I just had an idea for having a colored buggy frame

can steel be anodized?
I would love to have a matte black frame
or a gunmetal frame
:singing:

From the Finishing site FAQ:

WRT Stainless Steel:

"...the term "anodizing", while literally accurate, can be a little misleading because the process is very different from aluminum anodizing, which is dyeable and thus offers a wide range of colors. The color of anodized stainless steel is restricted to the diffraction coloration that is generated by the electrochemistry of the process."

and from the BM Finishers site:

"The color is produced by an electrochemical process that creates a thin layer of chrome oxide on the stainless steel. By varying the thickness of the oxide coating, colors ranging from Champagne, Bronze, Blue, Gold to Black are achieved. The colors will not crack, haze or fade from U.V. rays. The colors are primarily produced on Mirror polished 304 grade stainless steel. Colored stainless is custom made to order. "

http://www.bmfinishers.com/index-3.html
http://www.finishing.com/equipment/russamer.shtml

I don't expect it would be cheap and you would have to foot the bill for shipping parts to them and back to you.

Since the color is created by the diffraction of light from a thin layer of chrome oxide, over time nicks and gouges will be apparent.

Unlike Chrome Moly steel that has been powder coated matte black, the above mentioned nicks/gouges will be harder for an end user to spiff up with a product like Extend.

It's only money, but it seems like there would be many other ways to BLING your buggy without some of the attendant trade-offs:

1. Alpolic (sponsor or morale) plates (pics of Weldngod's plates here.
   
2. Custom Belly Pan
   
3. Napka Number Plates
   
4. Splash Guards
   
5. Custom Colored Seat
   
6. Custom Fender Treatments
   
7. An endless selection of wheel/tire combinations.
   
8. He||, you could even do some creative pin-striping (tribal patterns, anyone? ) And lest we too easly dismiss pin-striping, no one says it has to be the vanilla stuff. I expect you could you could get some interstecting effect from color shift pin-striping on a brushed stainless frame.
   

ATB,
Sam

In my opinion it's a waste of money. These are toys that get beat on and abused. Not show pieces. I learned that the hard way. I had a custom fork built for my monster buggy and paid to have it powder coated. Well it's impossible to prevent it from getting chipped and scratched. Eventually it will get rusty if you ride at the beach regularly unless you are meticulous in your care. But how much fun can you really have if you are worried about messing up your buggy....? :Ange09:

Bling is everything! Who wants a buggy that needs to be tuned and set up and looks like everyone elses? If I could figure a way to put flames coming off the front tire, you bet I would have big ones.
Just messing with you, we are proud of our stuff and as a car guy who spent way to much money on a 63 Corvette Roadster to have it all taken away by a drunk bi*#h that took off after totaling my ride...........

As cheesy said, it is just a bug. I had a yellow bug and found that there is a Krylon yellow that matched, so the cracks and chips were covered with rattle can patches along with the rust areas. Now I use High Temp Black on my custom bugs. After a good cleaning and a bit of sandpaper prep, I rattle can the bug back to brand new.

In all fairness, I do make it part of my job to beat the crap out of a product to see how it fairs. I don't use rocks or drop it off the back of the truck at 60mph on the freeway, or anchor it out in the surf for weeks at a time, it is not babied one bit. I wouldnt sell anything that isnt worth it or wont last.

Sam is correct also. I did steel work for a number of years, and SS is better for anodizing than MS but it is only a coating that will scratch off. And it is costly. Aluminum is anodized to keep the oxygen off the metal so it will not oxidize, for a much longer period of years. And they run millions of lineal feet of the material through the process at a time to make it worth while for the cost.

I'm not much for bling anymore so I am a bit bias. Anyone who has seen my truck can say with out a doubt, I wash it once a year just before I leave for NABX, whether it needs it or not. I am one of those guys who goes 4 wheeling in the mud and lets the weather and time clean off the goo.:embarrased:

If you do the anodizing on your bug, I would like to see it. Like paint you can do some awesome things to customize the look of your bug.
In the end, it's your bug, Right? What ever you do to it is the right thing to do and I will be the first to say, It looks Great! Looking forward to the end result.

Quote:

Originally posted by cheezycheese Well it's impossible to prevent it from getting chipped and scratched. Eventually it will get rusty if you ride at the beach regularly unless you are meticulous in your care. But how much fun can you really have if you are worried about messing up your buggy....? :Ange09:

Well, I'm not sure that 100% true. I guess it depends on how OCD you are.

Note: I will not admt that I used to spend 8-10 hours every few weeks detailing my first two cars... down to tooth brushes for the wheels and repeatedly going over the car with a light bar to check for swirl marks from the wax. Employ whatever forms of torture you choose... I will never, ever admit it. :P

Light scratches can be removed with a fine rubbing compound. Chips can be spiffed up with Loctite Extend, which goes on white (so you can see where you are applying it) and dries a semi-matte black. Added bonus, it's much more chip resistant than the powder coat it's tidying up.

FWIW: Coloring stainless (or titanium) almost seems like blasphemy. I could see getting it with a brushed finish though, which I prefer over a polished mirror finish.

ATB,
Sam

Quote:

Originally posted by bigkid If I could figure a way to put flames coming off the front tire, you bet I would have big ones.

Errr...ummm.... aren't those what fender wraps are for?














ATB,
Sam

Now that we have a bit of a discussion going on about your OCD Sam, I do know a person.......not really, OCD is sometimes a good thing, other times not so good. But you my friend, it's OK.:bigok:

But back to the Powder coating. The idea and application of Powder Coating is, IF DONE CORRECTLY, will be 1000% better than most other types of finish. The problems that change the end product is the prep of the material being coated, the application of the powder, the heat source, and most of all, the person doing the work.
I have had quite a bit of powder coating done to parts of my truck on the bottom side, suspension parts and bumpers. All with great to terrible results. Had a bug that still has my finger prints in the finish from putting the bug together. I have some parts on the truck that look as though they were put on yesterday after being on for 9 years. It's a crap shoot to find a good Powder Coat company that will produce 100% all the time. If you do find one, guess what? You end up paying for what you get. $150.00 or more to PC a bug is the biggest cost. That buys a lot of spray cans of High Temp Rust-Oleum.
There is a problem with PCing if you want to weld, drill, or do anything to your bug that involves changing its design.

And by the way Sam, I have seen a bug company that paints their SS bugs.:dunno:

Quote:

Originally posted by bigkid And by the way Sam, I have seen a bug company that paints their SS bugs.:dunno:

Oh the humanity....



ATB,
Sam

Quote:

Originally posted by indigo_wolf ATB, Sam

This one looks more like what happens after a big bowl of my chili.
I really have way to much to do than flame my buggy, but I could...................
Sam you are going to get me in trouble, now I searching for flame transfers............got to get back to work.................. guess it's OK for a bit, just cant look out the window and think about the wind that's blowing.......... I am in so much trouble............

sorry for the hijack, Im going to go, its windy out.

Engine enamel is great for buggies,and comes in a variety of colors. That is what is on my yellow alloy buggy.About every other yr. I touch up dings. Powdercoat is a waste of loot in this application.

MMMMMMM

Yellow

I don't know why everybodies buggy isn't yellow !

:bigok: