Pictures of original parts before I put them back in.
REAR STRUT ASSY, STRUT BEARING, MOUNT

 

...?

 

It's his replacement parts for his old, worn out rear suspension.

 

who painted them, you?

o and the top pic should be the official "this is why we can't have coilovers" explanation pic. cuz no company is going to manufacture ALL THAT for us.

 

im about to recieve my konis and eibachs and i was thinking about painting my struts since i have to use my stock ones and they are ugly and flat black... what kinda paint did you use?? ill probibly just use carpaint b/s c/c maybe red or silver por somethin.

 

gloss black = win. just make sure the surfaces are smooth first so it doesn't look all cheap. not that you REALLY spend alot of time looking at it..... i'd rather have black suspension parts and colored springs than colored suspension parts and black springs. that's just me tho

 

o i fully agree but the eibachs are black...so i just kinda wanted something to offset them....

 

Caped: ya, I painted them a few days ago.

1991: I'll post you a pic in a bit of all the chemicals I used to paint. It was really cheap. 2 bucks for the can of industrial enamel.

1. Sprayed Strut with 60-90 PSI Engine Cleaning gun hooked up to a 4L jug of paint thinner.
2. Loosen & Brush off grime with parts cleaner brush
3. Use wire wheel with die grinder to take off loose rust & crap (use face guard), chip off any crap with screwdriver & hammer
4. Spray it again with Paint Thinner or Methanol (Use Nitrile Gloves if using Methanol..or ruin your liver)
5. Use Blowgun to speed up drying
6. Coat with Rustoleum Rust Converter (flat black color)...no need for primer
7. Coat lightly with enamel finish (Dem-Kote)
8. (Optional - Spray with Maxi-Coat to inhibit corrosion)

 

A few more photos for you. 1991. here were the products I used except for the High Temp Paint (it was for the exhaust), Red Oxide Primer, Maxi-Coat (I'll put that on when I'm about to install), Rubber Care product was for the mounts and any other rubber.

 

sucks you live in canada.. i'd like to have you paint some suspension parts for me. i guess i can wirewheel them myself and give it a shot. when you sprayed it on did you use that 60-90PSI thing, or just rattle-can?

 

I just used the spray can. These paints are very cheap available at your local Grainger, 2 dollars a can. I think they are called industrial enamels or something...it may be just normal paint, I don't know, but it feels like the kind of paint you see on a fire hydrant when freshly painted, or monkey bars in the local park. It doesn't feel like normal paint really. Use this crap outside though, I tried it inside the house and it was the strongest chemical smell I've ever experienced - I had to air the whole place out just to breathe...instant headache, I'll never do it inside again.

Technically you don't need the compressor to do any of this work. Go to home depot and buy the really rough big loop sand paper 3 bucks from the belt sanders, then buy a cheap wire brush too, paint thinner and just kill the metal to death to get any loose crap off. Then, just wash off all the dusty crap with paint thinner from home depot (or methanol), although I've started using paint thinner because it's cheaper.

The best thing I find is to do light coats, then do additional light coats following the directions on the can. Or if you want maximum stick....you do the light coat and let it dry overnight then do additional light coat. The rust reformer is an optional primer. If there was no rust, use the Red Oxide Primer instead...it's cheaper, 2 bucks, where the Rust Reformer was like 8-10 bucks...but rust reformer only requires 1 coat.

 

so did you put pain thinner the parts before wirewheeling them?

 

he's trying to look like he has TEIN suspension on the car

 

Sounds like it was after to remove dust and to make sure the metal was clean and ready to accept paint.

 

yea i know he did if after..... maybe putting it on before helps soften the paint so it comes off easier tho. if so this method may be employed on matt's z's wheels which were tackily painted black but are now chipping... hmmmm

 

Yes exactly, you use the paint thinner before and after. When you use it initially to take the first road grime off, and dirt, you'll want to keep re-wiping it with a soaked rag...it loosens the flakes or rust (if you don't have the engine cleaning gun), then you have to do it after or like he said, it won't take the paint - because of the fine dust and debris still on it after grinding and sanding the surface. A chisel or screwdriver that you don't care about is a must too, it speeds up the whole thing.

 

oh ok, didn't realize from the first batch of pics that you had painted them... they look nice btw, how many coats of color did you use? and let us know how the pain tholds up around the lip of the strut where the spring sits after a few months

 

1 light coat, then another light coat. It's really just a corosion barrier - green was the only thing I had around. Ilkk let you know if they hold up, although they are going to turn brown once I spray the Maxi Coat on them, and they'll look all nasty and dirty, so I probably won't see anything.