Powder Coating instead of Paint

[Bubba1235]

Working on an older Mercrusier and many of the engine components had lost their paint and were rusty or just loooked bad. In the past I would have prepped, primed and painted with expoxy. That process works "ok" but it never looked quite like a factory finish and the paint just doesn't hold up like the factory finish.

Talked to a friend in the body shop business about it and he asked, "why don't you powder coat the parts instead of painting them?" Because its expensive and I have to ship the parts back and forth. Long story short, he convinced me into buying a powder coat system of my own from summit racing. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/XYZ-01-07100 ($70 plus supplies)

I had an old electric kitchen stove/oven I could hook up in the machine shed so I ordered the system and gave it a go and powder coated all the pullys, valve covers and intake manifold on the mercruiser I am working on this past weekend. The results were fantastic with a only a couple minor issues caused by my in-experiance that won't happen again. (You would really have to look closely to see any problems and even then most people wouldn't see them. I should have spent a little more time in prepping is all.)

All in all, now that I have done it once I know I can powder coat in less time than I can paint, no need to wait days for the paint to cure/harden, the finish is much tougher than any paint and, no need to run the air comperssor.

Now I am wondering how well this would work on other parts, like the outdrive. Need a bigger oven though.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

I've been meaning to get one of those cheap powder coating setups myself. Post some pics

Erik

 

[bigredinohio]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

Agreed, need to see some pictures!

 

[redfury]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

A bigger oven is just some fire proof bricks or heavy steel, etc and a heat source. Oh, and a place the missus will let you build/keep it

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

Well, yes, but we also wanted pics of your prep work, the process, etc

Also of some of the "fancy" coatings if you have 'em... chrome and such.

Erik

 

[backlashed]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

Harbor Freight has a surprisingly descent little powder coat setup. We have one at work for small parts n such.
I've done some 4 wheeler parts for a buddy that was translucent blue, and red over polished aluminum, that turned out really nice.
If my oven was a little bigger, I'd consider doing the windshield frame on my Starcraft.

 

[drewpster]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

I am lucky to have a friend that does professional powder coating in his own shop. Allot of the local hot rodders and DIY types around here send stuff to him. He has an oven large enough to do a complete car if needed. He does industrial stuff too to keep the doors open, but he loves the hot rod custom stuff. A very cool process. I plan to have him do the frames on my windsheild. It is a little pricey but you may be surprised compared to a professional paint job. And it is far more durable. One challenge with it is setting clearance for tight fitting parts, its thicker than paint.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Powder Coating instead of Paint

I used to do powder coating in Ft Laud. American Powdercoating did work for Taco, B-bracket....

First make sure you degrease the parts real good then your need to treat them with a phosphate bath.

Cleaning and treating are everything.

An oven can be made out of anything it's just an enclosure with a heat source (roofing torch works real good for heat).

Remember cure times are talking about the time the part is at the stated temp not how long you put it in the oven.

Outdrives can be done but you have to completely disassemble them and degrease them real good.