AND.....
one of the nice things about powder coat is the toughness.
You dont get swirl marks when you wash or wipe off the
part. Our Jeep has an aluminum body that was coated
almost four years ago and it only shows the most aggressive
scratches (tree branches dont scratch but rocks do). The
frame powder coat is also great. We also had a Land Cruiser
frame powder coated black recently and it looks great...it's a
driver, not a show vehicle.

There are powders intended for outdoor use (UV resistant) and
for indoor use. Your application depends upon how much UV
exposure that your car will get; probably either will work.

For your welds, you might look at some that have been coated
without putty....they dont look that bad if the weld is a clean
one to begin with.

mike in tucson