Thread: Powder coating vs paint??????

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Want to get some opinions from those of you who have had things like frames powdercoated. Dan had his '40 Ford wheels powdercoated black and we like them and also like the toughness. He has considered having his frame powdercoated when it's done, and it is going to be gloss black as well.

But what is making us think we need to spray it instead is that he wants it really smooth and very shiny, like a car body would be. From the appearance of the wheels he had done, there is a slight texture to them. We figure by painting the frame we can skim coat the whole thing, sand it smooth, then after painting it buff it to a very shiny, smooth look.

So the question is, does powder coating hide imperfections on something as large as a frame, or is the best way still to do body work on it and then paint it?

Don

Talk to your coater but I think he will tell you body work and paint. The PC will end up with the slightly orange peel look.

As far as imperfections my coater has told me that there is a special filler that can be used under the coating......I'm told it is very pricey though.

We had a sand buggy PC'd and I have to say it was a big mistake. It looked nice when the buggy was done but one trip down the trails and it frankly looks like crap. The suspension parts look like they have been glass beaded and the rest is rather dull. It may clean up with elbow grease but not like paint.

The big problem is if you need repairs and need to weld where it has been PC'd... get yourself a big pile of sanding and grinding materials. It is a royal PIA to grind off. When you are done if you are lucky it can be stripped and redone. Some pieces can't. The really good PC guys say they can fix it but it didn't look like it from what we got back.

I'm still all for plain old paint for rough and tumble cars. PC is for show cars.

It does cover some sins.

Don,
Mine is PC'd and I'm happy with it. Yes, it has a slight orange peel - but - very little of the frame can be seen without crawling under the car. I've dropped fasteners, wrenches and body parts on it - and no dings - yet anyhow. The frame was originally painted with DuPont Centari - and it was slicern' - well you know what. BUT - it had dings and chips about every time I worked on the darn thing. I for sure didn't want to strip the chassis again with all those nooks and crannies and the many hours it would take. I disassembled the entire chassis in about 2 hours, took it to the PC guy who grit blasted it back to near white, then coated it - and all for less then $500($475). My time and the cost of the prep and paint would have cost more plus the fact that I for sure could not have cleaned those nooks and crannies PLUS coated the insides. Chances for dings is much less and nasty rust streaks about gone. I did black so it will be easy to touch up if necessary. Down side - if you forget a bracket - and I did, but ended up bolting it on instead. The PC guy even coated the bracket for coffee and donuts.

This photo doesn't show the fender frackets, running board brackets and cross members that were also part of the deal

I am learning to appreciate my location near the Hanover Air Park/Airstrip since there is a lot of high tech light industry there. I bought a solid aluminum flat dish racing steering wheel (Speedway) so I can get in and out of the tight '29 cockpit and it came with a "brushed satin" finish. It looked good but picked up finger prints and a few little dings right away so I got estimates to coat it. Result: $85 for epoxy paint OR $85 for powder coating but the paint guy told me the PC would be much tougher than any paint he could apply so I went with CLEAR PC and it is beautiful! The shop in the Air Park seems to make their living on PC treatment of relatively small parts but they did my wheel. I am surprised IC2 found a shop that could do a whole frame. At that shop I saw several bicycle frames which looked smooth as silk and in fact on my steering wheel and all the parts I looked at there was no sign of orange peel. If/when I finally get my steering column set up I will show a picture of the wheel in the car on another thread, but so far the mockup of the clear-coat silvery aluminum against the maroon dash dazzles your eyes!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

I am surprised IC2 found a shop that could do a whole frame. ........ If/when I finally get my steering column set up I will show a picture of the wheel in the car on another thread, but so far the mockup of the clear-coat silvery aluminum against the maroon dash dazzles your eyes!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don,
This is my powder coater ; http://www.powdertechinc.com/default.htm

Big capacity ovens !!!

Looking forward to your photos

Dan mentioned there is a filler called something like all metal or whatever that can be used to smooth stuff first. Being that it is a fenderless car and everything is going to hang out in the open, it seems the only way we can get a glass smooth finish is to spray and buff. Powdercoating would have been nice from the aspect of just dropping it off and picking up the finished product though.

Thanks for the input so far guys, I appreciate it.

Don

I think a lot of it depends on the preparation first. I bought a lift that was advertised as powder coated, but mine did not turn out too good. The steel must of had oil that was not cleaned off very well. It is peeling off in places, and if I rubbed against it I can see powder. I think if it's done properly it will hold up better then painted on. I was disappointed but they did knock off a little money and sent me some spray cans of krylon. If it were in a shop other then my garage it would have been unacceptable.

Richard

The frame on my 32' 3 window hiboy is an SAC. Very smooth rails and welds. Worked great when powder coated. Now, all I have to do is wipe it down with detail spray. Gas and oil have not affected it and the rod got driven all the time.

My usual complaint against powder coating on a driver.... Touch ups. The filler you can powder coat over does work good, but it's a booger to work with and kind of spendy.

My other complaint.... a year from now when you change your mind on the setup and have to rebuild some things, or just change your mind on the color have fun getting all that pretty powder coating off!!!!!

Think I'll stick to painting mine.....

Don,
I powder coat mine, the durability is what I'm after. The problem I have had is what has already been talked about, that is the slight orange peel texture it sometimes gets. If you ever look at one of my trailers there is hardly any. So, the conclusion is it depends a lot on who is doing it. Believe me it makes a huge difference.
The other issue for me is the paint matching the body color. (black is not always black)My solution for that is I color sand the powder coating then spray the same color as the body on all the areas that are seen while standing up next to it. So I get the durability underneath and the flat, shinning, matching color where you see it.
Ken
If you send me your frame I will get it painted for you, It will be flat and shinny

Originally Posted by Ken Thurm

Don,

If you send me your frame I will get it painted for you, It will be flat and shinny

I wish you weren't on the other side of the world from us! We talked it over today, and it looks like we are going to spray it, and do it ourselves because I'm sure a body shop wouldn't understand that a frame has to look like a finished car body. We would spend more time getting into the nooks and crannies whereas they probably wouldn't.

Now the question is, do we do it in single stage or base coat clear coat? Is one tougher than the other? We figure we can really pack the clear on and then buff it out, or have it buffed out. I know a girl who worked at the body shop with me, and she saved many a paint job that had dirt and stuff in it. I could get her to do her magic on it when we are done.

BTW, we got a little more done today. Dan worked on getting the radiator and grille shell mounted and then we did the same to the headlights. Things are just temporarily mounted, but at least we can now use bolts instead of clamps and vice grips. We are going to try to keep wiping out one little project every day or so to get this thing finally done.

Here are some pictures of where we ended up tonight. Second picture is blurry, too much caffine.


Don

Don-I'm sure you are making the right decision for your selfs. But I have to tell you, if you get the right powder coater you would never go threw the trouble of spaying these things. One of the beautiful things about powder coating is it gets full coverage, because of the electrical charge put into the frame. Just my 2 cents.
Ken

I just mentioned to Dan what you said about having yours coated then sanding and spraying it. He said he has heard of that, and wondered how it worked. The nice thing is that it gets into all those little spots where paint might not reach.

So what is the procedure? You sand it with what grit and how extensively? Is it just a good scuffing, or more than that? What do you spray first, some primer or just the topcoat?

It sounds interesting. Our problem here in Ft Myers is that we have one powder coater to pick from.

Don

Could you get it dipped in chassis paint?