Corrosion Protection for Cabin Frame (4130 steel)

Question to all Zenith builders out there who have a cabin frame made of 4130 chrome-moly steel. What you did to prime/paint/finish your cabin frame?

I'm interested to know both how you/your finisher prepped the welded tube frame prior to painting/powder coating, as well as opinions about painting versus powder coating.

I am building a 750 Cruzer and was preparing to have my powder coated (or possibly just painting myself). However, I get mixed recommendations from finishers about preparation of the metal before coating:

1) DON'T sand-blast, glass-bead blast

2) Glass bead isn't aggressive enough, you have to sand blast (this coater used garnet abrasive)

What were your experiences? Who didn't do any sand/abrasive blasting and just primed/chromated it and spray painted it yourself? Or, what other approaches?

Thanks in advance for the insights!

Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Guy Zindel on October 29, 2021 at 8:16pm

Just skimmed this so I'm sorry if I missed it... I've been working on tube fuse birds for some time now, and my take on corrosion control is this, I don't care for powder coat. It cracks, and when it does it becomes a haven for rust....

My preference is epoxy, although I am now venturing in to using cerakote. Just this last week I coated my media blasted struts I'll keep you good folks in the loop as time goes by and I learn more. 

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