Powder Coating?

[iajonesy]

CudaChick and 99,
I have 17" polished American 5 spokes (torque thrusts) the front Calipers are from Heidt's,part of the SuperideII package. I am pretty sure they are actually Willwood calipers and the rears are part of a kit from Yogi's for a Ford 8.8 rear end. They are oem GM calipers,I think.Do you think I'd be better off to P/C both sets gloss black? That will be the color of the 56 Chevy pick up they will be on. Thanks

Mike

 

[CudaChick1968]

Overall, it's your truck and your choice -- what's your vision? If it matters (and it usually does), even with the requisite blasting and prep for powder coating, it's cheaper than polishing.

 

[99ishvr4]

Oh that is so cool! Can you show off one of your polished manifolds?? I'd love to see it. After all that work (I know it had to be a drag lol), I sure hope it holds up to the heat once they get used. I've never tried to polish cast iron ... might have to now though!

Great idea on the polishing idea for the calipers too 99. Unless he wants to set them off (haven't seen the wheels so I don't have an opinion ), they'd match the rest a lot better. Assuming the ride isn't a serious race car, a good clear should last a long time and keep Mike from having to polish everything all the time.

Unfortunately they got put in the attic above my garage before any pictures were taken. My car is a shell on jackstands right below my attic access so I have to wait until I am done with the front and rear subframes to get it rolling again and get back up there. I'll post pics when that happens but don't hold your breath, lol. Luckily they are pretty short manifolds, being a twin turbo car but still not a fast process. I polished them after reading a couple other guys polishing theirs and not having rust issues. But now that I have some paint guns, I am thinking about selling the polished set and getting another set to ceramic coat.

 

[99ishvr4]

CudaChick and 99,
I have 17" polished American 5 spokes (torque thrusts) the front Calipers are from Heidt's,part of the SuperideII package. I am pretty sure they are actually Willwood calipers and the rears are part of a kit from Yogi's for a Ford 8.8 rear end. They are oem GM calipers,I think.Do you think I'd be better off to P/C both sets gloss black? That will be the color of the 56 Chevy pick up they will be on. Thanks

Mike

I am with CudaChick here, its ultimately up to what your vision is. I was under the impression that the front calipers were already polished, or did I read that wrong?

In my general experience, a black caliper would be a good accent for a polished wheel, however a polished caliper would also go good with a polished wheel as long as the level of polishing is the same. If you put 2 polished parts side by side, one being a mirror and the other being a little hazy, the really polished mirror piece will make the hazy piece stick out like a sore thumb. So just keep that in mind.

I also will have a black car in the end with silver wheels and my calipers have now been apart for 6 months because I cant figure out what color to go with so I may not have the best advice, lol. I was going to do red, but now I am worried that red is a little overdone and it may take away from the clean look of the car in the end. Gloss black would be safe and clean looking. If I did silver, it would have to be 100% color match to the rims to not look tacky IMO and that seems impossible given silver color of my wheels. Its hard to choose and I know where you are coming from.

 

[99ishvr4]

Where'd everybody go?

 

[CudaChick1968]

Well we're powder coating stuff of course. What the heck have you been doing??? LOL

 

[mrpowderkeg]

I did a few things for other people, until I said no more. I did not have the time to invest in cleaning everything. The problem I had, was that people would bring in their parts, and I'd spend way more time cleaning the parts than it was worth. I would tell them to bring in clean parts, and I would emphasize clean, most people's idea of clean parts was to hit the parts with gunk engine bright, and hose it off. If I was to spend the money to get into it, I'd probably invest in some good cleaning and stripping equipment. You could quote a price on the powder coating, and also the cleaning. You'd need a cabinet blaster, etc, if it was me I'd look into a ultrasonic cleaner large enough to do intake manifolds (aluminum *****), as well as a cabinet style parts washer that uses soapy water.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

I still do special small projects for people that seek me out and understand that I do not have time to waste on cleaning cruddy parts. You can make some cash doing this, I applaud those who have the fortitude to stay in it and grow a powder coating business. This is a two color job for a 440 mopar.

 

[99ishvr4]

Well we're powder coating stuff of course. What the heck have you been doing??? LOL

I have been lazy lately, currently cataloging all the nuts and bolts from my car so I know where they should go after plating. I need to hurry up and finish this, I have about 100 parts on the shelf that need to be powder coated and the pile gets bigger every day. Falling behind, lol.

Powder Coating anything interesting lately?

 

[99ishvr4]

I still do special small projects for people that seek me out and understand that I do not have time to waste on cleaning cruddy parts. You can make some cash doing this, I applaud those who have the fortitude to stay in it and grow a powder coating business. This is a two color job for a 440 mopar.

I didn't get into it to make money, I just started powder coating for my own project, but I understand where you are coming from. I decided to do a job for a friend of mine, his wheels, and found myself not wanting to go out in the garage and work on them, and he was paying me so I felt obligated to finish them as fast as possible. I can do my own stuff all day and enjoy it but as soon as he dropped off his wheels, it felt like a job. This is the main reason why I wouldn't even attempt to powder coat for a living, I don't like work to feel like a job, lol. It is great to see people like CudaChick who do love to powder coat, regardless of who's parts they are.

That Mopar piece looks great btw, I swear I have seen it floating around on the internet somewhere before.

I am thinking about doing a similar piece that says Powder Coating: The Complete Guide soon, just to have something that shows a multi-coat process on the website.

 

[NHBandit]

I'm just now skimming through this thread because I've had thoughts about trying to do a little powder coating on my own stuff just because I can't afford to have it done professionally. I've got to be honest because that's the only way I know but to me it seems a bit arrogant for a complete newbie who has NO real experience and has only dubbed around a little with his own stuff to be pushing for people to read his "guide".. You even admit you have no desire to do it full time so please enlighten us on why in hell anyone would want advice from you in the first place ? If all you're doing is compiling real world tips and advice that you've found poking around the net aren't you taking a huge risk that you're stepping on the toes of those guys (& ladies) who DO know what they're doing by posting their tricks ? Maybe even violating a few legal issues to boot ? People make a living and feed their families by spending years learning what works and what dosn't work and you think it's ok to just put it out there simply because you feel like it ? Especially without any real world expertise ? My apologies for being blunt but it reminds me of a guy who might jump up at a magic show and start yelling to the audience how the trick was done. If Cuda Chick was to write a book I'd buy it but I suspect she's too busy actually working..

 

[e-tek]

I'm just now skimming through this thread because I've had thoughts about trying to do a little powder coating on my own stuff just because I can't afford to have it done professionally. I've got to be honest because that's the only way I know but to me it seems a bit arrogant for a complete newbie who has NO real experience and has only dubbed around a little with his own stuff to be pushing for people to read his "guide".. You even admit you have no desire to do it full time so please enlighten us on why in hell anyone would want advice from you in the first place ? If all you're doing is compiling real world tips and advice that you've found poking around the net aren't you taking a huge risk that you're stepping on the toes of those guys (& ladies) who DO know what they're doing by posting their tricks ? Maybe even violating a few legal issues to boot ? People make a living and feed their families by spending years learning what works and what dosn't work and you think it's ok to just put it out there simply because you feel like it ? Especially without any real world expertise ? My apologies for being blunt but it reminds me of a guy who might jump up at a magic show and start yelling to the audience how the trick was done. If Cuda Chick was to write a book I'd buy it but I suspect she's too busy actually working..

While I like your forthrightedness, all I can say is......welcome to the Internet!

 

[NHBandit]

While I like your forthrightedness, all I can say is......welcome to the Internet!

LoL.. yeah I guess I should stop being surprised by some of the stuff that people think is ok... I watched a movie once about open heart surgery. I guess it's ok for me to claim to be an expert now..

 

[IONH]

Just found the old toaster oven I'd used in the past so I can do up a couple of small parts.

 

[99ishvr4]

double post

 

[99ishvr4]

double post

 

[NHBandit]

Also on the topic of being honest, it would seem you do have experience powder coating. Either you or another person that goes by the name of "Nhbandit" has been posting around the internet about powder coating as far back as 2008, assuming you and the other NHbandit are one and the same, you bought an eastwood powder coating gun 5 years ago, and you have a good friend that owns a shop and powder coats your stuff for you and you hang around his shop often. So it would seem you do have experience powder coating.

WOW dude... Someone criticises you on an internet forum so you do a Google search of their username ? Paranoid much ? I use this same name on every forum I frequent and have for many years cause I got nothing to hide and I'm not trying to pretend I'm something I'm not... And then you take what you found and run with it and make up your own version of the facts ? Here are the facts since you asked... Yeah I had a good friend in NH many years ago who had a powdercoating shop. I was also working a full time job back then during the same hours that his shop was open so he taught me exactly NOTHING. He did some stuff for me including the front subframe in my 67 Camaro, all the suspension parts, and several frames for antique motorcycles I was restoring in those days. I expressed an interest in trying my hand at it and bought an Eastwood gun and he gave me a bunch of powder to play around with. Then life got in the way, I moved from NH to Tennessee and that Eastwood kit is still NEW and has never been out of the box. In fact I clicked on your thread because now that my garage is built and my **** is unpacked I thought I might FINALLY give powdercoating a try.. I'm even running a wanted ad on craigslist as we speak looking for a cheap oven. So much for assuming huh dude ? Oh yeah...and I'm not so arrogant as to think that I know enough to write a guide about how to do it. As far as staying out of your thread I have no problem with that. but... remember that when you post something on an internet DISCUSSION forum you are opening it up to discussion. That means not every single opinion is going to be what you want to hear. If you're going to pretend to be something you're not expect to be called on it from time to time. If you're going to post on a public forum you'll need to grow some thicker skin. If you're going to Google everyone who dissagrees with you you won't have any time left for writing your "guide". I will admit it's kind of creepy to think you spent a considerable amount of time looking at the many Google hits you must have got on my username and then searched out all the ones that had to do with powdercoating comments. Or do you use my name AND "powdercoating" as the search criteria ? Help me out here. I wanna be an amateur make believe cop too... Some of your comparisons in your last post are a joke. I agree completely that there's a ton of free info out there. Hell I wired my new garage by myself by reading threads on here and by asking questions and I've never done anything like that before. I owe it all to the fine folks here and I'm grateful. The difference that you still fail to grasp is that I didn't turn around and decide I was suddenly versed enough in the electrical trade to write a book about it... Anyway, it was never my intention for this to turn into a ******* contest, simply to give my opinion which I have a right to do. I'll even go so far as to say that I'm sure your guide is loaded with usefull info. You chose to basically call me a liar and run a background check on me because I don't agree with how you went about it ? . Dude you have issues.. Have a good night...

 

[CudaChick1968]

... Falling behind, lol.

Powder Coating anything interesting lately?

I hear that -- I could use a few clones.

Since you asked, it's just the usual car parts, valve covers and intakes. Had a ton of rain this year and the last few weeks it's been 90%+ humidity -- a candy coat killer! -- so I've got base coats stackin' up like cord wood around here. Wet days have been spent playing with the trim resto on another Barracuda front grille assembly. It finally dried out enough to finish this and a few other candies though. This is part of the air bag system on a serious custom Pathfinder in Florida with over 150 mods. It was one of the most interesting masking jobs ever.





This is what I started out with ... lots of metal work in this job.





This was his engine bay before he started tearing it down for the new paint job (supposedly to be done by Kount's Kustoms in Vegas). It's pretty easy to understand why he's starting to send me stuff. That's a lotta polishing .......



Thanks for the kind compliment too NH.

 

[NHBandit]

VERY nice work Leanna ! I finally found a free oven today from a neighbor. Maybe you could take a short vacation to the eastern part of TN and show me some stuff. Don't forget you gotta tell the wife you're my "cousin" from Nebraska.. lol

 

[CudaChick1968]

Thanks!! Congrats on the free oven too -- nice score. I haven't taken a vacation in 11 years but I'll keep the offer in mind. But YOU gotta deal with the wife ............. That's above and beyond the scope of my duties. LOL

 

[CudaChick1968]

My powder supplier revealed something they've been working on for awhile. Hey 99, check this out ... it might save you from reinventing the wheel after all.

http://www.prismaticpowders.com/resource/knowledgebase/

 

[99ishvr4]

My powder supplier revealed something they've been working on for awhile. Hey 99, check this out ... it might save you from reinventing the wheel after all.

http://www.prismaticpowders.com/resource/knowledgebase/

After looking at their site, they haven't covered any of the same things I have written about and I haven't covered any of the things they have written about.. yet. So no wheels are being reinvented, just different wheels entirely.

 

[Detective Coating]

I tinker with it

 

[CudaChick1968]

Nice website there Mr. Detective! Beautiful facility too. Your survey up in the corner of the home page made me laugh.

 

[Detective Coating]

Nice website there Mr. Detective! Beautiful facility too. Your survey up in the corner of the home page made me laugh.

Hey, thanks! I just got the new place setup and have been waiting 4 weeks now for the permit chit to get finished up, UGH! Blah, thanks for pointing that out. I will be removing it now since it's ****. It did work originally but must be one of those "free for the first day and we remove it after that until you sign up for our $1,000/yr service"

 

[CudaChick1968]

Hey, thanks! I just got the new place setup and have been waiting 4 weeks now for the permit chit to get finished up, UGH! Blah, thanks for pointing that out. I will be removing it now since it's ****. It did work originally but must be one of those "free for the first day and we remove it after that until you sign up for our $1,000/yr service"

Yeah, those SEO guys are sneaky ... regardless, keep up the fine work! It looks like you keep a lot of Mitsu guys very happy.

 

[TheReal309]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone here does their own powder coating or were thinking about doing their own powder coating?

Edit: now that I see there might be some people wanting to see it, I will go ahead and post my powder coating guide: Powder Coating: The Complete Guide[/

I found your guide to be useful. I know from experience that it's a lot of work to design and maintain a website. I'm getting ready to start powdercoating and plan to build my own blasting cabinet and oven to handle larger parts (motorcycle frame).

 

[TheReal309]

CudaChick, I just checked out your website..absolutely stunning work you do! When I do my motorcycle project, if I run into something I can't handle, it's getting shipped to you!

 

[CudaChick1968]

CudaChick, I just checked out your website..absolutely stunning work you do! When I do my motorcycle project, if I run into something I can't handle, it's getting shipped to you!

Thank you kindly 309! I have several months' worth of new work and customer feedback to add to it too but there never seems to be enough time in the day for everything. The most recent stuff is on the shop's FaceBook Fan Page -- my Friday Powder **** -- only because it's so much more convenient and faster than updating my website is. Or maybe I'm just lazy. LOL

Good luck with the bike project! I'll be around if ya need me. Thanks again for checking out my labors of love ...

 

[aka Larry]

Thank you kindly 309! I have several months' worth of new work and customer feedback to add to it too but there never seems to be enough time in the day for everything. The most recent stuff is on the shop's FaceBook Fan Page -- my Friday Powder **** -- only because it's so much more convenient and faster than updating my website is. Or maybe I'm just lazy. LOL

Good luck with the bike project! I'll be around if ya need me. Thanks again for checking out my labors of love ...

Leanna, quick 'yer yapping and get to work on my project.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Leanna, quick 'yer yapping and get to work on my project.

Hey now, I worked until 12:45 a.m. I have to sleep some time!! But you're right ... I'm wigglin' off to the shop now. There's metal out there awaiting attention from The Mistress. I had to come up with a decent draft press release for my latest in Customer Appreciation Gifts ................. ya'll just wait. You're gonna LAUGH!!!

 

[99ishvr4]

Hey, thanks! I just got the new place setup and have been waiting 4 weeks now for the permit chit to get finished up, UGH! Blah, thanks for pointing that out. I will be removing it now since it's ****. It did work originally but must be one of those "free for the first day and we remove it after that until you sign up for our $1,000/yr service"

Nice looking shop, I see you over on powder365 all the time. Great looking parts on the website. I even see you even did some 3000gt parts, nice job!

I found your guide to be useful. I know from experience that it's a lot of work to design and maintain a website. I'm getting ready to start powdercoating and plan to build my own blasting cabinet and oven to handle larger parts (motorcycle frame).

Thank you and I'm glad you got some use out of it. Unfortunately the site is on the back burner right now since I have been spending all my free time in the garage. I will continue to update, although not as frequently this month. Good luck on the oven and cabinet building, you should post some pics up when you get started.

 

[bfr57]

I also PC part time. Started like a lot of people with a $20 household oven doing my own stuff and quickly out grew it. Did a few jobs for friends, who told friends, and so on, and have a good referral base. I made my own 4'x4'x4' oven and am looking to expand that once I get my new garage situated. Your oven size is your limitation. I have a HS02 gun, blast cabinet and a vat of B17 stripper which is amazing at taking off PC; stuff actually boils when coated parts are submersed! Like any covering like this or paint, prep is the most important; have a bad surface, things aren't going to turn out pretty. As eluded on this post, I learned by reading the different PC forums, asking questions, and trail and error. Learning all the terms such as dormant, translucent, epoxy, TGIC, etc. will also help! As Nike says, Just do it!
On a side note, I am getting tired of spraying black, either flat or gloss! Seems like that's what everybody wants, especially rims! But, at least it funds my car addiction!!

 

[99ishvr4]

I also PC part time. Started like a lot of people with a $20 household oven doing my own stuff and quickly out grew it. Did a few jobs for friends, who told friends, and so on, and have a good referral base. I made my own 4'x4'x4' oven and am looking to expand that once I get my new garage situated. Your oven size is your limitation. I have a HS02 gun, blast cabinet and a vat of B17 stripper which is amazing at taking off PC; stuff actually boils when coated parts are submersed! Like any covering like this or paint, prep is the most important; have a bad surface, things aren't going to turn out pretty. As eluded on this post, I learned by reading the different PC forums, asking questions, and trail and error. Learning all the terms such as dormant, translucent, epoxy, TGIC, etc. will also help! As Nike says, Just do it!
On a side note, I am getting tired of spraying black, either flat or gloss! Seems like that's what everybody wants, especially rims! But, at least it funds my car addiction!!

Good tips, I have had quite a few requests from friends and friends of friends to do powder coating for them but I have been able to resist so far. Just too busy with my own car. Your parts look great, that is a crazy color for a patio table, lol. I hear the black thing quite a bit. I think its just because black is safe, it goes with everything and it looks clean. But it does get boring, even doing my own parts. I look forward to the exciting black chrome parts every now and then

 

[CudaChick1968]

Black isn't always boring ...

 

[NHBandit]

Black isn't always boring ...

Amazing work ! I remember my buddy who had the PC shop a few years back telling me you couldn't do that because the colors would run together when you bake it. Obviously you have a few tricks up your sleeve that he didn't know about.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Thank you!!! I don't like hearing "You can't do that" so I'm never afraid to try something new. I love the multi-color stuff -- and it's rare that any two are alike so it keeps my days interesting around here.

And just like your namesake in that old movie, Mr. Bandit ... you are a silver tongued devil.

 

[4v shane]

hey, thanks! I just got the new place setup and have been waiting 4 weeks now for the permit chit to get finished up, ugh! Blah, thanks for pointing that out. I will be removing it now since it's ****. It did work originally but must be one of those "free for the first day and we remove it after that until you sign up for our $1,000/yr service"

shut up and go work noob!

 

[99ishvr4]

Amazing work ! I remember my buddy who had the PC shop a few years back telling me you couldn't do that because the colors would run together when you bake it. Obviously you have a few tricks up your sleeve that he didn't know about.

Your buddy should check out my article on masking if he doesn't mind taking advice from a hobbyist. It should help him with his tape lines.

Powder Coat Masking Pt.2

 

[NHBandit]

Thank you!!! I don't like hearing "You can't do that" so I'm never afraid to try something new. I love the multi-color stuff -- and it's rare that any two are alike so it keeps my days interesting around here.

And just like your namesake in that old movie, Mr. Bandit ... you are a silver tongued devil.

Funny you should mention that movie. This just followed me home a couple weeks ago...