Removing Powdercoat??

[40]

Just got my chassis for the 37 back from the powdercoater and I am a bit disappointed with the results.I usually use a shop about 80 miles from me but this time opted to give a local shop a whack at it....I had heard good things about their work and they were recommended by several local car guys.The quality of work is far inferior to what I have come to expect from my usual guy.....It has a very definite "orange peel" look to it.Parts coated by my usual guy cannot be distinguished from paint....they are as slick as any professional base/clear paint job.The service was excellent.....dropped it off Wednesday at lunch and picked it up this morning.Their system is fully automated....once it is hung,it is not touched again until it is taken down from the rack.My usual guy applies the powder by hand and perhaps is a bit more talented than that robot The Sedan will be full fendered and very little of the chassis will be visible so I may just assemble it and live with it....Just wondering if anyone has any experience removing it?Also,any ideas what their problem may be? Powder too thick? Oven not hot enough to flow the powder?

[kb426]

You can use paint remover. It takes several applications. You can always sand blast. As far as the smoothness of the finish, there are several factors to consider. Is it epoxy or polyester? The bake time and temperature affect both. There is an upside and a downside to everything you do with powdercoating. On one hand you can make it smoother but it may become very brittle. It's been long enough since I messed with this that I have forgot the details. We used to coat all our dragster chassis stuff. It was always a pain to remove to do any repair work.

[unklian]

Spraying the powder on too heavy
can cause wrinkles and runs.

[MrMopar64]

I've heard that you can color sand and buff it........ I've never tried it so don't know first hand
You might try a spot that can't be seen....... and if it works do the parts of the frame that you will see when the car is put togther  

MM64  

[Scrap Fe]

Daryl,

Plastic media blasting is the best way to remove powder on a large component such as a frame.  There are strippers designed to remove powder as well but I have not had any experience with them.

Preheating the frame to 150 - 200 degrees F prior to applying the paint helps the powder melt and flow out reducing the orange peel look.

[Dirk35]

I can tell you that if you try to do it with a sander, or with a grinder and a wire wheel, you better get comfortable cause itll take FOREVER!

I got some sheet metal for free that I thought was painted. Turned out to be powder coated. I made a few small parts, but threw the rest away. As you use a wire wheel, it heats the plastic and it just moves around on the peice and does not fly off.

[sedanman]

It sounds like to me that the coating is to thick. This will happen with automatic guns if they are not properly set up. Also as was said before there are different powders for different applications. Epoxy if applied to thick will show orange peel affect. Polyesters usually have a more glass like appearance. The grind of the powder and particle size also affects the smoothness. There are cold liquid strippers that permeate through the powder and break the bond, but these are not usually sold to the public because they are Industrial grade. Media blast will remove it and so will baking soda blast.

Sedanman

[enjenjo]

I've had good luck singeing the powder coat with a propane torch, and scoring it at the same time with a wire brush. The Aircraft stripper can get into it, and remove it pretty good.

[40]

I had a couple smaller pieces coated as well as the perimeter frame so I decided to see how tough the stuff was.....I slipped a couple smaller pieces into the blast cabinet to see what would happen.It came off OK,but took quite a bit of time/effort.I had decided to paint the front  suspension,rack,brake parts etc a platinum/silver color and by the time we install the brake/fuel lines, the booster/pedal,rear end and suspension very little of the perimeter frame will actually show so I've decided to live with it.Several other guys have looked at it and thought it looked fine....I'm probably just over-reacting....or....getting senile