Powder Coating

[diverman555]

If anyone knows about Powder Coating please let me know.
I would like to build a couple furnace box's. One largest to powder coat a NASCAR
Chassis. The second box small enough to powder coat all the rest of the parts of the trucks. Powder coat seat frames, the dash or guage panels. Front window frames, new glass. So we would not have to worry about these rusting any more.

 

[jstier]

Wow, There are 2 ways to powder coat something as big as a frame. To buiild an oven that large would be very costly. You need to heat part up to about 400 degrees F.
1St use infrared heaters and do frame in small sections.
2nd pay someone that does powdercoat that already has an oven that large. You will be money ahead, uless your going to do alot of frames.
I saved my old electric oven (DO NOT use Gas Oven) and used it for small parts. alot of the info you will see says to apply powder then bake part. I tried that and it works ok. better way is to heat part then apply powder. you can get better coverage that way. I learned that from one of my customers that powder coats wheels for auto Industry.

Hope this helps

 

[conductorx]

I powder coat my bug parts in a regular electric oven. I bought the kit from Eastwood and it does a great job.

Before:

After:

I can't figure out how to post my photo bucket pics.

"G"

 

[T. Highway]

Diverman555,

I found a used convection oven that is operational but was being sold for scrap. The size is 61" wide x 75" deep x 70" tall. The brand is Precision/Quincy and it works great but it is wired for three phase @ 90 Amps. She will give your electric meter a workout to.

I would venture to guess if you are only going to use it for your truck restoration you would be money ahead to have a local powder coater help you out. I've tried the infrared lamps on larger parts but had mixed results at the overlap sections as you move the lamps.

 

[coke29]

A powder coat oven big enough to do a complete frame would be over $100,000. For the price that most powder coat shops are charging, you really can save much money on even the smaller parts. I know our local powder coat shop will blast, prep, and coat a complete race car chassis for $400-$500 and wheels at $40. When you figure in the cost of even a cheap gun, the powder, sand to blast, and time it really doesn't pay to do it yourself in my opinion.

 

[Warthog]

I can't figure out how to post my photo bucket pics.

"G"

Try this.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/forum-tips-tricks/59917-how-post-pictures-tutorial.html

 

[4x4 Forever]

I looked into doing this at one point and time. It was not worth doing anything bigger than would fit in an old kitchen oven.

The guys set up for powdercoating have the prep work down to a science. Most time you have to blast, then torch the frame to get the oils and grease out, and blast again for a proper bond. You will have to figure that in as well. You can pick up a used oven for decent money, a used powder gun setup for decent money...But is it really worth it, with the prices these guys charge, in my case, it was no.

Not trying to talk you out of it, just be better informed.

 

[nattieleather]

ConductorX I love your thing! (oh that sounds bad, but he knows what I mean...)

I think for small parts DIYing it is probably ok like conductorx is doing with his vw engine tin. But for large parts like was said it might be money in the pocket to have someone else do it. Unless you are really going to set up a powder coating business in which case make the investment.

Oh one more thing about powder coating. I've never seen flat powder coat finishes. They are all glossy. An MV powder coated and glossy would look wrong to me. Espically something like a HMMWV which was made flat paint from the factory!

 

[conductorx]

Eastwood (no I don't own stock) offers several High Temp flat finish colors intended for exhaust systems. I have never tried them myself. But I am sure they don't have rules against putting it on other parts.

Thanks for the good word about the Thing. It is up for sale but since it isn't a military vehicle I haven't posted it here.

"G"

 

[conductorx]

Try this.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/forum-tips-tricks/59917-how-post-pictures-tutorial.html

I have tried to that many times. Problem is I have to download the picture from Photobucket back onto my PC. Then I have to reduce the size until it is small enough to upload here. By time I do all of that the picture goes from 640x420 to 100x100 about the size of my avatar.

Other forums use the link / tag method to display pictures that allows links from sites like photo bucket.

I am not being critical of the Moderators or Administrators, I was one myself once upon a time. Storing thousands of photos does soak up hard drive space and they must have a good reason.

Thanks again,
"G"

 

[diverman555]

thanks for the info
Mark

 

[diverman555]

thanks for the info
Mark

 

[swbradley1]

The OP didn't want to powder coat the whole truck frame, just small parts like the frames for the seats and windows.

That being said I pulled my truck into my Brother's a few months ago and there was a woman standing next to him from a farm down the road. I knew she did powder coating and I joked that I'd like to PC the whole truck. She said no problem, their oven was big enough.

This is one of those jobs where it is probably better to have a pro do it. I wanted something sandblasted once and had someone do it. Cheap and a better job than I could do.

 

[135gmc]

If you want to do it right, you need to get the metal positively clean - sandblast or pickel. The metal needs an iron phosphate coating so the powdercoat will bond - if not, one chip and rust will start to lift the powder coat off. It isn't worth trying to jury rig an oven large enough to do an entire chassis - spend the bucks and go to a pro when you get something that large

 

[hotbox]

I have coated many chassis and body parts. My oven is 10x10x20 feet. My media blasting room is the same size. If you have your project fully blown apart, I would powder coat everything. Using a household oven may work for small parts but you may not get full crosslinking of the poly. Another issue if you do it yourself is racking. You can't handle the part after it is shot and before it cools. PPG now makes Military Spec powders. Hot Box Powder Coating Hotbox

 

[NDT]

I have coated many chassis and body parts. My oven is 10x10x20 feet. My media blasting room is the same size. If you have your project fully blown apart, I would powder coat everything. Using a household oven may work for small parts but you may not get full crosslinking of the poly. Another issue if you do it yourself is racking. You can't handle the part after it is shot and before it cools. PPG now makes Military Spec powders. Hot Box Powder Coating Hotbox

Hotbox, have you had any luck duplicating the flatness of CARC paint? I have shot just about every milspec color in Sherwin Williams powder and there is always a touch of gloss from the crosslinking you mention.

 

[quickfarms]

Hotbox, have you had any luck duplicating the flatness of CARC paint? I have shot just about every milspec color in Sherwin Williams powder and there is always a touch of gloss from the crosslinking you mention.

Ditto

 

[BLK HMMWV]

How did this get put in the HMMWV section?
BH

 

[hotbox]

Try PPG MLP40001 (383), MLP40000 (Forest Green), MLP20000 (Desert Tan). I think they have another tan as well. This is Military approved powder. I have samples here and it is very flat like CARC. See the pic attached. It is flat not 10% gloss! The bad part is they want you to order 100lbs at a time. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some green.