Powder Coating questions

[DRV2FST]

Does it really last longer than paint?

Is it harder to scratch and chip than paint?

Does it resist fading better than paint?

Does it require the same or similar care (wax) to make it shine and last?

If these are true why don't more people powder coat their rock chip areas (hood, valence, bumper)?

And now to really show how little I know....
Could one powder coat the entire car instead of paint? Why would that be a bad idea?

[old man neri]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coating

I don't think you could powder coat the entire car, also it wouldn't look as nice, it doesn't seem to be as smooth as a good paint job.

What are you looking at powder coating.

[Ron.G]

It is harder then paint.
Don't know about fading.

If you have any damage to your powder coated hood you can not fix and blend powder coatings. Thats the down side.

[DRV2FST]

Last year I had my black 930 painted. It was supposed to be just a touchup job as the entire car did not need paint. After the painter started working on the car (after removing parts and some paint) they called me to let me know it would need a complete paint job. Not having many options at that point I consented. The job they did was not great. It cost almost $6,000 and had an orange peel finish which I did not like. I regret having used that shop and regret consenting to the job.

If I had it to do over again I would look into powder coating. I have had many small engine parts coated and liked the results but have never heard of someone doing the entire car. I was just curious how that would look and hold up relative to paint.

[donporfi]

The powder coating needs to be baked in an oven. I do not know at what temp, but probably this is one of the major drawbacks.

[gestalt1]

powdercoating is on bare metal also - not over filler so it will show any waves/ripples in the sheetmetal that would normally be sanded out with a traditional paintjob. the entire chassis does need to be baked to cure the powder.

[DRV2FST]

There is a shop here locally that powder coats large pieces for local factories. Their oven may be large enough to bake the entire chassis. However what I am hearing here is that the imperfections that paint might hide will show through with powder coat. May be OK for a track car but probably not for a street car I guess.

[jtkkz]

My brother use to own a powder coating company...

- not as shiny as paint but close
- will scratch but not chip as easily
-we painted whole cars before, make sure they have an oven big enough to fit a car

Here is a company owned by a friend in Colorado
http://www.spectrumpowderworks.com/

[mytoy]

Powder coating will come out as good as any other paint. In fact when it comes out of the 400-450 defree F oven it will out shine normal paint coming out of a bake oven at a paint shop. You can buff it to a high luster shine and then clear coat it just like any other paint.

BUT just like gestalt1 stated it must be applied over bare metal as the process for the paint to adhere to the metal is by electromagnetism. The metal is charged with a positive charge and the paint particals have a negative charge and therefore are attracted to the metal and actually bond to the metal. Then it is baked for several hours to make the adhesion even more durable. The finish will only be as good as the base metal. IE if the body was not perfectly straight and you applied any dark color you will see any ripple or dent and the dark color will magnify that by 10 fold.

Powder coating looks awsome on things like calipers and such as there are a lot of irregularities in its shape already that you do not notice the small imperfections. Hope that answers your question.

Oh just as a note if you think that everything is perfectly straight before powder coating it certainly will not be after if there are any stress points in the base metal. It will warp due to the heat and length of time.

[gtc]

The Zuffenhaus guys have been powdercoating chassis. There was an explanation in one of their build threads a while back about what parts of the body they coated, the process they used, and the advantages to their process.
Edit: Here

[Superman]

Without looking at the Wiki description, my hazy recollection is that powder coating is a polyester substance. It is TOUGH. I'm not saying it won't scratch, as I am not calling it "hard." But it is TOUGH. Very, very durable.

[MyTurbo3.6]

As mentioned earlier, car must be stripped to bare metal first and metal work must be perfect.

Here is mine, these pictures are after powder coating. After this, I had it wet painted on all exterior surfaces so that the finish would be an exact match with the bumper covers...

[mcuozzo]

Yes powder coating resists chips, scratches, heat and chemicals much better than paint. You can not touch up powder coating and that's the main reason you wouldn't want to do a full car.

There are many different types of powders - polyurethanes, TGIC, epoxies and hybrids. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Epoxies are the worst for UV exposure for example.

Powder coating is usually baked at 350-400 degrees for a period of 10-20 minutes. High temp coatings (for headers etc) are baked at higher temps for longer periods of time.

Powder coating can be made as smooth as paint. Surface prep is extremely important, more so than with liquid paint. There are metal fillers that are made specifically for use under powder coating. They are harder to work with than regular fillers and doing an entire car's bodywork would be extremely time consuming.

Powder coating can fade just like liquid paint. Just like liquid paint however there are clear coat powders available in different glosses - matte, satin, high gloss, very high gloss, etc.

More info than you ever wanted can be found here http://www.caswellplating.com/powder/index.html#

It's really a relatively simple process and just takes time to get it right. I've recently just setup a home workshop that allows me to blast (soda and coal slag) parts and powder coat 'em.

Here's some resulst so far. Easy with the comments, I'm still learning!!!

Before


Blasted


Powder coated

[Buckterrier]

Boys & girls, powder coatings are paint. They are resins, pigments, and additives just like any other paint. The difference being those ingredients are baked, broken into particular particle sizes, and then mixed together to create the 'paint'. After they are applied, (electrostatically), they re-flow in the oven. Harley-Davidson & BMW use powder clearcoats over the liquid topcoats.

[mcuozzo]

OK, i found an article about BMW and Volvo using powder clear coats. Thanks for that bit of info Buckterrier.

The question is what do you do when you get a scratch or another type of damage? Do you have to refinish the whole body panel? Do you now have to find a body shop that does powder coating?

[rnln]

Orange peel? have you ask the prof. about sand buff?

Originally Posted by DRV2FST

Last year I had my black 930 painted. It was supposed to be just a touchup job as the entire car did not need paint. After the painter started working on the car (after removing parts and some paint) they called me to let me know it would need a complete paint job. Not having many options at that point I consented. The job they did was not great. It cost almost $6,000 and had an orange peel finish which I did not like. I regret having used that shop and regret consenting to the job.

If I had it to do over again I would look into powder coating. I have had many small engine parts coated and liked the results but have never heard of someone doing the entire car. I was just curious how that would look and hold up relative to paint.