Powder coat prep required?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 996
Likes: 13
From: Dallas TX
Powder coat prep required?
With my restoration I have a ton of parts to PC so I was going to attempt it myself. What I was unsure of was the chemicals required for surface preparation prior to PCing. After blasting, I see that many PCers apply zinc phosphate or iron phosphate coatings to parts before PCing. My understanding is that these phosphate coatings help the PC bond better to the part.
After searching some I found a phosphoric acid product by Eastwood called Fast Etch. This product zaps the remaining rust, etches the surfaces and coats the part with zinc phosphate.
My questions are:
Do you leave this coating on prior to PCing?
Or is this coating just to prevent flash rust prior to painting and you remove it with something like EW Pre-paint prep just prior to PCing?
After searching some I found a phosphoric acid product by Eastwood called Fast Etch. This product zaps the remaining rust, etches the surfaces and coats the part with zinc phosphate.
My questions are:
Do you leave this coating on prior to PCing?
Or is this coating just to prevent flash rust prior to painting and you remove it with something like EW Pre-paint prep just prior to PCing?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,363
Likes: 303
From: Lansdale 19446 PA
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '10-'11, '15, '19
I have been doing my own powder coating for years and I have never done anything more then blast the part, PC the part then cure it in my oven. I have parts on my 76 that were done 15+ years ago and they still look great.
The only thing I do different is when I PC anything aluminum. I bake it in my oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes to degas the part. Then I powder coat it and cure it.
I purchased my first PC gun in 1997 from Eastwood and will never go back to paint, and paint, and paint.....
I have an oven I picked up cheap off Craiglist - paid $50 and it is still going strong. Would never use the kitchen stove!!
John
The only thing I do different is when I PC anything aluminum. I bake it in my oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes to degas the part. Then I powder coat it and cure it.
I purchased my first PC gun in 1997 from Eastwood and will never go back to paint, and paint, and paint.....
I have an oven I picked up cheap off Craiglist - paid $50 and it is still going strong. Would never use the kitchen stove!!
John
Last edited by Go Vette Go; Jul 26, 2017 at 05:12 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 996
Likes: 13
From: Dallas TX
The kit I am purchasing is the EW dual voltage gun + oven combo. It's under $200. However, the oven isn't large enough to put my control arms in.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 951
Likes: 215
From: Foothills of the Adirondacks.
I have been doing my own powder coating for years and I have never done anything more then blast the part, PC the part then cure it in my oven. I have parts on my 76 that were done 15+ years ago and they still look great.
The only thing I do different is when I PC anything aluminum. I bake it in my oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes to degas the part. Then I powder coat it and cure it.
I purchased my first PC gun in 1997 from Eastwood and will never go back to paint, and paint, and paint.....
I have an oven I picked up cheap off Craiglist - paid $50 and it is still going strong. Would never use the kitchen stove!!
John
The only thing I do different is when I PC anything aluminum. I bake it in my oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes to degas the part. Then I powder coat it and cure it.
I purchased my first PC gun in 1997 from Eastwood and will never go back to paint, and paint, and paint.....
I have an oven I picked up cheap off Craiglist - paid $50 and it is still going strong. Would never use the kitchen stove!!
John
Also, I paid 20 bucks for my oven.
Look on youtube. Eastwood made a bunch of very good powdercoating how-tos.
Yeah powdercoating is addictive. Eff spray can paint on car parts.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,363
Likes: 303
From: Lansdale 19446 PA
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '10-'11, '15, '19
That was going to be my approach ... until I read something that said that phosphate coating would help with rust prevention even if the paint is chipped. For most parts, chipping isn't a concern but the first parts that I am doing are all suspension or under body parts..
I scan Craigslist regularly to see if any 36" ovens come available. Good luck with your project!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,363
Likes: 303
From: Lansdale 19446 PA
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '10-'11, '15, '19
You are right about painting the parts. I ripped the front suspension off my 76, painted it and put it together with new bushings. Looked good for maybe a year. That's when I got the PC gun and tore it apart the next winter. It still looks like new and it has been 15 years! PC is the way to go for sure.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,071
Likes: 322
From: palm springs ca
I have been doing my own powder coating for years and I have never done anything more then blast the part, PC the part then cure it in my oven. I have parts on my 76 that were done 15+ years ago and they still look great.
The only thing I do different is when I PC anything aluminum. I bake it in my oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes to degas the part. Then I powder coat it and cure it.
I purchased my first PC gun in 1997 from Eastwood and will never go back to paint, and paint, and paint.....
I have an oven I picked up cheap off Craiglist - paid $50 and it is still going strong. Would never use the kitchen stove!!
John
The only thing I do different is when I PC anything aluminum. I bake it in my oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes to degas the part. Then I powder coat it and cure it.
I purchased my first PC gun in 1997 from Eastwood and will never go back to paint, and paint, and paint.....
I have an oven I picked up cheap off Craiglist - paid $50 and it is still going strong. Would never use the kitchen stove!!
John
I sent my stuff out because of the size. but lately my aluminum gave them fits and bubbled. I will tell them about your de gassing. The place is a very large place and they run the parts assembly line. They do a rinse, but I think it is only to remove any blasting dust.
Dom
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
It won't hurt top use an etch. I deal with industrial enclosure manufacturers at work. They all use a wash that includes an etch of some sort. The washing is typically done in multiple steps. The 3 basic steps used are grease and oil cleaning, acid etch and acid neutralizer but some use even more steps. Part of qualifying enclosures to get a UL or CSA listing requires a salt water spray test for something like 50 hours so it requires good prep and powder processes to pass.
I've seen powder peel on industrial enclosures. It's strong enough it holds util there is enough damage that it comes off in large pieces.
I've seen powder peel on industrial enclosures. It's strong enough it holds util there is enough damage that it comes off in large pieces.
Last edited by lionelhutz; Jul 29, 2017 at 09:55 AM.
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