Powder Coating Question..
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,752
Likes: 62
From: New Madison Ohio
Powder Coating Question..
I have an 84. I was wondering what material the air cleaner housing is made of and can it be powder coated? I heard somewhere it was made of magnesium is this true? One website said magnesium is an unstable metal for powder coating is this true? Also are the valve covers made of the same metal or are they aluminum? Any advise on painting or powder coating these items are appreciated...thanks...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 7,182
Likes: 101
From: Pendleton IN
Magnesium has an outgassing characteristic when heated.
I had a set of Dymag wheels powder coated today, actually. We had some small bubbling. Sanded it down and coated them again. They looked pretty good but not perfect. Good enough though.
I'd stay away from powder coating the air cleaner if it is actually magnesium. Same for valve covers. Someone here will know if they are nagnesium.
I had a set of Dymag wheels powder coated today, actually. We had some small bubbling. Sanded it down and coated them again. They looked pretty good but not perfect. Good enough though.
I'd stay away from powder coating the air cleaner if it is actually magnesium. Same for valve covers. Someone here will know if they are nagnesium.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 14,150
Likes: 937
From: Fremont Ca
2022 C4 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Both the air cleaner and valve covers are magnesium.You could paint these and they would look just as nice,just not as easy as dropping them off and having them done.Heres my car I recently sold.I painted the the parts with black Zolotone years ago and it looked great.[IMG]
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Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,223
Likes: 0
A good powder coater can do magnesium no problem.
We do magnesium parts all the time for people. A lot of the bigger shops that do mostly trailers and such probably won't be setup for doing magnesium so they'll shy away from doing it.
When we do magnesium we have a special process we do on them. First, the normal stripper that most use is corrosive to magnesium so we have a special stripper that is magnesium safe.
Second, we have 1 blast cabinet set aside for magnesium. We blast the part then throw the media away so there are no fire hazards ect.
The magnesium does tend to out gas more than some other metals so we run them through a much longer out gas cycle (maybe 2 hrs instead of 30 minutes for other stuff).
I also usually spray down a out gas killing primer that is sandable. Helps seal the magnesium, and if there are imperfections it will fill them.
Once we've layed down a coat of the primer I put down a coat of what ever color the owner request, and cure as normal.
You will probably pay a little extra to have magnesium done, but that's just simply the powder coat shop having to cover the extra cost of coating magnesium.
Nothing wrong with painting stuff, but the powder coat is just usually more durable than I could ever get anything to come out of a rattle can.
We do magnesium parts all the time for people. A lot of the bigger shops that do mostly trailers and such probably won't be setup for doing magnesium so they'll shy away from doing it.
When we do magnesium we have a special process we do on them. First, the normal stripper that most use is corrosive to magnesium so we have a special stripper that is magnesium safe.
Second, we have 1 blast cabinet set aside for magnesium. We blast the part then throw the media away so there are no fire hazards ect.
The magnesium does tend to out gas more than some other metals so we run them through a much longer out gas cycle (maybe 2 hrs instead of 30 minutes for other stuff).
I also usually spray down a out gas killing primer that is sandable. Helps seal the magnesium, and if there are imperfections it will fill them.
Once we've layed down a coat of the primer I put down a coat of what ever color the owner request, and cure as normal.
You will probably pay a little extra to have magnesium done, but that's just simply the powder coat shop having to cover the extra cost of coating magnesium.
Nothing wrong with painting stuff, but the powder coat is just usually more durable than I could ever get anything to come out of a rattle can.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 14,150
Likes: 937
From: Fremont Ca
2022 C4 of the Year Finalist - Modified
These parts were powder coated originally so somebody was doing it right.Ive got a set of 84 valve covers that I want to refinish to the stock finish,either powder or wet paint.
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Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,752
Likes: 62
From: New Madison Ohio
Thanks for info guys much appreciated. I have an e-mail into a local powder coating place in piqua, oh. If they can't do it I will probably get them painted..again thanks for the info....