Restoration - Suzuki bull bar. Painted or powder coat?

[Ade316]

Hi, I am restoring a bull bar that looks like the one in the photo below, and wondering when this was supplied new by Suzuki would it have been painted or powder coated? I want it restored as originally supplied. Thanks
Adrian

[donkeychomp]

Powder coated.

[88SJ]

No expert on this. I was told that Suzuki use a plastic coating - one that kinda sets as it dries. Certainly the bits that have pealed off my bars over the years have been thin sections of plastic.
It is possible to get this sort of treatment but its rather expensive compared to powder coating. Obviously paint is cheapest but usually looks it..!!..

take it easy

[twiss]

My original bullbars that I used to have were plastic coated.
As 88 says it all peels off eventually!

[Ade316]

Thanks very much for the replies. I had the bull bar galvanised and then found out there are paint adhesion issues on galvanised surfaces. I was advised by very helpful galvanisers that the custom paint for galvanised surfaces is more aesthetic than powder coating, a service they also provide. The GalvaCoat paint is available in any 'RAL' colour but I don't know how I would match that to the Suzuki colour code (Superior White 26U) but then I'm not sure how close the original white bull bar was to the body colour. I had one back in the 90s and from memory it was a pretty good match. Aesthetics are important.

My instinct is to go for powder coating but will need to try to find a paint match for the Suzuki superior white. You can get plasticoat paint but don't think I could find a colour match. Don't know how Suzuki got the plasticoat paint to match but then I think they only provided white and black as standard bull bar colours.

Thanks for your advice - nothing is straightforward!

Adrian

[Tramp]

My bull bar and bumper have been powder coated



I'm a big fan although I generally stick with the gloss black,

The only problem with powder coat is if the item has previously rusted, then you get the uneven surface ( as there are no fillers under the powdercoat you see any imperfections in the metal)

For example



That was on my old bull bar,

[Tramp]

I took my petrol tank guard to the powdercoatera today, they said that they sometimes get there wrought iron fences galvanised before they powdercoat them,



I asked if they could galvanise my guard before coating too and they seemed fine with it, the only issue was they would have to drill the tube or it may 'blowout' during the galvanising process - but on the plus it would galvanise the inside as well, I've left it with them and will post my results,

[Ade316]

Thanks, yes mine needed to be drilled too. I found some research and it seems that paint adheres if painted within 24 hours of galvanising. Also one year after galvanising it should adhere fine. Needless to say I found this out 48 hrs after galvanising! Will look into the plastic coating.