I started going through my 65 Elky to get a better idea of what I am up against in the way of restoring it. Please be kind as this is my first restoration and I cannot do a full frame off just yet. The goal is to take anything that can be dipped off and have a shop do the rest of the body. I started on the front end and noticed something that I need advice on. The bezel that holds the headlight in looks as though it was painted the stock color of the car. Was this common? My initial thought was to have it powder coated black along with a few other pieces. Would there be any draw backs to this? Thank you all for your time.

This doesn't really answer your question, but when I restored (well, still working on the top, glass and interior) my '67 Belvedere I powder coated the following...

carburetor (body and linkage), intake, timing cover, pulleys, master cylinder, upper/lower control arms, suspension bushing washers, fan, bypass hose fittings, k-frame bolt heads, alternator, rear spring shackles, rear axle u-bolts, rear spring front hangers, ignation mounting plate, fender emblem, batter tray & brackets, all underdash brackets, steering knuckles, Scarebird conversion plates, swaybar brackets, strut-rods, center link, front hub dust caps, door/hood/trunk latches, steering column, tranny crossmember, pinion snubber, all engine accessory brackets...

Pretty much anything that would fit in my oven, and I would have done more if I'd had a bigger oven. I highly recommend powder coat...

I also did the valve covers and intake on my Camino in Chevy orange along with several brackets in black... I'll be doing the control arms soon when I replace bushings...

IMO powdercoating is always a better choice, however if the piece your talking about can possibly warp or melt due to the oven temp of powdercoating, then paint it.

While powdercoating is great the new catalyzed paints are very close in results.

Possibly a last consideration. POR15 looks like Powder coated metal when it's dry and looks good, lasts a while too resists water and takes less to do. I've never powder coated anything but it seems that if it's got to be torqued tight wouldn't powder coating crack if two pieces are bolted together? Finally it's an insulator, if you need the pieces to be used as part of the ground for the electrical system, them being an insulator is not good you'd have to remove some of the coating, just like paint.


Like I said I have never don't any powder coating so I'm just fishing. POR15 with the UV inhibitor would be great for "black" parts and it completely seals against rust and actually is made for spots prone to rust and weather.

The only thing I ever had powdercoated was the transmission crossmember I bought from Iceman. He told me up front that the crossmember was not going to be painted. When it arrived it was obvious it was welded by a real pro. It was coated in oil and had the typical patina of very light surface rust of raw steel. I figured I would spend a ton of time and make a big mess trying to clean it up and get it ready to paint. The powder coaters charged $35.00 to clean it up, and coat it. It was almost a shame to put it under the elky out of sight of almost everyone. I figure it will stand up to the road debris and dirt of driving better than any rattle can of paint.

I have used POR15 and that stuff needs a very well ventilated area and rubber gloves. Several hours of sanding and scrubbing and a can of POR 15 just did not seem like a good idea compared to $35.00 for powercoating.

Thank you guys for your input.
Mr86Camino- You also answered another question I had and that was about what it would cost to powdercoat.

The only thing I ever had powdercoated was the transmission crossmember I bought from Iceman. It was almost a shame to put it under the elky out of sight of almost everyone. I know the feeling, I did the same thing with my Iceman crossmember, had mine powdercoated cherry red.

Powder coating is extremely durable. I powder coated the subframe of my '69 Camaro in '98. It was my daily driver until '04 and the subframe still looks great. Also did the frame, rearend and suspension of my '69 Camino.

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steve69ss396

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