powder coating

[Arikilen]

Took my front grille in to get powder coated orange today. I was shocked to find out he only wanted $75 to prep and primer it orange with a 3 day turnaround time.

What are folks thoughts on getting doors, front fenders and the tailgate powder coated? Is there a downside to coating panels that are likely to get some rough treatment from wheeling?

 

[Crawdad]

Never heard of primer involved with PC. But none the less that's a good price! As far as PCing sheet metal it can be done but need to be careful with warping. Tailgate would be good to do but as with a frame powder has a hard time getting into all the tiny crevices where sealant or paint can get into easily.

 

[Arikilen]

I'll admit I don't know much about the process. I assumed that something is put under the powder coat.

Anyway, some online research and your advice I am going to just stick to the grille for now. Maybe do the bumpers at a future date.

 

[brncoguy]

I know that some shops offer epoxy or zinc rich primer before powder coating. But these primer is not really needed, just proper prep is required to obtain the best result.

 

[joshnjulie1]

The only drawback to PC in my experience when trying to decide between that and good 'ol paint is decision about the abuse that part will take. I was going to do my doors and decided against it. What happens when it gets scratched? Too hard to fix/blend. I did PC my windshield frame, dash, steering column, glove box doo (that I am not using now). All of those items will likely see no damage.

 

[TN1776]

Powder coat is good if your sheet metal is perfect. You cannot have any filler on it due to the heat when they bake the powder onto the metal. In my experience it is very durable for bumpers, cages, etc. There is no touch-up, however my powder coated parts seem a lot less likely to require touching up than my painted parts do.

Long story short, powder is great for bumpers, armor, cage, dash, etc. Paint for the body.

 

[Greg_B]

I have a PC line at work... Most of what we do is not required to be automotive quality since we are in the store fixture business... but... I have painted a few Bronco parts

Like the other poster said... you cant PC over body filler so the sheetmetal would need to be perfect.... BUT... when i built my bumpers I had to do some grinding and sanding and all sorts of welding on seams.... I wanted the bumpers to look great so after a little research I found some PC epoxy primer. I coated the bumpers with the primer then used the primer as sort of a filler. I sanded the bumpers smooth after the primer and it filled all the little grinder marks and weld seams.

Then I PC'd it silver over the primer. It looks great... hide all the little imperfections in the metal.

Just an FYI...

Greg

 

[Crawdad]

I have a PC line at work... Most of what we do is not required to be automotive quality since we are in the store fixture business... but... I have painted a few Bronco parts

Like the other poster said... you cant PC over body filler so the sheetmetal would need to be perfect.... BUT... when i built my bumpers I had to do some grinding and sanding and all sorts of welding on seams.... I wanted the bumpers to look great so after a little research I found some PC epoxy primer. I coated the bumpers with the primer then used the primer as sort of a filler. I sanded the bumpers smooth after the primer and it filled all the little grinder marks and weld seams.

Then I PC'd it silver over the primer. It looks great... hide all the little imperfections in the metal.

Just an FYI...

Greg

Wow! Learned something new everyday. My frame has lots of small divets and would like to fill them in some way, that's why I'm wanting to paint it. But if you can apply primer, sand and the PC a second coat then would be an alternative.

 

[dawg1340]

There are several primers for powdercoating.An epoxy primer is very good for hi moisture applications and outgassing primer is used for cast parts to avoid outgas bubbles from coming thru the finish coat.As far as filling dents JB weld works great,I have used this for ten years,,fast weld epoxy also works good for filling. And as far as warping sheet metal goes I have pop cans on display with 2 coats of powder on them with no warpage. But trying to repair scratched powder would be a royal pain

 

[lowbush]

Powder coat is good if your sheet metal is perfect. You cannot have any filler on it due to the heat when they bake the powder onto the metal. In my experience it is very durable for bumpers, cages, etc. There is no touch-up, however my powder coated parts seem a lot less likely to require touching up than my painted parts do.

Long story short, powder is great for bumpers, armor, cage, dash, etc. Paint for the body.

There are fillers that are specifically designed for powder coating. All Metal and Lab Metal are two of them, powder coat primer is becoming very popular as a base primer that people then paint over because it is durable. Also the old wisdom that powder coat is difficult to repair is not really true anymore there are several epoxy based products on the market that create a chemical bond (so long as you know if your powder is epoxy or polyester, etc) to PC and are color matched to almost every color of powder coat.

 

[croft75]

the guy that PC'd mine used the primer first coat. they still look perfect after a few years.