I have got my front uprights back from Raw, and they are are bare metal at the moment, and will need protecting from the elements before they go on the car.

I was intending to get the powder coated, but was wondering if there is a better way to cover them?

Is there such a thing as rubber/plastic paint? My thinking is that this would provide better protection against stone chips etc, as it would absorb the impact rather than chipping off.

My local coating place does nylon coating. I wanted to do my interior with it but the guy said it cost an arm and a leg.

You will get mixed opinions on this.. If done properly and cost is no object (you will also need good surface prep removing sharp edges ect) then I would consider a good Chrome plating... All depends on what you want.

Also when I say good I mean you need this done properly with the correct baths and pre-plating (copper for steel not sure?)... I think a lot of trouble with poor chrome is due to poor quality platting or missing out on the pre-plating ect..

Myself to keep the cost down have bead-blasted, then high zinc content primer followed by chassis paint or for my front uprights household external gloss (undercoat+topcoat) and careful brushing (you can get a "coach work" finish with the gloss if you try hard!).. The gloss remains flexible and is probably more stone chip resistant than powder-coating.This was then followed by a light coat of waxoyl polished off once dry.

In some ways I wish I had used external gloss on the whole chassis, the chassis paint I have can be a bit brittle and chips.

Dan

[Edited on 17/5/12 by Bluemoon]

[Edited on 17/5/12 by Bluemoon]

I've painted some things using POR15 - it's pretty expensive, but seems to be indestructable.

I've heard people say Tractol 329 is good too(mostly farmers for machinery): http://www.smithandallan.com/prodpage.aspx?id=1502

Regards
Hugh

ETA POR15 is a bit thinner than hammerite so gets into little nooks and crannies/weld ripples much better, and is definatly much tougher than hammerite if you follow the instructions properly.

[Edited on 17/5/12 by hughpinder]

Why not get them re zinc plated, cheaper than you think

I'm getting my calipers from my defender bead blasted and then re zinc plated, they are 4 pots on the front and 2 pots on the rear and blasting is going to cost £30 and the zinc plating is only going to cost £30 so for £60 they are going to look like new

I blasted and powder coated mine (about £10 each)

POR15 is ment to be very tough (linky), but alot of folk on here have just used hammerite without any issues

whatever you do the way you prep the metal is the key to making it last...

I used jotamastic 87 primer and Jotum Hardtop Flexi topcoat on mine. If its good enough for Oil Rig legs and bulldozer blades it's good enough for me. Costly though.

Another vote for POR15 followed by a couple of coats of Hardnose. Powder coating is only as good as the preparation or it falls off in sheets