I had the frame sand balsted on my 67 Chevelle and found some rusted through spots, plan on fixing them with a patch grafted over the area (cannot find another frame anywhere close-so fixing is the option). The frame is relative rough and the my sand blaster said more blasting will not help the pitts/roughness. Will Eastwoods product Metal-Lab work to smooth out the rails and other visable parts of the frame and then powder coat over it (the guy who blasted the frame owes me the powder coating on it as I have paid him for both up front and it is easier to get work than money out of him). If I use metal-lab to fill the pits on the frame rails, horns, etc and sand it smooth should it give me a smooth finish? Any other thoughts/ideas/advice?

Thanks

Larry

Wont the powder coating process heat the frame up enough to melt any filler you put on the frame?

Better ask your powder coating guy.

Larry, I don't think the Metal=Lab will hold the electrical charge needed to attract the powder coating electrostatic process. Do a test piece.

Tony

According to Eastwoods information- metal fab is the favorite of pwder coaters. I realize this is their spin on it, so thats why I am asking here. I do not plan on doing the entire frame just the highly visable areas. A test piece is in order before any frame work gets done.

Larry

Not sure if I bought the same product or not.I talked to Eastwood about the same thing.They sold me filler which is aluminum based and will resist temps to 500 degrees.Only drawback is that it's a real pain to knock down and feather.Put a skim coat on my frame and wish I hadn't,have considered blasting again to remove it all.It's beautiful when finished and ought to be durable.Have used same product before on smaller job and remembered it to be easier to work with.Long story short I'm blasting again only filling deep pits as frame isnt that bad and then painting with epoxy.

Hind sight is 20/20, didn't know about a filler product that would fill pitts and withstand the powder coating oven. Other than the work involved, the product you're talking about sounds like having your cake and eating it too, so I'm a little surprised to read your unhappy and redoing your frame Ric.

Larry I did not fill my pitts, and wonder what it might have looked like if I had. I thought about filling and painting, but at the time I believed powder coating would give a better level of durability and protection. so now I settle for powder coated pitts.

I would like to hear how it turns out for you when your done.

My powder coat guy had me grind down as much as I could to smooth out the frame. He applied a heavy coat of powder and for the most part it came out not to bad. The area that show a little rough is in the back between the top of the frame where the shocks are. That part is covered by the body. It almost has a rhino look, because of some of the pits. I'm building my car to drive and have fun with not to be a trailer queen. It will just depends on how perfect you want the frame to look and if you can live with some rough area's. Some guys go with the crinkle finish on show cars to hide imperfections in the frame. I have some photo's of how my frame looks in my signature.

LAB METAL is a high temp filler used in repair to molds in labs and foundry's. I have used it quite a bit in powder coating to help in cleaning up welds, pits, and holes. The secrect is that everything has to be clean. Bead blast then wipe it down with acitone and don't touch it unless you have disposible gloves on.. the product take 24hrs to dry first then must be baked at 400deg for an hour then it is easy to sand cut thead and finish. it will easily take powder coating and holds well. the cheapest palce that I found to pick it up was a FASTENAL:thumbsup: and Columbia Coatings website :)has some good pics of repair.

wro87