NorCal Craigslist finds

I'd just goto TAP plastics and buy a big piece of something thick and swap out the steel or put over it. I've been meaning to do that to mine and try to eliminate the wind noise

 

Anyone know any good painters for cars? I’m interested in getting my doors painted on my Tacoma. Thanks

 

I snagged the Prinsu. It is an older style with bare aluminum cross bars. May not be such a great bargain once I pay to get the bars powder-coated. Thought about using a rattle can but that would not reach well into the t-slots.

On that note, anyone recommend a powder-coat shop in San Jose?

 

The cross bars are still t-slot thought right? Just because they are not black doesn't mean it's older, you can order them black anodized or silver.

 

Check out Rodoni motorsport, I think they are located in Fremont off of mission Blvd.

 

Yes, it is current double slot 2” X 1” bars. I looked the rack up on the Prinsu site to confirm current cost but It did not have option to select bars in silver vs black. I recall that used to be an option about a year ago but apparently not an option now for web site orders

 

Huh, I guess they did change it, doesn't even give you the option to get the rack not powder-coated anymore.

If I were you I'd look into anodizing services instead of powder-coating, although I think even the silver finish is still anodized so I'm not sure how that effects getting it refinished. I'd just be concerned about the powder-coat making it harder to use the slots. But maybe it would be fine idk.

 

I had same thought, anodize is better but not sure if you can anodize a different color over a previous anodize. From what I remember, anodizing creates micro pockets for the dye to get captured into, so may be SOL if pockets are already filled with silver dye. There are a couple plating shops near SJ airport I can get quotes from before going the PC route.

 

I’d bet the bare or coated option went away with CBIs purchasing the company.

 

Have you looked into the possibility of Cerakote being an option? I believe it is superior to PC and anodizing.

 

Never heard of it. Is it a spay, dip or electrostatic applied? Worried about not getting coverage into the T slots in the areas that a spray would miss. Any shops local to SJ I could go to for a quote?

 

Call cbi, I just ordered some new hardware, I’m betting they will sell you the bars.

 

https://prinsudesignstudio.com/product/additional-1x2-crossbar/

 

Look into it, it’ll be worth it. It’s a ceramic coat that is applied by certified people. It is a common finish on fire arms. Any color you can think of. Many many benefits over PC and anodizing.
Cerakote.com you should be able to find someone to give you a quote in your area through their locator.



Edit. ADS also uses it on their coilovers.

 

Googled it and appears that RC Coating in San Jose does both Power Coat and Cerakote. I'll check with them for cost difference. I also have access to several material engineers where I work so hoping to get an expert opinion after the holiday for anodize versus ceramic spray.

 

@Desert Dog lots of good ideas so far. If you do end up recoating it to your preferred color with any of the methods discussed above this may be an option: https://www.instructables.com/id/Removing-Anodizing-From-Aluminum-Quickly-and-Easil/


Aa far as powdercoating in SJ. SRS had very good prices when I went to them.

 

Not immediately. I ordered mine with bare metal frame and black cross bars because I was going to cut the rack down to fit the habitat anyway (this was before they released their habitat rack) so I would get it PC after cutting. I'm guessing they changed it to streamline production and try to reduce lead time.

Also those bars are expensive, but so is PC or other professional coating services. It might be worthwhile to lookup the price for the black t-slot on 8020 and compare if it will be cheaper to refinish the ones you have or just buy a set of black ones.

 

Also something to think about.... I believe powder coating is more resistant against UV. I had pieces anodized for a motorcycle I owned a few years ago and all the black anodizing faded to brownish bronze. I know that there is different UV resistance anodizing but I doubt it holds up like powder coating.

 

You can just order crossbars in black directly and save the silver bars for another project or sell em. https://www.tnutz.com/product/ex-1020-black/

 

Same happened to me, bought some black anodized brackets from T-Nutz for the rack and within 6 months they faded to the bronze color. So' I'd be hesitant to buy extruded replacement bars from T-Nutz. Don't know if Prinsu buy their bars from T-Nutz or if Prinsu has someone else anodize their bars. Or maybe they powercoat rhe bars now.