while jumping around.
It is possible that the chassis may be exposed and out in the sun before the body is mounted for a few weeks.Did I see you mention elsewhere that induction time needed to be increased for UV protection to kick in?
Yes, 4-hour induction.
 
I did an experiment on a horse trailer axle a few years back. Painted it with just 2 coats of black epoxy and after a couple of weeks (maybe more) had passed I tried to scrape the epoxy off with a regular screw driver. The epoxy was resistant to even being scratched by my efforts.

The only time I ever add reducer is if using epoxy for a sealer. Shoot it using a 1.4 tip and it will look like this:
View attachment 14150

View attachment 14151
View attachment 14152
Great Photos, thank you for that. I hear it's bulletproof, you have the proof. Looks great , probably cleans up well when needed with all that sheen. What is the pot life after induction. Can it be induced at midnight and shot at 8am ?
 
Great Photos, thank you for that. I hear it's bulletproof, you have the proof. Looks great , probably cleans up well when needed with all that sheen. What is the pot life after induction. Can it be induced at midnight and shot at 8am ?
Sure can!
 
I did some work on a "work truck" 3 years ago, I tried to get the owner to get a new bed but nothing doing he wanted the so called just fix it so it will last a few years. I welded in wheel arch panels and the bottom of the wheel arch was nothing but rust where the rocks had beat everything down to metal, I told him that I would brush the rust which is not at all right to do but he didn't want to spend more money so I brushed it with a grinder and brush and sprayed 2 coats of SPI epoxy over it. Three years later there is no sign of bubbling or rust trying to come through, That is something to be proud of, SPI makes top quality products!
 
That's great to hear. The tricky part of my job is that the chassis is getting stretched and frame rails doubled up for strength, along with removing and remounting the suspension mounts. I am going to sandblast it, but I want to shoot the pieces that get sandwiched before they are welded and their inner surfaces inaccessible. It's going to be a back and forth process.
 
One of my favorite calls, and it was about a year ago.
A guy in FL started a restoration, stripped his deck lid first, and epoxied.
Something came up, and the car sat six months or so, as I don't remember.
He takes car to a sandblaster, and the blaster calls and says he cant blast the epoxy off without destroying the deck lid, and the paint stripper will not touch it.
The best complaint I ever had.
 
One of my favorite calls, and it was about a year ago.
A guy in FL started a restoration, stripped his deck lid first, and epoxied.
Something came up, and the car sat six months or so, as I don't remember.
He takes car to a sandblaster, and the blaster calls and says he cant blast the epoxy off without destroying the deck lid, and the paint stripper will not touch it.
The best complaint I ever had.
This is another thing great to hear. Because I have to go back and forth with welding, sandblasting and paint, I was thinking that a lot of paint would be blasted off and wasted. Any hand sanding or scuff will be near impossible, and no way to keep it in a 5 day window all the way through. Would a dusting with the sandblaster tooth everything for a final unifying 2 coats at the end ? I am doing this with an industrial pot and 185 cfm compressor.
 
Back
Top