Paint and powder coating for Savvy aluminum parts

Midnight LJR

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Got a bunch of Savvy Aluminum parts coming in. Bumper just arrived today. I am not very experienced in regards to painting especially aluminum.

I was just gonna spray the under armor black to protect the aluminum. Is there a certain brand I should be looking at for paint? How about prep?

I am going to get the front bumper powder coated I assume that’s the better way to go for a nice finish?

Can anyone recommend a place in the Sacramento area? Is there a certain type of powder coat I need to do? Should I just paint it so i can touch up?

If I am taking the bumper to be powder coated should I just drop the gas skid and everything off to have it done then i could just touch up from there?

What about the sliders and Corner Armor I plan to have the aluminum color matched should it be powder coated first?

Should I not bother and leave some things Raw aluminum?

Anything else I might not be thinking about or forgetting?

See told you I don’t know much about painting!

Parts here or coming soon and color plan.

-Corner armor (color matched)
-Sliders (color matched armor, black slider)
-Front Bumper (Black)
-Under Armor (black)
-Engine skid (black)
-Gas tank skid (black)
-Control arms (black)
 
@tomtaylz went through this process so he could probably provide some insight. I was standing next to him during the process but didn't pay any attention :ROFLMAO:
 
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Personally I wouldn't bother painting the aluminum under armor.

I'd also opt to paint the bumpers.

Scuff with scotch brite pad
wipe with acetone
spray with good self etching primer (light fog coat then one medium coat)
Spray with your favorite paint (you could go all out and buy a not spray can at a paint store and base/ clear it or just buy a good rattle can)
 
Got a bunch of Savvy Aluminum parts coming in. Bumper just arrived today. I am not very experienced in regards to painting especially aluminum.

I was just gonna spray the under armor black to protect the aluminum. Is there a certain brand I should be looking at for paint? How about prep?

I am going to get the front bumper powder coated I assume that’s the better way to go for a nice finish?

Can anyone recommend a place in the Sacramento area? Is there a certain type of powder coat I need to do? Should I just paint it so i can touch up?

If I am taking the bumper to be powder coated should I just drop the gas skid and everything off to have it done then i could just touch up from there?

What about the sliders and Corner Armor I plan to have the aluminum color matched should it be powder coated first?

Should I not bother and leave some things Raw aluminum?

Anything else I might not be thinking about or forgetting?

See told you I don’t know much about painting!

Parts here or coming soon and color plan.

-Corner armor (color matched)
-Sliders (color matched armor, black slider)
-Front Bumper (Black)
-Under Armor (black)
-Engine skid (black)
-Gas tank skid (black)
-Control arms (black)
Depends on budget. I would call around at least 3-5 powder coat companies because my estimates were all over the place. If you can take the parts to the powder coat company so they can see them I found the price to be better than the phone. Some companies still negotiate also. Good luck.
 
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So we tried spraying the sliders ourselves but it failed on our first attempt I think due to moisture in the air, it was later at night. I then had it powder coated, all the paint I was using was expensive so this made sense to me rather than risk it again. I did all my items in a semi gloss black and they look great, very close match to my factory black.

I did my under armor and it’s held up okay. I made sure to do this in the sun on a warm day.

If I remember right I did the following:

I used metal prep/degreaser
Washed it
Sanded it
Washed it
Sem primer I think about 3 coats
Hardware store black about 3 coats.

It’s still not perfect but okay for underarmor. Many said to use a primer with zinc but I couldn’t find any. If you leave the underarmor unpainted make sure you paint the steel parts.

Hope this helps
 
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A PC primer might be a good idea for your color matched items. Then you could spray on top of the Primer or have a auto shop do it. I’d then clear coat on top.

Aluminum is pretty tricky I’ve never had paint fail the way it did on the slider backers
 
Thanks guys that helps. Is there any reason to worry about the powder process weakening the aluminum? I thought I read that somewhere...
 
Thanks guys that helps. Is there any reason to worry about the powder process weakening the aluminum? I thought I read that somewhere...
It depends on the grade of aluminum. I suspect most of it is tempered (6061 T6 is very common).
A good powder coat shop should be able to work with it. Many shops can do a low temperature powder coat that won’t significantly change the material properties. However, other shops may not know or care and would just do a high temperature powder coat with no regard for heat treatment.
I would stick to low temperature powder coat or paint if I were you, at least on critical parts.
 
I bought my MC aluminum bumper in black wrinkle powdercoat, but I left my UCF aluminum belly pan and engine skids bare

the skids have been on the Jeep for a few years now, and look the same (except for a couple of scrapes) as the day I put them on
 
Take it to a powder coat shop and have it done right. That's what I did with all my Savvy stuff. They media blast it to prep the surface, then apply the powder coat.

Did you have them do the steel parts as well as the Aluminum?
 
Personally I wouldn't bother painting the aluminum under armor.

I'd also opt to paint the bumpers.

Scuff with scotch brite pad
wipe with acetone
spray with good self etching primer (light fog coat then one medium coat)
Spray with your favorite paint (you could go all out and buy a not spray can at a paint store and base/ clear it or just buy a good rattle can)
That's exactly my recommendation too. Powder coating doesn't hold up on the trail any better than rattle can paint does. And when the powder coating gets scratched/gouged/scraped you'll be touching it up with satin black rattle can paint from Krylon or Rustoleum anyway.

To me, powder coating looks nice but so does rattle can paint at 1/10th the cost. I was shocked at the quote I got to powder coat my CO2 tank, it was ridiculous.
 
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I completely agree with @Jerry Bransford .... We personally are not heavy trail wheeler's with our jeep (but have experiance in heavy equipment & industrial equipment).... so I personally wouldn't pay money to powder coat any part that is going to see any real abuse... powder coating is a tough finish but not easily touched-up & in the wheeling world it is going to get scratched / chipped; at that point you are touching up with paint as Jerry mentioned or doing nothing which may allow moister to work its way under the powder coating...

Again this is just my opinion... from my experiences... we powder coat many components per month with a reputable shop on our electronic integration division for work... but all of our field equipment is painted with an industrial paint coating so it can be touched up easily...
 
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That's exactly my recommendation too. Powder coating doesn't hold up on the trail any better than rattle can paint does. And when the powder coating gets scratched/gouged/scraped you'll be touching it up with satin black rattle can paint from Krylon or Rustoleum anyway.

To me, powder coating looks nice but so does rattle can paint at 1/10th the cost. I was shocked at the quote I got to powder coat my CO2 tank, it was ridiculous.

Ok so if I go this route do a I just use any old primer and paint from Home Depot?

If I decide to leave the aluminum under armor bare, how do I get off the writing that comes off the skids atleast the ones you can see like the writing on the gas skid, does that just scrub off?

I’ll give cleaning it a shot it seems like it is some kind of grease pen or something.

I’m such a Aluminum noob haha. Everything on my Cherokee was just rattle canned flat black.

Anyways thanks for all the help guys.
 
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Did you coat it with anything, Like Sharkhide?

Nope. Took it out of the box and slapped it on. Painted the cross member and exhaust hanger though as those were bare steel.

Installed in Feb of 2016 and as of just a few minutes ago:
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