Thread: Has anyone here used E Coating???

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Dan has been telling me about a process he is thinking of having done to his RPU body and bed, it is called E Coating. As I understand it, the body is dipped into several electrically charged solutions, the final one being a primer that is sucked into every little cavity so that the metal is totally protected from rusting.

Has anyone used it and if so, how did you like it? There is supposed to be a place that does it in the Tampa area and I am trying to find out who they are so I could trailer his parts there to have it done.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Don

Here's one place; looks like there are quite a few out there.
http://www.decnow.com/ecoat.php

Don, I did a search on msn.com for electro-coatings in Tampa Florida and came up with a lot of hits, but most were for electro baking. There was at least one listed as being in Fort Myers. Not being familiar with this process, I do not know if they are the same or similar. I did see that under the search a lot of places were included powder coating under the name of electro-coating.

I will check with some friends who live there to see if they know of a reliable shop that does e-coating.

Thanks FV and Bob. I got the yellow pages for Tampa today and called a bunch of places and they didn't know what I was talking about. The one in Ft Myers does powder coating but this process needs a tank big enough to submerge a whole car in it, so it is kind of different and specialized.

I'm still digging too.

Don

If it's true E-coat, that's what's done to new, OEM cars and parts. You've probably seen the videos where the entire body shell is taken down an overhead conveyor and run through a tank of primer.

If you ever buy a new, say fender, from an OEM dealer (although some aftermarket parts are e-coated as well) they come in e-coat, usually black, sometimes grey. The usual advice is to scuff, seal, then top coat. Some believe if you don't break through when scuffing you can skip the sealing. I'd do it just in case.

That's the stuff Bob, as I understand it. Supposedly, if the car has rust it first goes through some additional steps to get to bare metal, then is dipped to coat it. The final step of dipping it in the "primer" is said to go into every nook and cranny where regular spraying can't reach.

We have heard there are businesses around that have these tanks and do everything from aerospace stuff to car bodies, that is who we are trying to locate. I'm sure the process isn't cheap, but it sure would make the body last a lot longer.

Don

Used to be a place in Minneapolis that did both acid dipping and a primer/sealer/rust prevention dipping.... They had some complete car and chassis sized tanks and did an excellent job....Too bad the flippin' EPA shut them down about 10 years ago.... I have some land in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and hills...you guys got any great big tanks?????

That's strange Dave, because I pulled up the yellow pages for Tampa and there were about 10 companies who did similar processes, of those, 8 phone numbers were no longer in service. I guess it like what is happening to chrome platers, the EPA is shutting them down or not allowing new ones to open.

Don

Yup, same process just different chemicals and procedures..... Bit tanks and open vapors, I suppose?????

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Yup, same process just different chemicals and procedures..... Bit tanks and open vapors, I suppose?????

More likely surface water runoff issues. When I had my shop the powers that be used to harass me for washing the customer cars in the shop driveway. If we ever sit down over a beer someday I'll tell you the whole story and how I stopped the "visits".

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

If we ever sit down over a beer someday I'll tell you the whole story and how I stopped the "visits".

Gulp!! Maybe there really is a Cousin Guido!! Sorry for anything mean I ever said to you Bob.

Don

Too late!!!

Looking forward to it Bob.... Is Guido visiting in Florida now????

Bob is that where all those women you post come from? That would scare the inspectors away!