Paint or Powder Coat - EVO Hood Breach?
 

Just ordered an EVO Hood Breach/Louver and am trying to decide if I should paint it myself or have it powder coated? I got a quote for ~$100 to have it powder coated matte black (total for both pieces). Still trying to decide if I want to color match to my Mojave Sand paint or go matte black or a combo of the two - top piece mojave sand, under piece with vents black.

Are there any big downsides to rustoleum rattle can other than my lack of auto part painting experience? Any recommendations on what paint to use for something that will have engine heat going through it constantly?

I'm leaning towards powder coat at the moment (although I haven't gotten pricing on color matched powder coat yet) but the part of me that enjoys working on my Jeep is making me second guess and thinking of painting myself.

I would go with powder personally

I would say powder it since it's something that shouldn't need a lot of touch ups. If it was a bumper or rails I would say rattle can. Either way post pics on what you decide!

I'd powder coat that item. It will look so much better and stand up to the elements so much better than rattle can. As already mentioned, not an item that will need touched up.....not to mention is it going to be prevalent on your hood, and you'll see it every time you're behind the wheel. Now, in regards to what color......ha, good luck. Unless you have a bunch of other things coated in a certain color, black is probably the safest. I personally like my two-tone look, but anthracite powder coat looks good on the billet silver. Your color color might be harder to match or pair something nicely with.

I'm guessing you were just trying to match up EVO logo with other products like your front bumper. I forgot how much pricier their piece was compared to Poison Spyder. Geesh.

Powder coat sounds like the way to go. Especially with it being so front and center on the hood and not likely to get any trail rash as long as I keep the rubber side down.

Color wise I'm still debating. Most likely going all black but would love to do two tone if I can decide which way to go.

Went with the EVO one for a few reasons. First, I really like EVO and the products they produce. Second, I liked the look better than the PS or CC ones.

I can definitely understand the quality aspect.....they do make nice products. I haven't looked at the EVO instructions, but the other models out there don't necessarily look super pretty underneath after cutting up the hood. I always looked at the EVO and thought the mesh would almost allow too much of a visual of what's underneath vs. the "cheese grater" style that still kind of hides it but still allows heat to escape. Maybe the mesh hides the cross support underneath more than I imagine.

Please follow up with some pics when done! I'm sure you'll be happy regardless of what color(s) you choose. One tip. When you pull the hood off, place it on something that is a comfortable height to but cutting on. I put mine on a saw stand and after drilling/cutting was done, I realized I'd been bending over at an awkward height for a decent while.

:thumbsup:

I believe you can see portions of the cross member through the mesh. The only EVO breach I've seen in person was on Mel Wade's Spicy Chicken build. If I remember correctly his were painted red under gold mesh. I'll either paint them black or leave them the tan color depending on how much you can see and how I like the look of it.

Thanks for the tip! Want to make sure I cut it decent so will be taking my time and could be leaning over it for a while.

I'll definitely post some pics when it's done. Hoping to have it done it the next month or so once the parts arrive.

Ended up going with power coat black and tan. The tan color is definitely lighter than my mojave sand paint but in the end I actually like it better that way. I had tried to get as close a match as I could but it's hard to tell of a paint sample from a book. The powder coating place wanted nothing to do with suggestions or helping out in picking the color. They must have had a few bad experiences helping customers color match. Unfortunately there aren't many options near me for powder coating. Still happy with the results though. I also added red vinyl under the EVO logo to give it more pop.

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Looks good! I'd imagine that black separates the two tan colors enough that it doesn't matter that they are slightly different. I did the the same with some red Vinyl to make my logos pop as well on corner and rocker armor in addition to my hood louver. :beer: