Powder coating suspension wishbones and Watts linkage

[neilg]

I'm refreshing my car and to that end have taken all the front suspension and rear Watts linkage and A frame off the car. 

I will then remove all the old bushes. 

My question is do you then get all the bush orifices powder coated and then push new bushes in or do you somehow block off the holes so they aren't powdercoated. Or do you get the wishbones etc powdercoated and then remove powdercoating where the bushes reside before pressing new ones in? or get the whole thing powdercoated , leave the orifice powdercoated and press new bushes in. 

Not done this before so sorry if this is a stupid question. 

Is powder coating all the same or are there different types or thickness??

Any advice appreciated as are any other tips re refreshing all these parts. 

Finally standard Caterham bushes or fancy Poly bushes ??

Best regards Neil 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[7 wonders of the world]

Powerflex bushes are easier to refit and offer better performance and remove unwanted friction from the system

[SamC]

I've just done this process on my CSR.

First answer is take all the bushes out and just ask the powder coater to mask the bores. Completely standard procedure for them. You need the bores to be clean and bare metal to reinstall the bushes. Removing new powder coating is tiresome work!

Re thickness, it's largely the same from one place to the next. Just choose someone that has a good reputation, but to be honest, they are all much of a muchness.

Removing the bushes on mine was HARD. I have access to large vices, proper sized press tools and hydraulic presses at work and it was still a lengthy job requiring lots of heat. Don't be afraid to heat the living daylights out of the wishbones etc. To give you some idea, pressing the sphericals out of the lower front wishbones took 45kN. If you don't have access to these tools, it's worth taking them to a garage or fabricator etc that has.  You'll save yourself a lot of swearing!

I went for polybushes all round. As 7 wonders says they are easier to install (ref above but in reverse!) but more importantly have made the car fantastically tight without any appreciably change in NVH. Simon Rogers at Meteor was a good source of advice for me and who I bought the bushes off.

[Drakman]

Tell the powder coaters where you don't want the coatings and they will block the orifices, usually with paper/cardboard i believe.  

[7 wonders of the world]

The powders coaters I use roll thin card into long tubes for the bush eyes, pretty much perfectly clean.

...for those without Watts linkage you can if you want convert your radius arms to accept spherical joints, (which makes them adjustable) ...also well worth doing is a rose joint between A frame and Dedion tube, and while your on the upgrade path rose joint the upper ball joint and TRE's too, not forgetting all your damper eyes too....

[ECR]

So many years since I was involved that I have forgotten...

Theres epoxy powder coating and polyester powder coating. IIRC, epoxy tends to "chalk" after a while but polyester doesn't (or is it the other way round....)

[7 wonders of the world]

good point my cage was epoxy coated 3 stage finish (primer, colour, clearcoat) and is indeed going chalky .......

[SLR No.77]

If it's a road car fit standard bushes. Poly bushes are easier to fit but will need replacing periodically, you can get many years maintenance free out of standard bushes.

[ChrisC]

I sent mine to Arch, they re-powder coat and replace all the bushes.  They also crack test and true the ends of the dedion tube if your going to include that.  

[neilg]

Thanks guys for all your advice. 

I am indeed going to send all the parts to Arch and let them do it all. They have all the requisite equipment and I know a quality job. Spoke to them this morning and Phil informs me they do it all the time. Will save many expletives and accidental chips I suspect. 

Cheers Neil 

 

 

[Simon.Rogers]

POWERFLEX bushes have a lifetime warranty.

[Iamscotticus]

The decision to go to Arch has been made, and if I were there, I probably would.   But for others consideration,  I will say that powder coat (PC) is generally a good coating if its done well with good surface prep work.  Otherwise,  PC can have disadvantages like hiding corrosion under its surface undetected because its a hard shell.  Paint can do the same, but because its softer, the surface will bubble and reveal corrosion sooner than PC.  Paint is easy to remove,  fill, reapply and blend. Paint will flex.  If you don't mind doing touchup work with a rattle can for chips and modifications, paint surface repair is fast and easy and inexpensive.