No, it did not have a clear top coat. I have never had any luck with the powder coat clear coats, they become "too thick" and "crack around any place that is bolted down".
Yes, very finicky when they start going with more than one layer. We've done up to three and four, but only on very specific types of parts. Most automotive stuff does not like thick powder.
Someone else told me they make two different kinds of powder material. One is polyester based, and one is a urethane/epoxy, or something like that. One of them is supposed to be UV safe?
More than that. There are as many, or almost as many types of powder paint as there are liquid paint types. The Epoxies have many great properties and get used a lot. Unfortunately they are very low on the UV resistance side and chalk up quickly. In a sunny climate you're lucky to get two years out of it as a top coat.
It's used as a primer, or as a top coat where it will not be in direct sunlight.
There are Kynars and urethanes which are probably what is used on metal roofing and such, but there are probably companies out there that go cheap which might be why you see chalked up metal roofs too, after less than ten years in the sun.
And there are just as many clear coat powders as there are liquids, and just as hard to choose which one you like and which one is best for your application. Some of them yellow with time, and some of them yellow as they're cured. Others go on purely clear which seems kind of amazing when it happens, but they work well.
Just stay away from epoxies as anything but a primer or an out of the sun coating.
At least that's how I remember that stuff. Been a very long time and I don't remember it all.
Remember MtFit's red buggy? That was entirely powder coated from the bumpers and frame, to the Hummer wheels and body panels. Even the aluminum panels got clear coated and the exhaust was ceramic coated. The original owner ran a powder coating shop, so it got the full treatment and was looking pretty good twenty years later.
And if any of it did get a little dull it can be polished up just like regular paint. But I don't remember seeing any chalking or deterioration in the few pics we saw here after the member bought it and started wheeling it.
Paul
