Powder coating kits.. recommendations?

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 08:41 AM

Looking for recommendations on powder coating kits, so I can start doing the suspension on my 914/6. <-- obligatory P-content.

thanks,
Rusty

Brad Roberts · 11-11-2002, 09:18 AM

Is our home ovens big enough to put a control arm in ??

I have never used the home stuff. I always farm it out. Its fairly cheap in our area. I had a complete Olds 442 frame done in Texas for 450$

B

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 09:25 AM

Brad,

It should be, I think.

Mike Ginter uses some kind of IR or propane heater for very large parts. I've emailed him for details.

It cost me about a hundred dollars to have the 914/6 calipers power coated, and I did all the masking work. I'm too cheap to pay that bill again.

I'm sure there are kits other than the Eastwood one... I'm just curious what people think of them.

Rusty

jonwatts · 11-11-2002, 09:43 AM

Harbor Freight sells powder coating equipment but I think the eastwood stuff is nicer and they have a better selection of coatings.

However for cheap heating of large parts I was tempted to try one of Harbor Freight's LP gas heaters...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=41274

Personally, I'm anal enough about things. If I took the time to powder coat parts I'd never get anything done

Jon

Rich Hilgersom · 11-11-2002, 09:50 AM

The eastwood std gun is fine. An oven is the way to go if you can.

Use the large lamp they sell (Infrared 6000 W/Hcp Pro Deluxe Kit) Not the small one. It takes forever to do a large part with the small lamp.

The kit is 1,498.99 so there is no way to get your money back with a few parts.

Do not buy Eastwood powders .
They do not know what they are selling. Acrylics and Polyesters behave differently when outdoors. As you can see Eastwood does not denote what each powder is made of.

You can get the lamp direct from Infratech.
http://www.infratech-usa.com/portable/ho6000p.html

I use http://www.columbiacoatings.com/ for powders and fillers.

I have both Eastwood lamps and I dont think I will ever use the small one again.

-Rich Hilgersom

jonwatts · 11-11-2002, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rich Hilgersom
The kit is 1,498.99 so there is no way to get your money back with a few parts.

That's hard core. Do you do a lot of powder coating or do you just like to have the right tools? Care to powder coat my front suspension or possibly my rims for me?

Jon

gint · 11-11-2002, 10:42 AM

Powder coating isn't rocket science. I use the Eastwood gun and I've used their powders. I've also used powder from a local distributor of a large coatings company (don't remember the name off-hand).

Yes, a rear 914 control arm will it in a standard home kitchen oven. I bought one from a garage sale for $15. Appropriately, it's in my garage. I can tell you that getting a rear control arm from powder application to the oven is a major PITA. You end up knocking and banging it around and knocking the powder off of it.

I have a used a "Mr. Heater" brand propane heater to cure large parts that wouldn't fit into the oven (like the steering rank support hutzpucker whatever you call it). Very similar to the H.F. link posted above. Works really well in the winter cause it keeps you toasty at the same time.

zymurgist · zymurgist's Garage

Ha! A topic that I know a little about!

I use the Eastwood powder gun and an electric oven. I've done just about every part that I could remove from my '77 Corvette (and get to fit in the oven). I've had mostly good results... strangely enough, my latest effort wasn't all that great, it was a large part that barely fit into the oven.

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 01:01 PM

Hey Ginter,

If you happen to knock some powder off, and fire the item... can you go back and do some touch-up and reheat it without damaging the original coat?

-Lawrence

Rich Hilgersom · 11-11-2002, 01:53 PM

I do a lot of powder coating. Im doing my 914 now.

"Care to powder coat my..." Sure, after I finish mine ;-)

"can you go back and do some touch-up and reheat it without damaging the original coat"

The touch-up will show, but it will not be "damaged", the powdercoat will not fail. Most powders can be overcooked quite a bit.
The gloss level has alot to do with it. A low gloss is easy to fix.

A better fix would be to start from scratch or just scuff the entire part and bevel the patch and then recoat.

-Rich Hilgersom

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 01:56 PM

Hey Brad,

Are all trailing arms interchangable (between /6 and /4)?

-L

Brad Roberts · 11-11-2002, 03:29 PM

LB,

I have seen one small difference on the drivers side arm. The fact. 6 had a small tab for a strap that held the drivers side ebrake cable away from the exhaust and cooler.

Pretty easy to dupe the tab or find another way to keep it away from the bad things that cause it to melt.

I have seen this tab on early 4cyl control arms.

B

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 03:35 PM

What's a set of trailing arms run? Or should I wait for a sawzall party?

Depending what happens after Thanksgiving, I'm thinking about digging into my suspension, and powdercoating the lot.

Having a set of trailing arms on standby might be a good idea, and just do a quick swap. Are the arms all created equal? I guess my real question is will I need to change alignment shims if I swap them out?

-Lawrence

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 03:36 PM

I was checking out the link for Columbia Coatings. Seems they have a kit that looks much nicer than Eastwood.

Anyone used their hardware?

-L

gint · 11-11-2002, 03:47 PM

Sorry, had to wactually work there for a while.

What Rich said. Touching up powder is... Kinda crappy. But I've used mostly high gloss powder also. If I find a real bare spot after curing, I generally blast the part and re-coat. Touching up a large part after curing with the propane heater and high gloss doesn't end up looking very good. I like to catch the bumps before I put the part in the oven anyway. If I notice a scuff, I hit it with powder again before baking.

Lawrence914 · 11-11-2002, 06:17 PM

PC-Masters,

Sorry to bug you again.. but do you have a picture of your heat source, and how you set it up for big items?

I've seen IR lamps set up on stands, is that how you did it?

-Rusty

gint · 11-11-2002, 06:46 PM

http://www.mrheater.com/new/mh12t.htm

campbellcj · 11-11-2002, 07:11 PM

Aren't there "issues" (smell, mess, toxicity) with doing this stuff in your normal kitchen oven? I thought that was a no-no?

gint · 11-11-2002, 08:06 PM

That's why you buy a $15 garage sale oven and put it in the garage. You do not want to cure powder coat in the kitchen/food oven.

Brad Roberts · 11-12-2002, 09:45 AM

LB,

I dont have any spare control arms. HPH has them (100's of them) but he will try and get 100$ apiece for them. I keep all of the extra's because I like to keep a set ready to go for customer cars.

You can keep your shims, but you wont know IF the extra control arms are identical to your's. Some have seen some serious abuse (curbs) I'm sure they all started out equal... ha ha You'll need to reset toe anyway. Might as well have it aligned if you dont have a string setup or a SmartCamber tool.

B