Frame off Restoration of VIN 1409

I'm in the process of doing a complete frame off restoration on my delorean and I'm looking for some advice.

First I'm only planning on sand blasting the rusty spots down to bare metal, as the rest of the epoxy is adhered surprisingly well.

From what I have found, it looks like the most used paint system is to coat the now bare spots with grey POR-15, primer the entire frame with POR primer, then top coat with rustoleum smoke grey.

I'd love to hear what the shops doing restoration work use.




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Originally Posted by Bercar

I'm in the process of doing a complete frame off restoration on my delorean and I'm looking for some advice.

First I'm only planning on sand blasting the rusty spots down to bare metal, as the rest of the epoxy is adhered surprisingly well.

From what I have found, it looks like the most used paint system is to coat the now bare spots with grey POR-15, primer the entire frame with POR primer, then top coat with rustoleum smoke grey.

I'd love to hear what the shops doing restoration work use.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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How many rusty spots are you planning on touching up? If you just have a few problem areas the POR method is a tried and proven way to go for this type of smaller repair, but if you are doing a complete frame off restoration you may also want to consider stripping the entire frame to bare metal and then refinishing it.

You can go a few different routes with a full strip and refinish....

Powder coat is extremely durable for frame/suspension applications so that would be my preferred way to go if I had the entire frame stripped bare. Chemical strip seems to be the most effective way to remove the old epoxy. After that I'd do a full media blast cleaning to remove rust followed by a good cleaning and E-Coat primer. Then powder coating on top of that.

E-Coat is electrically deposited paint that is applied by completely submerging the frame into a solution with charged paint particles. With the various boxed in sections of the frame this ensures complete coverage, similar to how the original frame was dipped in epoxy.

There are various types of powder coating wands that can be inserted into the boxed sections of the frame to also ensure good coverage.

Another completely separate option would be hot dip galvanizing. This also requires the frame to be stripped completely to bare metal. Several acid dipping steps precede dipping the frame into a vat of molten zinc. From a corrosion protection standpoint hot dip galv is superior to E-Coat w/ powder top coat, but you'll spend a good deal of time with a tap cleaning out threaded holes if they are not initially masked off prior to hot dipping.

Unless you're planning on driving your car in harsh conditions after your restoration hot dip galv may be overkill for a more typical DeLorean that only sees use in fair weather.

That's my two cents worth at least. I personally used POR-15 on my car since there weren't a whole lot of rusty spots to repair. I think DMC houston and related vendors used powder coat for their ground up rebulds. DPI seems to favor their own stainless steel frames built from scratch for their builds but I think they've also done powder coat in the past when refurbishing stock frames.

If I had to do it again, I would repair the areas that needed it, and leave as much epoxy intact as possible. On the areas that need refinishing, I would use a 2-part epoxy primer, and then paint the whole thing with the color paint of my choice. I would use professional-grade paints, not aerosol. The front and rear portions of the frame are usually the only portions damaged. The central tunnel section is almost always perfect.

The DeLorean frame is very difficult to protect using powder coat and/or paint because there are many "seams" between the sheet metal where water can infiltrate. On a modern car, these areas would be filled with a seam-sealer product. A dip process coating is the only way you can coat the insides of the frame. Powder coat won't cover adequately in the corners (Faraday cage effect), and paint requires a direct line-of-sight. The original epoxy helped to combat the seam-sealing problem since it was applied thick and could bridge the gaps where two pieces of sheet metal overlap, effectively functioning as both a coating and a seam-sealer.

If you have a TIG welder, you can seam-weld the numerous seams and close up most of the holes that allow water intrusion into the inner-cavities of the frame.

Galvanizing is a great option, but this complicates any welding repairs on the frame in the future.

Again, I would simply repair/replace the rusted metal where needed and refinish with epoxy primer and paint. I do not think the effort of totally stripping the frame/powder coating/galvanizing is worth the result. Alternatively, you might consider Line-X followed by a professional paint of your color. Line-X includes a lifetime warranty.

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Originally Posted by Mark D

How many rusty spots are you planning on touching up? If you just have a few problem areas the POR method is a tried and proven way to go for this type of smaller repair, but if you are doing a complete frame off restoration you may also want to consider stripping the entire frame to bare metal and then refinishing it.

You can go a few different routes with a full strip and refinish....

Powder coat is extremely durable for frame/suspension applications so that would be my preferred way to go if I had the entire frame stripped bare. Chemical strip seems to be the most effective way to remove the old epoxy. After that I'd do a full media blast cleaning to remove rust followed by a good cleaning and E-Coat primer. Then powder coating on top of that.

E-Coat is electrically deposited paint that is applied by completely submerging the frame into a solution with charged paint particles. With the various boxed in sections of the frame this ensures complete coverage, similar to how the original frame was dipped in epoxy.

There are various types of powder coating wands that can be inserted into the boxed sections of the frame to also ensure good coverage.

Another completely separate option would be hot dip galvanizing. This also requires the frame to be stripped completely to bare metal. Several acid dipping steps precede dipping the frame into a vat of molten zinc. From a corrosion protection standpoint hot dip galv is superior to E-Coat w/ powder top coat, but you'll spend a good deal of time with a tap cleaning out threaded holes if they are not initially masked off prior to hot dipping.

Unless you're planning on driving your car in harsh conditions after your restoration hot dip galv may be overkill for a more typical DeLorean that only sees use in fair weather.

That's my two cents worth at least. I personally used POR-15 on my car since there weren't a whole lot of rusty spots to repair. I think DMC houston and related vendors used powder coat for their ground up rebulds. DPI seems to favor their own stainless steel frames built from scratch for their builds but I think they've also done powder coat in the past when refurbishing stock frames.

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Percentage wise about 10-15% of the epoxy was removed to bare metal, so i'm thinking a full strip is a bit excessive.

Put it this way, I only bought 1 qt of POR-15 and don't expect to need any more.

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Originally Posted by Drive Stainless

If I had to do it again, I would repair the areas that needed it, and leave as much epoxy intact as possible. On the areas that need refinishing, I would use a 2-part epoxy primer, and then paint the whole thing with the color paint of my choice. I would use professional-grade paints, not aerosol. The front and rear portions of the frame are usually the only portions damaged. The central tunnel section is almost always perfect.

The DeLorean frame is very difficult to protect using powder coat and/or paint because there are many "seams" between the sheet metal where water can infiltrate. On a modern car, these areas would be filled with a seam-sealer product. A dip process coating is the only way you can coat the insides of the frame. Powder coat won't cover adequately in the corners (Faraday cage effect), and paint requires a direct line-of-sight. The original epoxy helped to combat the seam-sealing problem since it was applied thick and could bridge the gaps where two pieces of sheet metal overlap, effectively functioning as both a coating and a seam-sealer.

If you have a TIG welder, you can seam-weld the numerous seams and close up most of the holes that allow water intrusion into the inner-cavities of the frame.

Galvanizing is a great option, but this complicates any welding repairs on the frame in the future.

Again, I would simply repair/replace the rusted metal where needed and refinish with epoxy primer and paint. I do not think the effort of totally stripping the frame/powder coating/galvanizing is worth the result. Alternatively, you might consider Line-X followed by a professional paint of your color. Line-X includes a lifetime warranty.

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That's pretty much my initial thought after I blasted the frame, as my frame is exactly as you mentioned.

I've power coated before, and as mentioned have had issues getting a good coverage.

The part that i'm stuck on is exactly what to use as far as a paint system. Some have mentioned Rustoleum as it matches near perfect, But I always question durability.

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Originally Posted by Bercar

That's pretty much my initial thought after I blasted the frame, as my frame is exactly as you mentioned.

I've power coated before, and as mentioned have had issues getting a good coverage.

The part that i'm stuck on is exactly what to use as far as a paint system. Some have mentioned Rustoleum as it matches near perfect, But I always question durability.

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Use Rustoleum to repaint your wheelbarrow.

Use PPG or BASF to paint your classic car. You can find a paint that will match, just bring a piece of flaking epoxy to the paint store.

User "Michael" (Michael Maupin) on this forum will have some good advice for you regarding paint systems and painting generally.

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Originally Posted by Drive Stainless

Use Rustoleum to repaint your wheelbarrow.

Use PPG or BASF to paint your classic car. You can find a paint that will match, just bring a piece of flaking epoxy to the paint store.

User "Michael" (Michael Maupin) on this forum will have some good advice for you regarding paint systems and painting generally.

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Very true words.

You are doing a frame off, no use cutting corners. Unless you like doing frame offs often.

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Originally Posted by Josh

Very true words.

You are doing a frame off, no use cutting corners. Unless you like doing frame offs often.

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That's the plan, thus the reason why i'm asking what paint system works best.

So I blasted the frame, and repaired the areas that were rough, opened both tunnels and dealt with all rust in there before coating them and sealing them. I coated the spots that were blasted bare with por-15. In total I used less then a qt in por-15 even with coating both sides of the fuel tank cover.

Now upon going to purchase POR tie-coat (Now high build). The automotive paint distributor I use recommends not going that route and stripping the POR back off and just using an automotive primer followed by paint.

So I'm back to square one. Which route do I go? POR-15 spot prime, POR High build entire frame, then automotive paint, Or do I blast the POR back off and use automotive primer and paint.




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Matt has given some excellent advice already in this thread in terms of coating options.

I feel that the durability of POR-15 is quite overrated, and would not coat a frame with it.