powder coat versus paint

[oiler]

Hey guys can anyone school an ignorant Canadian on powder coating?
I know about the durability of Powder but what about the quality of the colours?
I've heard people say that the shine is kind of dull and that  matching the colours is hard to do.
Specifically I'm think of doing my Hiboy frame.
Thanks
Jeff

[oiler]

50 views and no one has an opinion?
Thanks anyway

[nzsimon]

50 people who may not have known the answer but were looking for it drawn by the promise of your title on your post as I was

Try no tot be so quick to get grumpy it has only been there a few hours not everyone lives at their computer now I doubt that anyone who does know the answer will bother to answer with your last comment

Oh it would have been nice to know the answer seeing as I have started the painting process and decided not to powdercoat as I couldn't fill imperfections before adding the shiny

[Bruce Dorsi]

50 views and no one has an opinion?
Thanks anyway

Hang in there, Jeff!  ......Maybe those 50 views were by ignorant Americans, like myself!   :oops:     .....I have no first-hand experience with powdercoat, and I'm sure many others are the same.

I'm sure the guys with experience will chime in when they see your post.

I do have a question for you, though:  Did you sell your roadster, or do you still have it?  ....I see you are at work on a new project, but I never read if you still have the roadster or not.

[58 Yeoman]

The last things I had powder coated were in the 90's, when the process was newer (around here, anyway).  Everything was white, wheels and bumpers on a PU.  Looked okay.  Had the wheels done black on the Chevy, and the shine isn't deep like it would be on a regular paint job.

I'm sure that things have probably changed a whole lot by now.

[WZ JUNK]

The roadster that we built this fall has a powder coated frame and suspension parts.  It is Dupont powder coating (Red Baron Red) but Dupont paint division does not make a matching paint.  So we had the powder coating done and then had the paint mixed to match.

Powder coating is tuff stuff and great for frames and suspension.  I think it is cheaper than painting, even when you pay someone to do it.  The coverage is better because it will get into places that paint can not go.  

I do not think it has quite the gloss of paint and there is a very slight orange pell to the finish.  The other problem is that it is difficult to make the frame look good on a fenderless car.  With a painted frame you can use body filler and primer to smooth out imperfections but with powder coating you must use a filler with a higher temperature range to withstand the oven temperatures of the process.  I used slow set J B weld to do the body work on this frame.

I will do it again on the next car and continue powder coating frames,suspension, and other small parts.

My thoughts on your question.  If you have specific questions, fire away.

John

[enjenjo]

I went to bed early last night and didn't see this.

For the most part what John said. I use all metal as a filler for powder coated parts. As John said there is a bit of orange peel, but it can be color sanded and buffed. They can also do a clear powder final coat that has a super gloss.

You can also have them do the first coat with a "primer" powder, block sand it, and do a final coat on particularly rough parts. Powder does not stick well on sharp edges, so they should be smoothed out to promote adhesion, and the general finish should be a bit coarser that you would do for paint. Bead blasting is ideal.

Holes and threads will have to be chased before assembly unless they are plugged.

The most important thing is to find a coater you can work with, it took me 4 until I found one who I'm happy with.

[oiler]

Sorry all, I didn't mean to come off as being rude, :oops:  i just figured no one here has much experience with using PC.
Hey Bruce, how are things down East?
Yeah I did sell the roadster, I needed something that would be a little more practical for the kids.
My 5 year old son is turning into a better builder than I am and that experience was worth getting rid of it right there.
Once again thanks for the tips
Jeff

[kb426]

There is polyester and epoxy based. They have different sheens and hardness. Depending on how long you bake it, you change the hardness and finish of it. My thought is you use powder coating when you need the chemical resistance, not because of the scratch resistance. On using this stuff on dragster chassis, we found that some was real soft, some was real brittle. It's been long enough since I messed with this that there may be different products available now.

[moparrodder]

Jeff, powder coating has improved a lot since it first came out. It is being used more in all kinds of areas, even the farm  implement industry. Where I work we sell sioux steel products like livestock gates and hay feeders, they went to powder coating them after a fire in their paint room at the factory in Sioux Falls, SD.  the city fathers didn't want them to rebuild the painting operation so they powder coat all the products that were painted before and it has a good shine to it. The gates are out in the sun all the time and ones we sold two years ago shine just as good as the new ones we just picked up at the factory.  I watched a group of gates being coated and it is done real quick. I had to wait to have some coated  before they could load them . In no time they were coated and could be handled as soon as they came off the line, they were dry,cool and shiny, you couldn't do that if they were painted. It saves time and money for them and they last a lot longer than the painted ones.  There are different grades of powder, ya just have to get a good one, but I can't help you there as I don't know one from another just what they told me at Sioux Steel.  



  Bill

[Dirk35]

I can tell you that if you ever have to grind it off to make repairs, plan to make a mess and get really mad!

My brother gave me some scrap sheetmetal from his work to build a few peices for a roll pan I was working on. I used a 40 grit flapper disc to remove the "Paint"........... well I thought it was paint. IT was powdercoat! I ended up only being able to grind a little of the edges. I thougt that I would be good and the heat from the welding would then cook it enough that I could scrape it off. Heck NO! I made it a burnt melted blob! I then had to go back to the flapper wheel to strip it. took forever as the plastic just wanted to ball up with the heat of the flapper disc and not wipe away like paint would. Took me forever to get that crap off. Almost enough that I wanted to pull the whole thing apart and change those peices out.

I would say, if you plan to never have to mess with it again, its awesome stuff.........tough as nails! Hence its use on suspension parts as you really plan to do it right the 1st time.

I wont powder coat my frame, no way. But I wouldnt think twice about anything better to coat the "A" Arms and sway bars, and stuff like that.

Also, The peices I has where kind of chalky from sun damage. Like you would expect a peice of any flat sheetmetal left outside for a few years or so in Oklahoma  with no coverage.

[34ford]

Had my frame powder coated by a large commerical company in town. Did a super job. Had all the loose parts done, frame, rear end housing, fender braces, master cylinder bracket, tranny support, etc. I had it done in what they call black chrome and then had them clear coat over that. For what I paid and saved in time I couldn't have done it for that. It does have some orange peel but mine is a full fendered 34 ford so it has no exposed frame. There was a place where some sand must have come out of the frame when they were turning it. Wet sanded that area and buffed it out and looked like the rest of the frame. Stuff is tough. Here are a couple of pictures of the finish. You can see some of the reflections of the shiney parts on the frame. I had it blasted with the "Black Magic media before it was coated also to smooth it all out.

bob

[40]

I have had a couple of frames/chassis pieces as well a 8 or 10 sets of wheels done by a fellow a couple hours away from me.....He can match any color and it comes out as smooth as base/clear paint.That said,on my current project,I decided to have a commercial coater right here in town do my frame/chassis parts....It was about 1/2 price of the guy I normally use and I saved 4 hrs drive time but it is not nearly the quality.It has a mild orange peel and the sheen is not as bright.My regular guy hand coats everything and bakes the pieces at different temps and for varying lengths of time depending on the part.The commercial guys hang it on an assembly line,it is sprayed by robotics and baked in quantity in a large oven.I guess I got what I payed for  Still,even at the higher price,I could not have it prepped and painted for the same $$ and it is so much more durable than paint.It is also impervious to  fuel and other fluids that may contact it.I plan on trying the raw aluminum color on my next intake.....Good luck!

[Jbird]

I powdercoat almost everthing that will fit in my oven and won't melt at 400 degrees. Powdercoat is faster and more durable than painting, once the part has cooled it can be put right back into service. If you're lucky, like me, and have a minor mental defect, you can even make up your own colors. There are clear powders that give an absolutely flat, smooth, high closs finish.  Jbird

[Cword]

Everything that's red on 1149 is powder coat


We also clear powder coated a lot of aluminium parts, the wheel discs are the best example.
We haven't seen the orange peel mentioned earlier, and this stuff is tough! Bonneville hasn't left it's make on any of the powder coated parts.
The colour selection is extensive, but that depends on the coater as well.
I've no experience trying to match the colour, but successive batches and re-coated parts match well.

Mike