Powder Coating Entire Body and Panels

[reynard101]

Anyone powder coat the entire Bronco body? Some issues are: Normal plastic body fillers can not be used. And there are issue matching colors for repairs. Metal is baked to cure (melt/flow the plastic powder) so no plastics or other items can be left on the body anywhere. Possible warping.

I think it would look good, be durable, and the cost would probably be less. Any suggestions?

I believe ICON powder coats their body for their EB builds. And I know of a few Hot Rod builds that use powder coat for a base coat.

 

[00gyrhed]

there are some hotrod builders that have started off by sending their bodies to be powder coated before doing any work. The powder coater blasts and preps the metal as part of his fee, and then powder coats. It is an excellent base for filler and paint after that.

I have a buddy that thought it would be a good idea the powder coat his model A fenders. It will chip on that thin metal and the repairs don't look so good.

 

[doghows72]

I own a powder coat shop and what I have been doing a lot of lately is media blast prep and put down a heavy coat of epoxy primer powder. After that you can do any repairs needed. I've got one guy that does his hammer and dolly work after I coat it.
I'd did my entire falcon sedan delivery in this primer and it has worked out excellent. I'm doing it to my bronco as well. It's in my doghows LUBR build thread.
Bad with powder is once it's down that's it, you can't polish it like paint. Also you are correct it all cures on in a 400 degree oven.
As far as touch up matching it is very easy now as most good powder supply ships offer spray bomb paint to match most of their colors. I know it's not as good as a proper repair but way better than before.
My advise would be go with the primer powder, and then put the shiny on top of that. ;D

 

[DirtDonk]

Even the big O.E.s powder coat their primer on some vehicles. The new Camaro comes to mind.

If you do go this route, just make sure that whoever does your work knows how delicate a front grille really is under a big blaster! If the guy knows his/her stuff, then no problem. But if they leave the power up too much, you'll get a seriously unusable front grille.
Just a heads-up.

Likely doghows has some pointers in that area, so listen to what he says.

Paul

 

[Broncobowsher]

Go back into the archives, someone tried this probably 10 years ago with a perfect body. Came back so warped from the blasting and baking that it was un-usable. Something about lawers, who owes who what. In the end a perfect body was scrap.

Modern cars have completely different alloys of steel. Not even comparable to vintage alloys. Don't even bother trying to relate modern car production standards to what a local powder coat shop can do. They have e-coat (and have had for decades) which is electrodepositaion of material onto the body. There is an electrical charge and a coating gets deposited, thats it. Very different materals and processes from powder coating.

 

[doghows72]

Any warpage would come from the blasting. The oven temp is low enough I don't see how it could warp it.
I have powder coated aluminum foil and not warped it.
But definitely beware of blasting if done wrong say bye bye bronco.
I did my whole bronco except the hood. I hand stripped it. Hoods will ALWAYS warp. I even saw a dustless blaster guy warp a hood so watch that one.
I am currently doing primer powder coat for three or four of the repair shops in the area. They all love it. Plus you can out your rig together and drive it around for a year or so till you pick a color and it won't hurt the powder. I'm doing it now with my bronco!!
Any questions feel free to contact me. I'm a powder coat aholic. lol

 

[reynard101]

Any warpage would come from the blasting. The oven temp is low enough I don't see how it could warp it.
I have powder coated aluminum foil and not warped it.
But definitely beware of blasting if done wrong say bye bye bronco.
I did my whole bronco except the hood. I hand stripped it. Hoods will ALWAYS warp. I even saw a dustless blaster guy warp a hood so watch that one.
I am currently doing primer powder coat for three or four of the repair shops in the area. They all love it. Plus you can out your rig together and drive it around for a year or so till you pick a color and it won't hurt the powder. I'm doing it now with my bronco!!
Any questions feel free to contact me. I'm a powder coat aholic. lol

Thanks doghows! I'll definitely talk it through with the Powder coating place and make sure they are confident they can do it before starting. I just replaced a bunch of panels so warping them would be a major disappointment.

What type of powder do you suggest?

 

[doghows72]

If you are going just the primer route I use Cardinal epoxy primer E305-GR533 it works great.
Color coats are optional as Cardinal has more industrial type powders wher NIC industries has all your cool stuff. Candies metallics and so forth.

nic industries.com
Cardinal paints.com

Try those or go to my shop site. doghowspowdercoating.com there are links to both those sites.
If you are worried about blasting you can always chemical strip and then hand sand to clean metal then powder. Good luck keep us posted.

 

[nickgp]

My first thought is why? It's bad enough when you do a frame, a cage, a bumper etc and have to do a repair by welding. Seriously, I don't think it is feasible or practical. Stick with traditional body work methods. You will be better off.

 

[Broncitis]

I believe ICON powdercoats their entire bodies.

However, I just do not see it as being all that benificial or practical.

Perhaps the base primer only, but I'm not sold on that yet either over a quality wet spray self etching or epoxy primer.

Remember, powder coating was developed as a cheaper, quicker, more EPA friendly, high volume production coating for industry, NOT to provide a superior color, gloss/ finish, or repairable/blendable product.

I'm sure there are various types of prep and powders, but I have seen too many times when powder coated parts get a chip or scratch and then rust rapidly spreads underneath and bubbles and often lifts the powder coat off in sheets, way worse that any automotive paint I have used which is typically isolated to a small, much slower spreading bubble.

I have used powder for certain automotive parts and also for certain production parts I have designed or had to have coated as a Manufacturing Engineer. It has its applications, but like I said, I am not sold on it for bodies (or frames/axles).