powder coating

An interesting thought just occurred to me tonight. I had my Midget media blasted a month or two ago by a powder coating and sandblasting company. They had a huge oven and blasting room and do a lot of industrial work, and receive a lot automotive hobbyists attention. So the question I pose to the board, if the facility is large enough.. could you powder coat a car? When i took the car to them they said it was very easy to coat flat surfaces, but corners and tight spots are hard to do because of the static charge. But it seems to me that the outside of the car at the very least would be coatable. The pros I know of is the absence of overspray runs and the like with a more durable finish.. con might be cost.. Any opinions.. or wise words of insight?

Adam

Adam,
No reason why you could not p/c a complete car.
No idea where the costs would be relative to normal finishes like acrylic or two pack.
It certainly would be a great finish and tough as well.

Fixing certain bits to a completely p/c body may provide some challenges but forward planning to make sure the fixing holes are free should take care of that.

The exterior only may be the way to go given the difficulty of getting the coating into tight corners.

In my experience the limiting factor for most places is the size of the bake oven.

Keep posting how you get on with this.
I am interested myself since I have thought of it as well but so far have not found a place where it has been done.

Cheers , Pete.

Although, absolutely no paint expert, my understanding and experience is that powder coat is dulled by UV rays and the shine cannot be recovered.

I had my old wire wheels stripped & powder coated in silver and they look great 9 years later. The UV doesn't seem to affect them too much, but then again, they don't have flat surfaces at 90 degrees to the sun either...

would it be possible to use a UV protective wax on it? Another thing is my car has some shallow dents I was going to fill with some body filler (the correct way) I'm not sure the powder would stick to it. or maybe if its thin enough the static charge will still work..

Adam

I'd be concerned about melting the bondo

It's been a number of years since I was closely involved with the paint (including powder coating) industry. Back then (early days for PC) I know that the gloss would have been unacceptable on a nice sports car. Might have been acceptable on a tractor or bulldozer, but not a car. But perhaps things have changed.

You can use a filler, not bondo, but anything that can withstand the 450 degrees F temp.

I do some home poder coating, with the Eastwood setup, and the gloos black is very glossy!

Would you say that it's glossy enough to have the hood of your car finished that way?

Anyone know a High temp body filler? I will probably take a trip up to the shop, its not too far, and talk to them about it. Both of their full time "painters" owned MGs "back in the day." If anything they should be able to tell me everything I need to know, if not, I would be a bit worried. I still want to hear all of your opinions on the subject.

Adam

Edit: I found a filler called Lab-Metal, it is rated to 350 indefinitely and 450 for 20 minutes. There is a high temperature version that needs to be cured at 450 for an hour and will withstand up to 1000 degrees. I don't have the means to cure the whole car so the high temp is out.. Lead is still in the running I guess.

<<Anyone know a High temp body filler?>>

lead?

JimmyHilton Wrote:

Adam, Check the Eastwood site. They sell a high temp filler. It might be the lab metal mentioned above. They have some info. there about what it will withstand too.

Derek, Good question, I don't know. I've only done smaller parts with it. Based on that I'd say yes, especially with a good wax over it, but hard to say how it would look on that big, and flat of an area. Perhaps a question for the powder coater that would potentially do the car.

Bryan

Well the plan was to go buy more argon tomorrow for welding, but I won't be able to make it there before the shop closes. So I think tomorrows my day to go up and talk to the powder coaters. I found a few high temperature fillers on Eastwood, but they only went to 200 or so. I'm not sure about the shine, but if they can make a Chrome powder that shines I would hope they could make a very glossy black. I have found one con though, I wouldn't be able to put the suspension back on.. Hate to see what 400 degrees does to the poly bushings and the oil in the shocks... Anyway, I'll keep you all informed (it seems there are a few interested.) Ill make sure to post the quote I get and their answers to the above questions.

Adam

I've used JB Weld to fill rust damage on some parts that I powdercoated at home. Works great, no problem with the heat, but you have to use a thin coat. The stuff's a bear to sand after curing.

Would the flexing of body panels be an issue? What about stone dings?

Bob,
p/c is flexible to an extent but the stone damage may prove more of a problem.
p/c is fairly tough but once chipped it is a real pain to find someone to repair it.
It can be repaired without a complete strip down and replacement despite what some believe but finding someone who can do it is another matter.
It is also a fiddly business and tricky to get a good match so it won't be cheap either but then quality work rarely is.

One alternative is a double coat of p/c.
One coat of colour and one clear coat over the top.
It can be done with any metal but I am not sure of the weight penalty.

Pete.

Didn't make it to the shop today, they closed before i could even make it out the door.. Heres the page for the place though.

http://www.brookspowdercoating.com/1.html

Its apparently still under construction but there is still some good reading in there. There is also a photo of a motorcycle gas tank that was powder coated and has a real nice shine to it. So I'm not as worried about the shine problem. As far as chipping goes, I'm not too worried about it either, the most prone in my experience would be the fenders and the hood... both of which can be removed and taken to the shop to be redone. I read somewhere (cant remember where) that multiple coats have the same thickness as epoxy paints.. (guessing that means epoxy primers?) As to warping, I have no idea... my fenders are a bit bent already from the blasting.. (only complaint I have about that) so I need to fix them sooner or later. Right now price is going to be the deciding factor because it seems everything else is pretty sound.

Adam

I looked on their site and there seems to be several cars done. Whether it was the whole body or just parts or as an undercoating, I don't know. Powder coating seems to be an option, esp for concours cars.