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FreakCitySF
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Joined: June 08, 2004
Posts: 642
Location: San Francisco
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Woreign
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Joined: June 04, 2006
Posts: 2841
Location: Crestview FL
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 Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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| However, talking the wife into letting you bake car parts in the kitchen is another challenge... |
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lowsquare
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Joined: May 29, 2004
Posts: 287
Location: Queen Creek, AZ
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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My neighbor bought the unit Eastwood sells...
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=92&itemType=CONTENT
He was powder coating everything in sight. He did all his engine sheet metal, wheels, whatever he could find. It really looked good. It took a little practice because some areas were a little thin. I know they went to Goodwill and bought an oven because there's something in the warning that says not to use in same oven as you're cooking food...  whatever!! They got lucky and found a bigger than normal almost commercial sized oven for $50 and were loving it. Can't quite fit the bumpers in though... 
_________________
PRAISE THE LOWERED.
1973 THING |
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Semper_Dad
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Joined: May 14, 2005
Posts: 3510
Location: Indiana
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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X2 for the not using the same oven that you cook food in. Probably not an issue for a couple of times but over a long period of time might be some problems. You can pick up a used one for pretty cheap though.
Another issue to consider is gas or electric. One of the by-products of a gas oven is water vapor as opposed to an electic ovens dryer heat. Not sure if the higher humidity would make a difference in the final product. |
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ztnoo
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Joined: March 23, 2005
Posts: 801
Location: Indiana
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Ian Epperson
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Joined: January 12, 2005
Posts: 2262
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 8:59 am Post subject: |
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I've got the Eastwood kit, and I've been coating everything that fits in the oven. It took some practice, but it looks damned good!
I got the oven for free from my local Freecycle and wired it up to a dryer plug with a long extension cord so I can do the work on the back patio.
I heard that it had to be electric because the fumes from curing are flammable.
Also, when you read that it only takes 20 minutes, it's like saying that it only takes 20 minutes to spray paint a part. That last 20 minutes is following an hour or two of prep. My neighbor's got a sand blasting cabinet, so here's my gig:
Clean up the part as best I can and mask anything that should not be abraded.
Take it next door and blast it to bare metal.
Take off any masking, blow it off with air to remove the dust,
Wire wheel it to make it shiny.
Preheat the oven to 450.
Mask with special tape, tin foil and silicon plugs anything that shouldn't be coated.
Wash the part with acetone. (using gloves)
Preheat the part for 20 mins at 450.
Remove from the oven and wait for it to cool
Rewash the part with acetone. (gloves)
Hang the part from the oven shelf for coating. (gloves)
Clamp the shelf to a ladder standing on a drop cloth.
Coat the part, inspect carefully for low spots, recoat if necessary.
Bake it for a few mins at 450 to get "flow"
Bake it for 20 mins at 400, as advertised.
Remove from the oven and wait for it to cool.
Whew! When I'm rolling, I can do 4 parts in an afternoon by alternating steps (while waiting for one to cool, I prep the next). Local coating places charge all the way down to $50 to coat a part, after doing all that it sounds like a deal!
Last edited by Ian Epperson on Thu May 10, 2007 10:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Captain Spalding
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Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:43 am Post subject: |
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| Ian Epperson wrote: |
| . . .I heard that it had to be gas because the fumes from curing are flammable. . . |
Uh, you meant that it has to be electric, right?
Sounds like a very cool system. Thanks for posting your workflow refinements.
Suppose I try this out the first time and find that my ham-handed first try technique didn't give me perfect results. Can I just sandblast the powdercoat off and give it another try? Or is it better to practice on scrap?
Also, can any steel part be powdercoated? I'm specifically concerned with hot-roll and cast parts. |
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FreakCitySF
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Joined: June 08, 2004
Posts: 642
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:26 am Post subject: |
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Do you also have any pictures of your results? How close are they to the factory original powdercoating?
I really want a media blast cabinet/powdercoating no room though :( |
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Ian Epperson
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Joined: January 12, 2005
Posts: 2262
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:48 am Post subject: |
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| Captain Spalding wrote: |
| Ian Epperson wrote: |
| . . .I heard that it had to be gas because the fumes from curing are flammable. . . |
Uh, you meant that it has to be electric, right? |
Oops! Edited.
| Captain Spalding wrote: |
| Suppose I try this out the first time and find that my ham-handed first try technique didn't give me perfect results. Can I just sandblast the powdercoat off and give it another try? Or is it better to practice on scrap? |
That stuff is tough!! I didn't know better, and originally powdercoated the ball joint press-fit area of the trailing arms and had to get it clean. Tried sand paper, then a steel wire wheel - just marred the finish. I finally had to lightly grind it off. I doubt sand blasting would do it.
There's a couple of things you can do if you screw up. Once it's coated and before it's baked, if you bump the coating, it'll smear and mess it up. The fix for that is to simply blow it all off with air and recoat. To prevent this, you've got to get the hanging right. One of the early parts I did I stood on the shelf and had it balanced. The darned thing fell over in baking, but the smear isn't all that visible and it's still covered, so I ignored it.
If you get it out of the oven and notice a low part, you can add a second coat pretty easily. When I did that, the finish wasn't as good - it was kind of dullish, but still looked great.
When I do that inspection step, I use a bright flashlight and check every angle to see if there's metal shining through. That's key to not having to recoat it.
The last part I did, after I pulled it from the oven, I set the shelf between two ladders to cool. When I was arranging the shelf, the part bumped some old latex paint on the ladder, and a yellow smear melted into the surface. Again, it's very hard to see when installed, so I ignored it.
Since it takes so damned long to do a part, I'd recommend starting with something that isn't all that visible.
| Captain Spalding wrote: |
| Also, can any steel part be powdercoated? I'm specifically concerned with hot-roll and cast parts. |
Anything that can be baked at 450 degrees and can fit in the oven can be powdercoated. The kit says that it can even do some types of wood! I'm thinking about powdercoating that little cover over the wiper motor - I've painted it a few times and it scratches when I put on the bail. I'm a bit concerned that it may melt, but I it should be OK. |
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Ian Epperson
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Joined: January 12, 2005
Posts: 2262
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 10:51 am Post subject: |
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| FreakCitySF wrote: |
Do you also have any pictures of your results? How close are they to the factory original powdercoating?
I really want a media blast cabinet/powdercoating no room though |
I'll post some pics a bit later. I may even be able to find some of the "before" pics so you can see the difference - which is pretty darned amazing. Simply put, I've taken old, cruddy, rusted parts, and they now look like brand new. Next year, I'll let you know how well it's lasted  |
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surfarii
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Joined: November 26, 2006
Posts: 307
Location: Hawaii
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| Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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="Suppose I try this out the first time and find that my ham-handed first try technique didn't give me perfect results. Can I just sandblast the powdercoat off and give it another try? Or is it better to practice on scrap?
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I have gad success removing powder coat from parts I wanted to change colors on with a jelly type paint stripper I got at my local hardware store. Use Gloves , Eye Protection and do it out doors it is a brain cell killing stinky mess |
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emersonbiggins
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Joined: February 18, 2003
Posts: 1681
Location: Nebraska
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ztnoo
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Joined: March 23, 2005
Posts: 801
Location: Indiana
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Ian Epperson
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Joined: January 12, 2005
Posts: 2262
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: |
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Just dug through my digital photos, and I didn't take that many before shots, feh!
Here's the best one I could find:
The beam and springs were shot and bought replacements. The trailing arm pictured was not shot, and I did my above procedure to make it look like this:
I powdercoated the trailing arms, beam supports, spindles and (not pictured) the disk brake adapters. The body has been wire brushed and I used Eastwood's rust convert, then rust encapsulator, then chassis black. The front beam was sand blasted, primed with Eastwood's chassis primer then top coated with chassis black. I had to recoat the edges of the beam where I stood it on the concrete getting it in place for the install. The trailing arms got even more rough treatment during install, and the finish isn't even marred!
Close up of the beam support (left side, uninstalled). This was an earlier attempt, I had to recoat it - see how it's not quite as bright as the next one. All the pits are from removed rust.
Right side, installed. This was the last piece I had done and I got the coating thick on the first try. This one also has the yellow streak of melted paint on the underside.
I gotta say, between working with the parts when they were cruddy and rusted, then working with them again cleaned and powdercoated - it's like night and day. |
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Captain Spalding
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Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 10:44 am Post subject: |
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| That looks great, Ian. Do you have any shots of a part that you powdercoated that was unblemished to begin with? I'd like to know what the best that can expected from the process is. |
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Ian Epperson
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Joined: January 12, 2005
Posts: 2262
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 10:54 am Post subject: |
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| Sorry, nope I don't. I haven't coated any new parts yet, just the old ones. The stuff I read on powder coating said that you can't avoid a certain amount of orange peel. So a large, flat, glossy area probably wouldn't look as good as a good paint job. For all these underbody parts though, I don't care about a perfect finish, I care about it being able to take abuse, protect the part from rust and look OK. |
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FreakCitySF
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Joined: June 08, 2004
Posts: 642
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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Great pics!
I was wondering if you can get away with just powder coating bare metal without worry of rust or need something better?
I had a bumper powdercoated a few years ago and its been slowly rusting ever since, just surface stuff. |
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Ian Epperson
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Joined: January 12, 2005
Posts: 2262
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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Do you know how the bumper was prepped? I'd assume that if there were any rust on the part, the powder coat would just slow it down, not stop it, and the coating probably wouldn't adhere as well. There's so much work in getting it BARE then CLEAN - that preheat step should zap any water and the following acetone wash should get any oils.
I guess I'll find out if it holds up over time  |
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AJ Quick
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Joined: July 20, 2006
Posts: 539
Location: Minnetonka, MN
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