Frame coating: Painting, Chroming, Powder Coating, etc

[Calkins]

The NHRA banded roll cage chroming years ago in top fuel, I would assume because you can't see cracks.  So, what does SCTA allow?  Painting, powder coating, chroming, nickel coating?  The nickel coating is what I'm interested in.

[Stainless1]

If you do anything but paint you will be pissed when you need to add a tab...

[willieworld]

i ride a bike but ive built a lot of race cars---my advice is to make the cage air tight dont want no salt or water inside--paint it with something you can touch up easy --in a flat or semigloss--my choice is   SEM 39143  made by sem products inc. in NC--but you can get it at your local auto. paint store--wipe it down with thinner and paint if it scratches it touches up easy --ill do a section on willies builds today if i get a chance            willie buchta

[desotoman]

Speaking of frame coatings, has anyone ever seen a LSR car or bike frame made out of Stainless Steel?
Pro's vs. Con's?

Tom G.

[Calkins]

Old flattrack bikes, like the Trackmaster, were built out of chrome moly then nickel coated.  They look great!

[Stan Back]

Ditto Stainless and Willie.

[desotoman]

Trackmaster, were built out of chrome moly then nickel coated.

Would these frames suffer from "hydrogen embrittlement"?

Tom G.

[interested bystander]

Butting in on Calkins.

CHEMICAL (electroless)nickle plating, I understand, does not cause embrittlement. The electrical process I believe does.

The NHRA reason was NOT crack related directly, but rather the above hydrogen mbrittlement.

Will try to find an article  (may be too long to post) I have that will convince you to NEVER chrome racecar parts.

Found it! Try  Omegaresearchinc.com and forage around under the topic Publications -A Guide to the Metal Finisher.

[willieworld]

another reason for not chrome plating---most racing organizations have a rule about grinding the welds---when i build something that will be chromed and welded i take all of the parts to the chrome shop and have all of the grinding and polishing done then i weld the parts together   then back to the plating shop for plating --you will get a much nicer job and the guy at the chrome shops job will be much easier    willie buchta

[willieworld]

I talked earlier about the sem paint. Here's a demonstration. The first pictures are of painting some junk tubing. Wipe it down with thinner first. Then paint with thin coats. It will dry to the touch in an 80 degree day in about 5 minutes. After I painted it I let it sit for a few minutes and then scraped it with my pocket knife down to bare metal. And then I touched it up. Just painting the part that was scratched and you can't tell where the repair was made with the paint. If you have a pretty complicated roll cage you should be able to paint the whole thing with two cans and still have some left over. Once in awhile they will have the tall cans for the same price they do the small ones. Try it you'll like it.
Here's the pics.

[willieworld]

a few more.
willie buchta

[754]

As far as I know Hydrogen embrittlement is from the chroming, hence the nickel only on the flattrack frames.

 I have heard you can get rid of embrittlement by baking, but it must be done right after plating.

[Randall Parker]

Stainless Steel Frame.  300 series stainless steels will resist the salt the best but it is the weakest.  400 series stainless steels have much more tensile strength after they are heat treated but tend to crack and be brittle, plus they will oxidize over time.  17-4 is what I would try to use.  It is available and cheap.  Way stronger than any 304 or 317L stainless and it responds to heat treat without getting brittle.  Good Strength.  Super alloys would all be too expensive but the car would be way cool and last forever.