Prior to PC finish
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 8,660
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From: Dubuque, IA
Prior to PC finish
Hi everyone
I am trying to get a definitive answer to the finish needed on PC parts prior to powder coating. I had it walnut blasted but the intake and cam covers are stiil dark grey.
So, do I leave them like this, do I use my handy dandy dremel scotch brites and try to take the dark grey off.
What's the real answer here? I want to do this right.
I am trying to get a definitive answer to the finish needed on PC parts prior to powder coating. I had it walnut blasted but the intake and cam covers are stiil dark grey.
So, do I leave them like this, do I use my handy dandy dremel scotch brites and try to take the dark grey off.
What's the real answer here? I want to do this right.
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 8,660
Likes: 427
From: Dubuque, IA
That's what I thought. I think I'll try soda blasting this weekend. have a buddy who has a "clean stripping" company for restoring old buildings and the like. I'll see what that does. I kind of thought they were supposed to look like yours.
Glad it is winter or this would make me nuts.
Glad it is winter or this would make me nuts.
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Shawnee, KS, USA
Jeff, there are (minimally) two things that I believe you need to do to prepare for powder coating:
The baking is really important to bake out the oils and other contaminants. And I'm pretty sure that you need to apply the powder pretty quickly after the baking, as the metal will oxidize again pretty quickly. I remember my powder coating guy telling me that they baked my stuff for a long time because everything was outgassing so much (and they could smell it for hours...
)
See the thread Powder coating intake/cam covers/etc. best practices (for the zillionth time!) for all the information that I gathered as I did the powder coating of my intake and other parts.
FWIW, my parts were dark gray (under the peeling paint) on the outside before any prep work was done (other than power washing all the loose crap off):
and like this on this inside:
and after blasting and baking (and powder coating, actually), they looked like this (I left the insides bare metal; outside and inside should look like something like the insides here before powder coating). Pretty light (not quite white, but a lot lighter than their original color under the paint). I actually never got to see (or photograph) mine after blasting/baking but before powder coating, as the powder coating guys did all of this and they weren't close enough for me to drop in at regular intervals.
- blasting
- baking
The baking is really important to bake out the oils and other contaminants. And I'm pretty sure that you need to apply the powder pretty quickly after the baking, as the metal will oxidize again pretty quickly. I remember my powder coating guy telling me that they baked my stuff for a long time because everything was outgassing so much (and they could smell it for hours...
)See the thread Powder coating intake/cam covers/etc. best practices (for the zillionth time!) for all the information that I gathered as I did the powder coating of my intake and other parts.
FWIW, my parts were dark gray (under the peeling paint) on the outside before any prep work was done (other than power washing all the loose crap off):
and like this on this inside:
and after blasting and baking (and powder coating, actually), they looked like this (I left the insides bare metal; outside and inside should look like something like the insides here before powder coating). Pretty light (not quite white, but a lot lighter than their original color under the paint). I actually never got to see (or photograph) mine after blasting/baking but before powder coating, as the powder coating guys did all of this and they weren't close enough for me to drop in at regular intervals.
Last edited by Ed Scherer; Jan 25, 2011 at 07:05 PM.
