Painting Diff Covers, etc...

[tzettler]

I am fairly new to Calgary, and while I know now almost all of the off road Jeep mod places, I am unsure of where I could bring certain parts to be professionally painted.  I drive a gecko green Jeep, hard to find parts in that color, though wouldn't mind a matching set of diff covers, perhaps amongst other things.  Thanks for the responses as I seem torbe filling up the tech talk forum lol

[hps4evr]

If you want matching paint then get a set of whichever diff cover you want, sandblast it, and visit the dealer to get your paint code and get them to paint match. Or, find a powder coating company that can match paint. I don't know off hand any powder coating shops but someone around here must know.

[w squared]

I wouldn't bother getting your diff covers "professionally" painted - they are going to get chewed to rat crap by the grit on the roads here. Here's what most of us do:

#1. Clean them with brake cleaner to get the oils off.

#2. Hit them with a good self-etching primer.

#3. Two thin coats of the color of your choice.

#4. Drink beer.

If you really want to get fancy, you can then sand off the raised portions (generally the manufacturer's logo) until bare metal shows and then slap on a couple coats of clear. The honest truth is that you'll probably feel like re-painting them within two years though - Calgary is hard on paint.

[binare]

Any vehicle I've seen with painted diff covers tends to look like poo after awhile, they don't stay shiny for long that's for sure.

[w squared]

Any vehicle I've seen with painted diff covers tends to look like poo after awhile, they don't stay shiny for long that's for sure.

I'd say that you put a fine point on it, but most poo is rounded.

[tzettler]

Hahaha awesome good tips, spoke with a few of the boys from work too and they offered similar recommendations, probably just stick with black!  Thanks!

[w squared]

If you're going to paint if black, Ukranian Tire has a "rubberized rocker guard" type of rattle-can paint that is supposed to resist gravel/rock chips. It's not perfect (and is less durable that real bedliner), but for $12 a can, it lasts way longer than normal tremclad.