I am restoring a pre war car (sadly not a Daimler it’s an AC) and have got to the point of addressing the chassis.
I will be having it blasted to save hours of unnecessary slave labour but can’t decide weather to paint or powder coat.
For originality I may favour paint but only if I can get a hold of quality products. Can anyone advise on suitable products and suppliers preferably in the north.

When my Dart was restored five years ago the chassis was cleaned of waxoil, repaired, shot-blasted and painted with Resin Stoneguard, but I've no idea what that is. Edit: Hycote's description says "A range of high quality rubberised coatings designed to provide body panel protection from physical traffic induced damage." which seems to apply to wheel arches, etc. not a steel chassis. However, my notes state that it was used on the chassis as the body hadn't been restored at that time and fibreglass doesn't really need protection. So it may have been used on my chassis but it sounds like steel when tapped and looks orange now, not like a rubberised coating.

The restorer didn't re-apply waxoil and that's probably an advantage as it's dirty and sticky and routine jobs under the car are dirty, like changing the oil filter. He didn't consider powder-coating either, but I've no idea why. There were articles on the Archive forum about this and powder-coating was also not considered appropriate there.

Initially the chassis was a grey/blue colour but now it's got an orange sheen which I assume is surface rust but I'm not sure how deep the rust has gone.

After a chat with an old colleague I think paint is best but I still need to decide which.
The problem with powder coating is that water can ingress through small defects in the coatings and rot the chassis without detection until it is too late. The coating will still look nice and shiny even after it delaminates from the base metal.

Big Col wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:52 pm ....The problem with powder coating is that water can ingress through small defects in the coatings and rot the chassis without detection until it is too late. The coating will still look nice and shiny even after it delaminates from the base metal.

Powder coating is a durable finish for a chassis and superior in impact resistance to a wet paint finish, provided it is applied correctly. The chassis must be sandblasted to promote adhesion and, since a sandblasted surface will re-corrode within a few hours, is best performed by the company carrying out the powder coating. For optimum corrosion resistance a primer coating must be applied and partially cured before applying the topcoat. This three stage process is considerably more expensive than applying a single coat of powder finish - which is what you will get if you're looking for a cheap job.
Wet paint is usually a more economic finish and is available in a wider range of colours than powder; it's also more practical for surfaces that cannot be heated, since powder has to be heat cured. Since most chassis will be finished in black and will withstand curing temperature without deformation, if the cost is acceptable, a properly applied powder coating is a very viable alternative to wet paint, particularly since it provides a much thicker and denser coat than paint with excellent high impact resistance.

It’s worth considering Smith and Allen Tractol paint. https://www.smithandallan.com/products/tractol-paint/
All the best, Ranald

Ranald is right Colin, I used the Tractol system on my SP250 chassis 9 years ago, took a lot of effort to strip the chassis, weld in repair sections and de-rust it.

A friend who owns trucks told me about the Tractol system. After two coats of Kurust, two coats of Tractol primer, and two coats of chassis black, it looked magnificent and has lasted without a sign of rust since.

For a long lasting relatively cheap paint job it has proved to be a winner. Syd

Thanks for the replies. It would seem that both options are viable if care is taken to address the application properly. I fully intend to do it properly with quality products at this stage. The last thing I want is to cut corners and worry about costs at my regret later.
I will still ponder the options as I have a month or so before a decision has to be made. I am however 60/40 towards paint at the moment Purley for originality.