soon to be on the powder coating bus!

[lilpeenoiracer]

well after 4 days of trial and complete error on painting my friends valve covers the way he wanted in this cold i realazied it wont work, first i dont have a painters touch, only use a rattle can, no heat lamps or ne thing like that, and takes way too long to cure. so tonight got off from school early and tried for the last time and no luck, i hate painting, its to messy for it to come out clean!

well my friend and i thought about it and the crapsman powder coater poped up in my head! we decided to pick it up adn go 1/2s on it, well did a good search on this forum and have decided on the eastwood elite hot coat kit, and searched recycler for that past hour or so for used electric ovens. i will be making calles b4 school tomarow and hopefully we can get this whole thing going for about 300 buks, including runing a 220vac to the outside of my house, thinking about running it paralele with my compressor but have to consult my electrician( my dad) and see if that would be wise. istead of paying 60 bucks a valve cover we are spending 300 buks on endless possibilities, well probably more powder if we run out too.

its exciting lol, so mayn thing i always wanted powder coated, adn nows my chance, the video on eastwood makes it look easy but i know its got to be alot harder than it looks, but im willing to learn. but am i in over my head on this or what u guys thinkg 19year old doing powder coating on the side of his parents house?

well heres the kit im looking at right now not sure if the extra cash for the elite is actually worth it compared to the delux, again i am going to be the biggest noob to this so anything extra with the kit could possibly help. but then again its christmas and we are on a budget lol.

the elite
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...UCT&iMainCat=459&iSubCat=460&iProductID=16394

the delux
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=5572&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1,2,458,459&KickerID=105&KICKER

oh yea what do i look for in powder coating car parts? do i need them allt o be high temp? and high temp is only 1000*F right? so headers would be a nogo?

thanks everyone i feel like im starting to ask too many question on this fourum, but your guys give me the most information for my future, unlike my carspecific forums. thanks again.

 

[mb190sl]

I don't have any experience with power coating, but I am interested in what you learn. I have been thinking along the same lines, but have not had the project yet that needs power coat. I think once you are set up to power coat you will find lots of things that need coating.
Good luck and let us know how it works.

 

[mikeyr]

look out, its highly addictive, that powder is a drug.

I started out with the Eastwood elite kit and a toaster oven since all I wanted to powder was small, then I went with a used kitchen oven, then I upgraded to a Eastwood pro gun, then I upgraded to a professional oven, it never stops.

As far as the project that needs powder, I disagree that you have not found one yet that needs powder, everything needs it. I have not painted in 3 years now, large or small, I powder it. From small brake calipers to motorcycle frames it and everything in between.

 

[PAToyota]

look out, its highly addictive, that powder is a drug.

You're not supposed to be snorting or smoking it!!!

 

[lilpeenoiracer]

mayn my problem right now is finding a cheap oven then wiring it up to my already full panel.

 

[mikeyr]

You're not supposed to be snorting or smoking it!!!

oh I am not ?

mayn my problem right now is finding a cheap oven then wiring it up to my already full panel.

That is the problem, it was my problem also as I kept upgrading my oven, finally had to bite the bullet and upgrade the house main panel and run a sub to the garage in order to get the commercial oven. With the small kitchen oven I had to make sure the compressor would not kick in and that my wife did not run the dryer or we would pop breakers, the bigger oven would not even have heated up. I no longer have that problem

 

[toms73novass]

I upgraded to a Eastwood pro gun, then I upgraded to a professional oven, it never stops.

How much better is the pro gun?

Right now I am using the harbor freight gun and it has done the job for me, however, I would say that more "static" attraction would be a big improvment.

Here are a few of the parts that I have done with PC. Almost anything that goes back on my cars is PC'd infact the crossmember on my firebird I coated. I converted a old metal referigerator (stripped out the insides except insulation and covered in sheetmetal) put the guts of a home electric stove in it and it works great!

 

[eschoendorff]

How much better is the pro gun?

Right now I am using the harbor freight gun and it has done the job for me, however, I would say that more "static" attraction would be a big improvment.

Here are a few of the parts that I have done with PC. Almost anything that goes back on my cars is PC'd infact the crossmember on my firebird I coated. I converted a old metal referigerator (stripped out the insides except insulation and covered in sheetmetal) put the guts of a home electric stove in it and it works great!

WOW! That looks really great. Makes me think I should get a PC setup too...

 

[Mandres]

That bell housing looks awesome! Did you PC the brake rotors too? That seems like a bad idea to me.

 

[mikeyr]

What did you use on the bell housing/gearbox ? looks like EW Mirror Blue but is it Translucent over chrome ?

I find the pro gun to be much better than the hobby gun in 2 ways. First, it gives a better "cloud" with less spitting of powder, the cloud of powder is much more controllable. The second is really only helpful on second coats and that is being able to dial up the power on already coated parts and being able to lower the power on faraday effect parts. I find the first to be the bets reason for the pro-gun.

 

[mikeyr]

That bell housing looks awesome! Did you PC the brake rotors too? That seems like a bad idea to me.

I can't answer for him if he did or did not do the rotors but I regularly do rotors, of course NOT the pad area, just the hub part and I assume that is all that was done on this one.

 

[bmwpower]

G'damn, I'm jealous. I never thought about converting a fridge to an oven. That's a great idea and saves some floor space, too. I wonder if it would be possible to make a unit that breaks down for storage?

 

[lilpeenoiracer]

wat type of powder coat do i get? do i have to use HIGH temp on engine parts? or is standard fine, i plan on doing as much as possible with powder coating, valve covers to alt housins/ bracket to heat shields and if posisble manifolds

 

[toms73novass]

Mandres,
Yes the rotors are PC'd I do the inside fins and hub not the braking surface. I had a discussion with an engineer about heat transfer a coated surface vs a rusty rotor and he believed the pc'd surface would be better then the rusty surface. So that is what I went with, plus it looks good too.Have been driving with coated rotors for 5 years and never a problem.(But I am also not racing either)

Mikeyr,
I used pendry powder coatings powder on that transmission, it is alsmost chrome topped with candy blue.

lilpeenonracer,

All the powder that I use is standard urethane powder. It can easily handle engine temps, just not manifold tems. For manifolds I ceramic coat them.

PAToyota,
I am addicted to Powder myself snorting the stuff is a heck of a lot cheaper the crack!

The only thing that I need to make up is a booth with filtration. During the summer I do most of it outside as in my first pic, however, in the winter I have a back room I do it in and it ends up with powder here and there. I was looking at one of these from eastwood to base my plans on, however, I am out space and in the planning/saving phase of my garage build next spring.

 

[Special55]

Mandres,
Yes the rotors are PC'd I do the inside fins and hub not the braking surface. I had a discussion with an engineer about heat transfer a coated surface vs a rusty rotor and he believed the pc'd surface would be better then the rusty surface. So that is what I went with, plus it looks good too.Have been driving with coated rotors for 5 years and never a problem.(But I am also not racing either)

Mikeyr,
I used pendry powder coatings powder on that transmission, it is alsmost chrome topped with candy blue.

lilpeenonracer,

All the powder that I use is standard urethane powder. It can easily handle engine temps, just not manifold tems. For manifolds I ceramic coat them.

PAToyota,
I am addicted to Powder myself snorting the stuff is a heck of a lot cheaper the crack!

The only thing that I need to make up is a booth with filtration. During the summer I do most of it outside as in my first pic, however, in the winter I have a back room I do it in and it ends up with powder here and there. I was looking at one of these from eastwood to base my plans on, however, I am out space and in the planning/saving phase of my garage build next spring.

If you have more time than money like many of us you may find this info helpful.
http://www.autorestorer.com/articles/art122_1.html
I have not taken the PC plunge yet but plan to build my own booth when I do.

Rich

 

[Der Bugmeister]

When I'm able to get a PC rig, I'm thinking I might look at a wall oven for space savings...

 

[HighOctane]

I love the look of a nice powder coat, way better then paint.

 

[rdagger]

Here's a DIY Powder Coat Oven. I'm still using a toaster oven, but one of these days...

 

[KCHOTBOAT]

I had three different guns and found the hobby HOTcoat to work the best. The other two guns where the HF and hobby Redline which the gun was junk but the electronics where great. I got out of powder coating becaused we moved to a new house and was going to be sometime before I could get my garage setup. If I do buy another gun it will be the Eastwood progun.

 

[mikeyr]

wat type of powder coat do i get? do i have to use HIGH temp on engine parts? or is standard fine, i plan on doing as much as possible with powder coating, valve covers to alt housins/ bracket to heat shields and if posisble manifolds

Mostly standard powder is fine. Powder cures at 350-400 and will hold up to repeated temps to around 275-300, most motor parts will not get that hot. I have done intake manifolds with regular powder and they hold up fine, exhaust of course you need high temp. I did a old pre-war British car where the intake and exhaust were next to each and on that car the intake did bubble up a little near the exhaust tubes, It was not enough for the owner to take it apart and have me redo it even though I offered to repair it for free.

Heat shields are different, you need to figure out what temp they sit at when the car is running, most of them can done with standard powder but some will need high temp. On a Ferrari Dino there is a heat shield to protect the starter and that sits only a inches from the exhaust pipes, not knowing better I did it with standard powder and it has held up over 2 years now, I think its because the shield is so thin that it dissipates the heat very fast that the standard powder worked.

If in doubt, get Santa to deliver you a IR thermometer and when the car is running (or a friends if yours is not) check the temps.

 

[lilpeenoiracer]

How much better is the pro gun?

Right now I am using the harbor freight gun and it has done the job for me, however, I would say that more "static" attraction would be a big improvment.

Here are a few of the parts that I have done with PC. Almost anything that goes back on my cars is PC'd infact the crossmember on my firebird I coated. I converted a old metal referigerator (stripped out the insides except insulation and covered in sheetmetal) put the guts of a home electric stove in it and it works great!

do you have a picture of the frig converted oven? thinking about doing this, picked up a small 27" oven today and can barely fit our valve covers. id like somthing lrger

 

[toms73novass]

do you have a picture of the frig converted oven? thinking about doing this, picked up a small 27" oven today and can barely fit our valve covers. id like somthing lrger

I have a picture of it when I was stripping out the guts, I'll have to get a updated shot of it for you.

Some of the things required becides the changing of the interior. You have to change the hinge machanism. I used standard door hinges attached to the outside and I placed a fireplace stove gasket around the door so that when closed it it pretty tight. I did put a heat stack in the back corner of the stove to let out some of the heat, (the original stove had one so I thought it a good idea to reuse it in the conversion). I also put in swing window so I could peek inside and take IR readings as the parts cured. I also took the light unit from the oven and transferred it.

When I am using the oven I do not "leave" to do other things, just to be safe, however, I also do not sit there and stare at it, I do other work. I have it hooked up with a 220v twist lock extension chord so this way I plug it in when using it and unplug as soon as done.

One other thing that I have done to help with the preheating. I purchased a propane "weed burner" from harbor freight, basically a flame blaster hooked directly to propane tank. I made a port in the side bottom and use this set on low to preheat the oven so that I do not have to wait so long for the oven to get up to temp. I also found with ceramic coating that needs to be above 500 for an hour my electric unit struggles to stay at 500 where with the propane assist that is no problem.

here is pic of oven/refrig gutted.

 

[toms73novass]

If you have more time than money like many of us you may find this info helpful.
http://www.autorestorer.com/articles/art122_1.html
I have not taken the PC plunge yet but plan to build my own booth when I do.

Rich

Rich, Thank YOU!!!!

 

[VDubJoe]

Heres a great forum on building an oven. Also Caswell has some good stuff.
http://forum.caswellplating.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

Joe

 

[VDubJoe]

Also this looks to be a pretty good deal. I have a harbor freight gun thats works sota. http://www.caswellplating.com/powder/hvpc.html

Joe

 

[lilpeenoiracer]

thanks guys last ngiht i couldnt sleep cause i stumbled on the caswellplatting fourm lol but im planning on building from scratch now lol

 

[toms73novass]

Ok I didn't forget abou the pic. Here is the inside of the oven. All lined with sheet metal, you will notice the heating element on the bottom the thermosensor on the back left and oven light on the back right. I also put angle iron on the sides to put a shelf lower in the oven it also keeps the sheetmetal from bowing in because of the insulation pushing out on it. Also used standard door hinges so it closes tight and a fireplace fiberglass gasket to keep the heat in. (gasket missing in picture) All the oven wiring and such are on the back of the unit and on the side I made a small bracket to hold the temp control knobs, not in pic.