Items to get bead blasted/powdercoated

swimmingly · 11:30 AM

I finally took apart the top end of my engine and I'm considering what I should bead blast and powder coat. According to the place I'm taking them to (PowderCoat Services in Anaheim, CA) they pretty much charge a flat rate of $310 on any small orders. So, I figured I should probably pack in as much as I can to get powdercoated since it probably won't affect the price.

Here's what I plan to get powdercoated:
-intake manifold
-cam tower
-hard pipes to IC

Other items I want to get powdercoated but I'm not sure if it's safe to do:
-distributor housing front/rear
-end cap on the cam tower (the one on the otherside of the infamous cork gasket)
-throttle body housing

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, if you can think of anything else that I might want to have done (something small - I doubt they'd let me throw in my rims for that price), please let me know! I'll be taking it all in tomorrow so the sooner I know, the better. Also, I'll be sure to take before and after pictures for all of you.

Thanks,
Matt

swimmingly · 08-01-2006, 11:32 AM

As for colour, I really like the stock clean metallic look so I plan on getting them powdercoated in some sort of metallic silver colour that looks like the original metal, without the oxidation. It might look funny with the IC hard pipes that colour, but I figured powdercoating everything black on a black car would make things look too...black. Also, I didn't think gold or red or anything else would be appropriate with the black car, so the safest bet was a clean looking metallic colour.

ae1969 · 08-01-2006, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by swimmingly
..........but I'm not sure if it's safe to do:
-distributor housing front/rear
-end cap on the cam tower (the one on the otherside of the infamous cork gasket)
-throttle body housing

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, if you can think of anything else that I might want to have done (something small - I doubt they'd let me throw in my rims for that price), please let me know! I'll be taking it all in tomorrow so the sooner I know, the better. Also, I'll be sure to take before and after pictures for all of you.

Thanks,
Matt

All those pieces are fine to powder coat.

Just make sure they dont coat any mating surfaces......camshaft housing to head, inside the throttle body etc....

GostRidr · 08-01-2006, 12:37 PM

Hey Matt,

Just had my IM coated last year. It looks awesome now. (Hopefully the pics are attached)

One word of caution, I delivered mine to them with the rubber grommet/bolts that hold the idle control valve still in place. They couldn't get them out and decided to powder coat over it! I was left with two broken nubs that barely had rubber on them above the metal base plate. This was a huge PITA to remove so if you can avoid it up front all the better.

Good luck!
peter

swimmingly · 08-01-2006, 02:20 PM

I think I've got all the non-permanently attached stuff off of the intake manifold. I'm disassembling the throttle body per the instructions that came with Arnnworx's TB reseal kit. I hope this is enough. Do they have a way of covering up all the mating surfaces or do I need to do that myself with some tape or something?

Peter, yours looks good. I like the colour and I'll probably do something similar to yours. Hehe, I love the Ice Shark relays just floating around in front of the resevoir tank. It's the same way in mine because I'm too lazy to bolt them onto something.

Zero10 · 08-01-2006, 03:53 PM

Coat the water pipe that runs along the side of the head. It tends to rust and gets pretty ugly looking
Also coat heat shields and brackets. Anything small and metal that oxidizes or rusts pretty much

shikzachaser · shikzachaser's Garage

Black with the clean silver will look great. I went with some silver and some red on my red 84. I just broke down and ordered in a Lindsey Fuel Rail w/ all stainless hoses. Should look OK
\.

Steve

swimmingly · 08-01-2006, 07:35 PM

I ordered them (SS fuel lines + compression fittings) too. Now, I need to figure out how to install them. I think the passenger fender well needs to be removed from what I've heard so that may be a bit time consuming.

onZedge · 08-01-2006, 10:06 PM

How about the power headlight hardware like the bar and brackets.

josephsc · 08-02-2006, 12:43 AM

Out of curiosity, do you know how much these guys in Anaheim would charge to powdercoat wheels?

swimmingly · 08-02-2006, 03:50 AM

Sorry, I don't know how much wheels would cost, but you could call 714-533-2251 and ask to speak to Ernesto. Now I'm not so sure if I should take my parts to them. I talked to the more "technical" guy (Ernesto) over there and he told me that they generally won't try to powdercoat engine work because the extreme heat could burn off the powder. He recommended ceramic coating, but obviously they don't perform that service, which at least tells me he wasn't just trying to sell me on something more expensive.

I had always thought people got their parts powdercoated because it WILL hold up to fairly high temperatures better than most other sort of paints. Has anyone ever had problems with the powdercoating burning off or peeling? How hot does it get at the cam tower and intake manifold? I'd imagine the cam tower is the hotter of the two because of its close proximity to the exhaust headers, but even that I didn't think got very hot. Any advice? Is this guy right? I told him I'd at least try and bring in my parts to see what he thought after looking at them.

bleucamaro · 08-03-2006, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by swimmingly
Sorry, I don't know how much wheels would cost, but you could call 714-533-2251 and ask to speak to Ernesto. Now I'm not so sure if I should take my parts to them. I talked to the more "technical" guy (Ernesto) over there and he told me that they generally won't try to powdercoat engine work because the extreme heat could burn off the powder. He recommended ceramic coating, but obviously they don't perform that service, which at least tells me he wasn't just trying to sell me on something more expensive.

I had always thought people got their parts powdercoated because it WILL hold up to fairly high temperatures better than most other sort of paints. Has anyone ever had problems with the powdercoating burning off or peeling? How hot does it get at the cam tower and intake manifold? I'd imagine the cam tower is the hotter of the two because of its close proximity to the exhaust headers, but even that I didn't think got very hot. Any advice? Is this guy right? I told him I'd at least try and bring in my parts to see what he thought after looking at them.

Valve covers and intake manifolds are not a problem. It is perfectly safe to powdercoat them. I have about 5 years experiance working in the powder coating industry, and my valve cover is powder coated, as well as the cam pulley cover. You do however want to mask off the inside surfaces as engine oil may attack the powder (depends on type used). Also, since many parts have been exposed to oil it is very important to clean/degrease them as well as outgas cast metals before applying powder. I'd try to find a place that is more automotive / retail oriented as alot of shops specialize in lawn furnature and industrial, and the prep methods aren't as good, which results in finish quality and durability that isn't as good.