I Found a great alternative to powder coating. Rustoleum appliance epoxy. It comes in a spray can and has a beautiful finish. I used it on some patio furniture and in my opinion its just as tough as powder coat and is way thinner so you dont have the fitment issues. its only about 5 bucks a can, comes in black, white, and brown. I am using it on my stick, gear legs and canopy hardware.

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I used it on the inside of my fiberglass engine cowling. It fills in the fiberglass weeve. It makes it ease to clean.

Hi,

I checked this product out and the only problem is that it is intended for INDOOR use.

It will spray on easy and make for a shiny finish BUT over time it will DULL OUT !

Some guy, restoring old cars, experimented with this product (black) and over a 7 months period he reported

the dulling of the samples left outside (rain/sun...). If the painted parts are protected (clear coated) it may

hold better. He also reported that rubbing compound would bring back the shine...

Checking to see if the paitn is available for OUTSIDE use...

Regards,

Norm

like i said i used it on patio furniture that has sat outside unshaded year round and it still looks good, not to say that larger areas wont fade. I also used white so i cant speak for the black

Ahh, the value of this forum shows itself once again for me. That is a great tip! I am looking for something tough to paint my engine mount with.

Thanks,

Joe

Might be worth a look for the panel paint...

Hello Ed,

Just my opinion based on my limited experience. I hate to see someone else go through what didn't work out for me.

Your 4130 steel parts will show signs of corrosion in a few short months if you use the Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy. How do I know? That's what I used on my Kolb Firestar a few years ago. Before the first year was up, every piece of 4130 steel that was exposed to the windstream was showing rust.

I'd use the good stuff (powder-coat or a 2 part urethane epoxy) on all the steel parts. It's a real pain to take a plane apart in a couple of years to do it right the second time, been through it.

curious how you prepped the metal, I have used 95 cent walmart paint on parts in the airstream and had it last longer than that. I thought this paint should hold up even better

The appliance epoxy states on the can to not prime. Haven't read it in months, so I don't remember exact words re: whether it said priming is not needed or if it said DON'T prime. I used it on all my hidden steel parts, and powder coated "touch" stuff like the yoke, seat backs, etc.  I also painted-only the high stress parts like the landing gear saddles and motor mount since powder coating can hide stress cracks.

Ed,

Referring to the parts on the Kolb that rusted so quickly, I prepped by scuffing with Scotchbrite down to clean metal, wiped with MEK, & used a common self-etching primer prior to finishing with Rustoleum "Appliance Epoxy".

Do what you want. I felt obliged to share my experience with what you were suggesting. There is a good reason the 2-part epoxies and powder-coating cost more, they are much higher quality products. I just personally think it's not the right place to try & save a buck.

An alternative that is still a high quality product are the 2 part epoxy "rattle can" paints available at WW Grainger. There have been previous posts on this.

I know this is old but I thought I would throw this out there.

Another option would be to use POR-15. This stuff is great. I have had really good luck with this. I have used it on planes and cars with great success. It is hard as nails, flows great when painting (even when using a brush). This biggest problem I have with it is if you need to remove it for some reason, it is really difficult, a sand blaster has little to no effect. It is like super glue that is a paint. check it out - https://www.por15.com/POR-15-Rust-Preventive-Coating 

Mark

Beware that the POR-15 fumes are a killer! Use precaution. 

I did the panel of my airplane with this paint.  White.  It turned out great and was durable.

A few years later when I rebuild my airplane "instrument panel forward" I used the same paint (except for the color - I used Gray the second time around).  Again, it turned out great.

Patrick Hoyt

N63PZ

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