Going rate these days (in your area) on powder coating tins?

[butlern]

I just got a quote yesterday for $450 to strip and powder coat my engine tins (all parts).

This seems crazy expensive. But it might just be me... and this is the only place in my area, I have been told (but I'm digging deeper and widening my search). And my car is not a show car.

If that truly is the current "going rate," then it's too expensive for me to justify and I would be interested in hearing about member experiences with successful and best methods for do-it-yourself degreasing and getting some high-temperature rattle can paint applied.

Thanks

Noah
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1962 Ghia Cabriolet (why did I sell you?!)
1970 Ghia Coupe (glad I sold you)
1964 Ghia Coupe (I will never sell you!)

[kingkarmann]

Well, this is a timely post as I just sent mine off to be powder coated. Originally, I painted my tins with Rustoleum "Hammered" finish. It looked nice but I was never in love with it. Additionally, I had to be very careful not to damage the finish when I worked on the motor. If I dinged anything it was almost impossible to touch up without being noticeable. Over the years it's been dinged enough to need a redo.
The price you were quoted seems to be about right and likely will never have to be addressed once done.
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"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[PolarBearVW]

I guess you could set your expectations with a gut-shot estimate of Time-and-Materials:

$320 = $20/hr x16hr metal prep/paint time
$150 = materials and overhead (paint/I have a sandblaster and you don't etc..)

$470

I have no idea if that is an actual shop rate or materials...but it seems ballparkish for a shop that hasn't done it beore. Maybe go to a do-it-yourself sandblast place and buy a pint of POR-15 on your own to get it down?
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1974 Ghia Coupe

[Peter D.]

I sent mine to Awesome Powdercoat in OH and they came out really nice. The worst part is shipping.

If you're not doing a show car and don't mind putting in the elbow grease you can sand down and rattlecan paint it yourself again. Maybe use 2K paint in a spray paint can from Eastwood or off of Amazon. VHT satin black is also nice paint.
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2019 Golf Alltrack, '65 Ghia Coupe Restoration in Progress

[kingkarmann]

[kiwighia68]

I cleaned my Ghia's tins myself and after 'n light sanding used Hammerite (hammered finish) from a rattle can ($20, with paint to spare after 3 coats) . 5 years later and it's still good everywhere. It's a job that can be finished in a morning - no way will I pay $450 for that.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[didget69]

Hmm... painted tins seemed to work fine for the VW factories for years...

bnc
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[didget69]

[kingkarmann]

[anthracitedub]

I hammertoned a set of tins 20 years ago. Recently tore the engine down and over the weekend I power washed them... they still look half decent... some chipping around some of the screw holes. I’m going to re do them in the same silver hammer tone. It’s all about the prep... I’m sure that’s where most of your cost is at. Surfaces have to be clean for a proper PC job.

[wcfvw69]

I had all my engine tin off a 67 bug powder coated probably 10 years ago. It was less than $200 dollars and I'm thinking it was $150.00

They did a great job too.
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[sputnick60]

I've never been a fan of powder coating. It nearly always cracks and lets corrosion under the finish. especially in harsh environments. Instead of that, I used ceramic coating on my engine tins. Comes out a similar black colour to the original tin and handles higher temperatures than paint. While I was there I did the heat exchangers in dull silver. It wasn't particularly expensive.

Nicholas
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[butlern]

Checkedin with a few other service providers in other communities (each about an hour or more away from me).

Interesting range of pricing. From $250 to $450 for the same group of parts. With no correlation between cost and size of town/community.

Could there be massive variance in the quality of the work? I suppose, as mentioned, it all starts with prep and the cleanliness of the metal, but beyond that one would hope the materials and the coating would be similar if not identical.

I also appreciate the feedback on rattle can and limits of PC and potential for PC to crack...

I'll likely just paint it all myself.

Thanks for the replies

Noah
_________________
1962 Ghia Cabriolet (why did I sell you?!)
1970 Ghia Coupe (glad I sold you)
1964 Ghia Coupe (I will never sell you!)

[Marcdeb]

[PolarBearVW]

Yeah $20 would be low. The point still stands...run a napkin estimate and pick your tolerable range.
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1974 Ghia Coupe