JrRifleCoach

Recently purchased and installed a new flexplate from Scat that was Black powder coated. I ordered a "cad" plate.
Bolt torque specs were applied and double checked.
During a starter inspection today, all three torque converter bolts were discovered loose and could be removed without tools.
The paint was flaking off underneath bolt heads and TC flanges, thereby reducing the torque value to zero.
The decision to check the 6 crankshaft bolts was wise as the same condition was found there as well.
The shocking part of this discovery is only 100 miles had been accumulated on the installation! No heavy driving or horsing around.

I will contacting Scat. But in the mean time be advised that powder coat will not hold up to the pressure underneath bolt/nuts.

cv67

Oh boy...good save, major bullet dodged there! Whod have guessed?

Midnight 85

It's a fact, as hard as powdercoat is it will crack under bolts & nuts. Bad move to pc a flexplate.

RichS

Was locktight used on the threads? I always use it on converter bolts!

WW7

You beat me to it Rich.. I always use blue locktight on these bolts. I have seen them come loose without locktight several times...WW

93 ragtop

Maybe I am missing something here, but why powder coat a flex plate? It cant be seen, and I have never seen or heard of a flexplate rusting especially to the point it caused structural damage.

higgyburners

I dont think there Powdercoat had the proper curing time or temperature, at the shop I work at we can hit a 1/4 plate on the edge with a sledge hammer and the PC will not fail. It is a science and if there setting arent just right you will have PC failure. I have seen it a thousand times but thats just my opinion

96GS#007

JrRifleCoach

Locktight would not have made any difference.
The paint crushed under the pressure after torque was applied.
It took a short while before every bolt on the flex plate was loose.

We ground off the paint around the bolt holes (both sides) and applied blue loctite before torquing.

SunCr

I did my exhaust years ago and there hasn't been a problem. Why would you pc a flex plate?

cv67

To keep it from rusting on the boatride over

JrRifleCoach

Ya know I questioned the PC as well.

But coming from a company like SCAT who would question their integrity?

Louisiana vette man

so you dont advise doing my valve covers?

JrRifleCoach

Shouldn't be a problem. Just clean the paint from where the heads will contact the cover.

Midnight 85

While it is true that you can smack pc with hammer and not hurt it, tightening down a bolt is whole different story. The twisting and the pressure combined will remove the pc BUT you will not be able to see the bare spot because it will come off right at the fasteners edge. Before I started doing my own pc I was having it done by House of Powder, it was one of the first pc businesses around and you can probably Google them to read about them. Anyway, the first time I did business with them they expressed the fact of the pc failing under a bolt or nut, they did not want a dissatisfied customer. Once I started doing my own I experimented with different methods but they all ended up the same way.