Refreshing suspension

[sinned4g63]

Purchased some used tokico blues with red springs and was thinking of freshening them up before putting them on. The caps are starting surface rust and the coating on the springs has been chipped in a few places so it also has surface rust beginning. Before I put the in the car was thinking it might be worth it to repaint or recoat them. Any input or tips would be appreciated.

 

[609DSM]

just be careful getting the rust off. Lightly sand and should be okay after a respray.

 

[DogWhistle]

On powder coating, rust gets underneath the chipped area and spreads far wider than the chip nick. You will need to take a small screwdriver and pop off the coating around each chip, to see how far the rust has traveled. Sanding is a good second step. To be sure it doesn't return to the areas you are addressing, put some POR15 on the spots, then lightly sand that coat, before primer and a top coat. POR15 bonds to, and wicks up, the moisture in rust, so it holds very tightly to rusted areas.

 

[rEclipserGST]

I wouldnt even bother to paint them. Put them on if they arent blown.

 

[sinned4g63]

On powder coating, rust gets underneath the chipped area and spreads far wider than the chip nick. You will need to take a small screwdriver and pop off the coating around each chip, to see how far the rust has traveled. Sanding is a good second step. To be sure it doesn't return to the areas you are addressing, put some POR15 on the spots, then lightly sand that coat, before primer and a top coat. POR15 bonds to, and wicks up, the moisture in rust, so it holds very tightly to rusted areas.

Think I could do all that well enough without taking anything apart? I can post some pics but it's raining right now and they're in my trunk. Also what would you repeat the springs with just normal spray paint? I just wouldn't want it to crack.

 

[DogWhistle]

Nothing will beat taking the springs off and having them bead blasted and powder coated.

Springs twist. Thick paint will crack easier than thin paint, so the areas you repair will probably endure better than paint on top of whatever your springs are coated with now — paint or powder coat. Clean any grease completely off and use a high quality enamel spray paint and you should get good results.

On our cars, the springs don’t show very much, particularly when it’s lowered, so you might want to make your goal to stop the rust and get them a consistent color, and move to the next project. You may replace the coilovers at some point.

 

[sinned4g63]

Nothing will beat taking the springs off and having them bead blasted and powder coated.

Springs twist. Thick paint will crack easier than thin paint, so the areas you repair will probably endure better than paint on top of whatever your springs are coated with now — paint or powder coat. Clean any grease completely off and use a high quality enamel spray paint and you should get good results.

On our cars, the springs don’t show very much, particularly when it’s lowered, so you might want to make your goal to stop the rust and get them a consistent color, and move to the next project. You may replace the coilovers at some point.

Yeah looking at them again today the caps are also pretty bad, the back 2 worse then the front which I find a bit odd. I did the suspension today on the car and it turns out it was the lower rear control arm and not the strut. But I got them for a good price and dont mind freshening them up just to stop the cancer. If I had found the strut bent I probably would have got them on and rolled with it but now I have time to do things right. I had ordered replacement caps for my stock struts some time back but never put them on and still have them. Do you think they would fit? I'll find out for sure once I get the shocks off, worse case I can redo those easier then the springs.

 

[DogWhistle]

You’ll have to measure the diameter of the stock spring perches (“caps”) compared to your aftermarket strut perches. Different springs have different diameters. This is one of those cases where “close enough” won’t cut it.