The Project Pad

What paint does everyone use on metal parts off their car?
I have bad luck getting paint to be anywhere near scratch-proof.
Engine enamel is the best luck i've had so far.
Prefer aresol can.

Por15 is the strongest I have found. If it dries on your skin, it only comes off with age.

Greg W.

I try to use powdercoat where i can, harder than most any other paints.

I havnt found anything that stands up to any abuse in an aerosol. I agree that the engine enamel is the toughest but to get any real durability out of it you really need to spray some sort of clear coat afterwards. You can get two parts that are durable but that requires being able to spray it.

I'm not oppsed to spraying since I have an air compressor which should be able too. It's mostly having to mix up a can of paint when I want to paint other than grabbing a can off the shelf.
I guess convenience has it's cost.

4v6 wrote:I try to use powdercoat where i can, harder than most any other paints.

How do you go about doing that? Painting yourself or do you ship it out?

You really need a good etch primer or that por15 is going to go to waste. If you are talking about high heat conditions that is a different topic

I'm talking about just in general.
I just painted all the miscellaneous stuff on the rear end; subframe, arms, hubs, guards and covers, etc.

I used an acrylic enamel, no idea how well it will hold up.
Used 'caliper paint' on the brackets although I hope those won't heat up that high.


More or less what I wanted was a magical paint that you could throw a bucket of rocks at and it wouldn't scratch

For rattle can, I used VHT Epoxy paint... used it on my suspension and subframe, and honestly it's held up really well. Cleans up decently, and takes a bit to get it off! Picked it up a my local Autozone IIRC.