Painting a Power Rack

[dumb.bell]

I have a couple of older power racks that I want to refurbish and sell. They appear to have originally been powder coated white but have lost large portions of the finish. Considering painting them black, possibly with bedliner or epoxy paint. Any thoughts or recommendations on paint or prep work?

[Cleveland33]

how much do you think redoing it is going to increase their value?

[dumb.bell]

how much do you think redoing it is going to increase their value?

I know what you mean, but

. . . in my area it may be more of a question of will it sell or not. People in this area either want something dirt cheap and don't care about the condition or quality and then there are the people who don't mind paying as long as it looks good. I'm really tired of dealing with the dirt cheap group and hoping to attract one of the people who are motivated by looks.

[vhd16]

There are few options

1 . Leave as is and use Rustoleum or Krylon primer and then paint ($5 to $6 /can).Separate ones not a single can that has both primer and paint .You can use single can that has both primer and paint .Might have to go with 2 coats

2 . Wire brush (Steel one) and use option 1

3. Sand blast them and option 1

I did try all above options . What I found is for cleaner look option is 3 is best

[Duplicitous]

When I get racks that need rehab, I sand them down with a sheet sander/angle grinder, prime and paint. I'm partial to Rustoleum 2X. If they look decent it can be the difference between $100 and 3-10x that, so I think it's worth the effort.

[EricAtl]

I don’t know if this is the best way but I saw this video a couple of years ago. This kid made and then sprayed his own rack.

[SomeIronBoy]

I don’t know if this is the best way but I saw this video a couple of years ago. This kid made and then sprayed his own rack.

When I repaint my racks, I do these steps:

1.) Assess what needs to be done

2.) Clean with water and soap as well as use a Magic Eraser to see it cleans up

3.) If I need to paint, start using an angle grinder and a rust paint/ stripper disc, make sure to go after the main area and making surrounding areas smooth to the main area

4.) Use a Sanding Sponge to scrap up the rest of the paint

5.) Brush off the "excess" and use Rust-Oleum Universal Bonding Primer

6.) Paint 1-2 coats of Rustoleum Professional (Usually Gloss White or Gloss Black) 15-30 minutes between each other depending on humidity and temperature

7.) 1-2 Coats of Rustoleum Universal High Gloss Clear

8.) After roughly an hour of letting clear-coat dry Spray the whole parts with Cold Water, and let dry overnight

A cheaper route is using the 2x Gloss White and the 2x Gloss Clear, which saves you a few dollars per bottle and might be better for you if you're trying to make them look good and unload, as well as durable for a little while.

If you know you're going to paint, you can just skip steps 1 and 2, and just go over with white paint if it's smooth around the wear areas.

[dumb.bell]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Hopefully, I can make this thing look a bit better. Will post before and after once I'm finished.

[ampire]

If it can be disassembled, powdercoating might be an option.

[dumb.bell]

If it can be disassembled, powdercoating might be an option.

I was under the impression that was quite expensive. Can it be done at a reasonable cost?

[urbanlifter]

I was under the impression that was quite expensive. Can it be done at a reasonable cost?

What is the current condition of the paint? If you can lightly scuff up the surface throwing a couple top coats on for looks is pretty easy, and if done right can be relatively durable. Taking stuff down to bare metal is alot more time consuming and takes even longer to get a decent application to stick, talking several coats of paint over a week or two, then a durable finish to help with chipping. Just depends on how far you want to go with it. I've repainted several racks the quick and easy way, then taken a bench almost down to bare steel and it took a couple weeks.

[dumb.bell]

What is the current condition of the paint? If you can lightly scuff up the surface throwing a couple top coats on for looks is pretty easy, and if done right can be relatively durable. Taking stuff down to bare metal is alot more time consuming and takes even longer to get a decent application to stick, talking several coats of paint over a week or two, then a durable finish to help with chipping. Just depends on how far you want to go with it. I've repainted several racks the quick and easy way, then taken a bench almost down to bare steel and it took a couple weeks.

I plan on just scuffing it up a bit and then painting since I am selling. It doesn't have to be perfect, just looking for an improvement.

[ezra76]

If they are rusty give them a basic sanding with hand sandpaper. Use Rustoleum rusty metal primer. Brush and roller is fine. For a finish use either Rustoleum or Sherwin Williams DTM. "Direct to Metal".

If they are pretty decent rust wise just use the Sherwin DTM, no primer. DTM will clean with water and level out good with just a brush and mini roller.

I own a painting business. This is what I use all the time for metal.

[rlundregan]

My rack looked pretty good after i scuffed up the powder coat a bit, sprayed with whatever grey primer I used, then a couple of coats of that spray-in bedliner stuff. My rack shows a little bit of wear in spots where I frequently take hokks/monos on and off a lot, but it looks pretty good after 5 or 6 years.

[ampire]

I was under the impression that was quite expensive. Can it be done at a reasonable cost?

If your power racks all disassemble, you might be able to have them all done at once with the same color and finish. If done as a batch, the average cost per rack might be fairly reasonable compared with spray paint cans and sandpaper. It's worth asking your local powdercoater for a quote.

[Lifts4longevity]

I've never known powdercoating to be cheap. Of course it doesn't hurt to call and ask, but to give you an idea, my father had a simple 4' length of 4x2x.120" wall rectangular tubing (with four 1/2" holes drilled in it) powdercoated, and the cost was $150. Hourly shop rate here is $75 and they claimed 2 hours to sand blast and powdercoat that tubing. Friends of mine have had race & street car parts coated in the past and rarely did they receive anything that I'd consider a "deal." Production shops bringing in a ton of work would certainly get a better price however.

That being said, if it was me, I'd be looking to keep as much of the original powdercoating as possible on your racks, painting only a few sides of the tubing that actually needed it (the sides with holes, for example). Less work and the factory coating is so much more durable. You might even be able to pull off a two-tone look if you incorporated a second color. Of course if your racks are really hammered, there is no way you could pull that off without it looking funky. Then you're stuck painting them complete. Just my 2 cents.