VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Powder Coating your engine

BigBob:

I visited with my friend Clint Edwards @ The Chevy Store (the powder coating guy) today and came away with the following ”˜general info.’

The material used is ”˜powdered plastic.’ The item to be coated and the powdered plastic are oppositely charged (one positive / one negative). The item / part is sprayed with the powder and then ”˜baked’ in a 400-450 degree oven. The powder “melts,” dries and cures to a super hard finish. Much more durable than ”˜paint.’

A commercial firm’s oven can be large enough to accommodate an auto frame.

A powder coating business will typically have 30, maybe up to 50, colors to choose from. He ”˜assumes’ most firms would have a ”˜generic’ medium gray that would be (very) similar to the 216 gray. However, he wasn’t enthusiastic about the possibility of ”˜mixing’ colors in the event a ”˜216 type gray’ wasn’t in a firm’s color samples. He didn’t feel the ”˜mixed’ gray might completely mix and could cause ”˜streaking,’ I guess he called it.

Admittedly a ”˜guesstimate’ but he thought powder coating a 216/235 type valve cover would be in the $75-$100 range.

The ”˜problem’ with powder coating your entire engine is the item to be powder coated needs to be ”˜clean,’ as in completely prepped, de-greased, etc. just as if you were prepping for painting a car. Doing individual parts like the valve cover, pan, etc would be fine. But the entire engine… a much bigger project to say the least!!

Incidentally, I typed ”˜powder coating’ in my Google search box and found a ton of stuff. This site (below) seemed to have a lot of info for somebody like me (and maybe you) who doesn’t know a lot about it.

http://www.powdercoatingonline.com/html/used.html

Powder Coating Equipment/Oven/System Supply
Welcome to Powder Coating Online.com your complete source for powder coating information,equipment and products.www.powdercoatingonline.com/ - 45k - Jun 2, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

For instance looking around in there I found 6-7 powder coaters in your area from Bellingham to Everett to Auburn, etc. No doubt you'd want to contact one (some) of them with your own questions, needs, etc.

Hope this helps!

:) :)

Bill.

Thanks 42bill,

I appreciate all the research you did. I do use a local powder coater, but they have been reluctant to find me the correct engine grey. I think JYD knows someone, but I can't pry it out of him. :( In all fairness JYD offered to spray paint my valve cover if I sent it to him, but I want powder coat.

The local powder coater has a $90.00 minimum. If I was starting over on Sweetie Pie, I would do a frame off and powder coat the frame...I think that would be really :cool2: I'll have to live with my old Rustoleum brush job.

Big Bob,just an fyi,I use a powder coater close to SeaTac Airport that charges $50. per wheel rim....I've seen lots of frames in there...chef-

i cant understand why a person would want to power coat a engine or parts if you found a color that was close for the sheet metal it would not match the block or the other cast parts . the grey enamel color from the fs is close as chipper and i have verafied it from original gm paint in the original gm can and original gm painted parts all of this has been discussed earlier . i use the fs enamel in the quart can usally enough to do two engines plus the hardner which i get at the local automive paint store they have several different brands the hardner helps the staining of the paint with oil seeps or gasoline spills . i have a few engines that were done about 4 or 5 years agough still look like the day they were done . i have a couple that i had doupont emron special color mix painted and they really hold up good except the intake manifold below the carb on the heat riser if i want to show these i touch up this area which i think is a overkill because if you run the engine any length of time it will become discolored hope this helps pushrod

I don't know of a powder coater that does not blast the surface clean. Either sand, beads, or other media will get in the cracks and crannys. I just spent two days cleaning a block that was welded and then sand blasted to remove rusting. What a pain!!!

Since the plastic is charged opposite the object being coated some of the coating will find its way into areas that don't need to be coated. These are areas that are not in the direct line of the powder. It goes around corners and through holes!! Rubber plugs can fill most of the holes but it is a lot of extra work and piston & lifter bores, water pump hole and others will prove to be difficult to seal. I sure don't want to try to remove the powder coating from top of the block, piston bores, etc. It is not a major problem with paint as the engine is painted as an assembly which can not be done with powder coating. Or at least I don't want an assembled long block to be put into a hot oven. If done as parts then how do you get the edges of the gaskets painted? Yes, the engines were assembled and then painted minus accessories (generator, starter, carburetor).

The real advantage to powder coating is abrasion resistance which is not the case for an engine block. I am not convinced, based on personal experience with both powder coating and urethane paints, that there is much difference in even abrasion resistance. I firmly believe that the good urethanes are better in chip resistance! A good catalysed paint will give as good service as long as the surface is properly prepared.

Yes I use and will continue to use powder coating on frames and other suspension parts. It is particularly true when the cost is less for powder coating. It has been the case for frames. And I have all the sand blast and painting equipment to do the job. If you total the cost of sand, metal prep, primers and top coat it can easily be more than the powder coater will charge. And that is allowing nothing for my labor. A no-brainer in my book, particularly when 90+ deg. and 50+% humidity. Never knew that sand could get into so many places.

Chipper,
I've got a little blast cabinet and a little portable 40# bucket and I can make a mess that looks like a big time operation has occurred.

Be careful if you are using sand, will mess your lungs up big time.

All you need now is an OLD oven and a powder coat 'starter kit.' You'll be in business for powder coating items small enough to fit in the oven. Whooopie!!!

:) :)

Bill.

Old oven in the shop/garage, not the wife's oven... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I've thought about the Eastwood starter kit, but can't find the color. I don't have an old oven big enough for the valve cover either. :(

From what I was told IF you DO use the WIFE's oven, you'll have a powder coating oven for your future powder coating needs and she'll be getting a NEW oven for the kitchen!!

You can get a used oven from the newspaper classified ads or from a used appliance store cheap...all you need is one that has an oven that works, burners not needed, unless you plan on doing some stove top cooking while working on your car...LOL

I have a large oven in my shop that was given to me. It is in mint condition (even the clock still works) and I use it all the time for various things. It is really handy. So, with that, my bead blaster and my shop refrigerator full of the good stuff..the old mutt has it made! ha ha! :eek:

I had a really good large electric range in Midland with a self cleaning oven and all the bells and whistles I bought in a garage sale for $30, watch for "moving sales" it was sold in the recent moving sale and now I will need to find another (MrsMack probably will want a new stove soon and I will get her old one). I bought an elcheapo powdercoating kit from Harbor Freight when Eastwood was getting an arm and a leg for theirs, it seems to work ok.

You can also check the local scrap yard as well because people throw really nice used ovens away. They usually don't want to mess with trying to sell old ovens. Let's face it, most folks don't want old used ovens anyway, and if it is a built in type a used oven probably won't fit in their cabinetry anyway! :( :(

Good idea JYD.

If you do not know how to power coat, dont have the right equipment, dont even try. All you will do is ruin parts, and waste your time. A good "gun" will run you $2500 and up. I owned a power coating shop for 5 + years, and was well respected in the classic car circle, hot rod clubs, and motorcycle clubs. It is not as simple as it seems. I did show car motors, complete. You have to know at what constant temps to cook the part to cure the powder, and it is very close to the temp that will warp, crack or otherwise ruin what you are coating. There are thousands of power colors, that will almost match anything, but cost is the probablem. In small 5 pound boxes, the cost is usually around $50.00 just for the powder. If it is not cured right, or too thick, and too thin it will chip. It is great on frames, and undercarrages, but I would stay away from anything other than sheet metal on the engine.

Thanks Professorpat,
The only part on my Motor that I want powder coated is the valve cover. But I want it to match the rest of the engine grey that i used from Chev's of The 40's. It is a dark grey-blue...really quite pretty as far as I am concerned. Very close to the authentic original color, so I am told. :)

Unfortunately, if you want to powder coat your valve cover and have it match the rest of the engine, you will probably have to powder coat everything else as well. While some powder coaters do have a color that is near the original color, the color will not match the Chev's Of The 40's paint, so the valve cover would definitely standout as a mis-match in color. :( :( :(

So it comes out a different color! What you will have is a conversation piece when you raise the hood!
I don't think powder coating is near to rocket science, sand or bead blast to metal, use a good pre cleaner (Eastwood) and apply as per instructions, then bake in a good oven that will hold the correct temp. Mine has come out as good as what they do in China!
The color choice isn't what it is useing liquid paint, but small parts look better to me.

According to Mackus Wackus...if ya live in Texas it don't matter.....non-matching colors are cool. But, if ya live anywhere else, you would probably want all of your engine colors to match.

I have seen soooo many different "correct" and soooo many "totaly Incorrect" versions of "original" engine paint colors for Chevrolet from 1911 thru 1999 that I don't pay any attention to what anyone puts out as "absolutely Correct/uncorrect" either Left Coast or Right Coast, that is the way we do things in Texas (illegal immagrants from East, West, Middle excepted!) I may paint my valve cover blue with a white star, the head white and the block red, to match this jewel!