I thought I heard my ears ringing! :icon_winkle: Sorry for the delay. I don't get onto FBBO that often.
First off, thanks to jessipup and RustyRatRod for the mention. I picked out a few of the responses above and will add what I can here.
You must have a great wife to let you cook car parts in her oven. I remember someone talking about the UV rays affecting durability also. Didn't know if it was because of poor prep or just that powdercoating wasn't the greatest for this application.
It's not so much the prep or the parts that affect powder coating's UltraViolet stability, it's the powder itself. Most powders formulated for automotive / outdoor use are already UV stable -- hybrids and epoxies are generally not recommended for automotive applications. With few exceptions, a good powder clear coat on top of your chosen color(s) is all you need to keep the parts UV stable and looking fantastic for many years. Mainly you will see oxidation after a few years (or following long term exposure to a lot of direct sunlight) on silvers, golds and chrome-looking powders; they oxidize because there's real metal in the powder. If it's not cleared, you will eventually end up having to polish it.
Dude look up Cudachick She knows all there is to know and if you decide to farm it out Phoenix powder coat is the only company I would consider. Top shelf folks, top shelf work and a FBBO member
Thanks again pup!!! :-D I really appreciate the plug doll but I need to clarify that Phoenix Powder Coating is in New Jersey, has only been open for a couple of years, does not do any custom work or specialize in Mopar parts (to my knowledge anyhow) like I do, and has absolutely NO affiliation with my shop in any way, shape or form.
I have owned and operated
Phoenix Specialty Coatings in Greenfield, Tennessee since May of 2007. The majority of my business comes from FABO members and has for several years now.
Curing the parts in the oven does create quite the stink! I don't know how much you were quoted for coating your parts but if you have the room and some time, doing it yourself is easy and you can achieve decent results. If it fits in your blast cabinet and oven, it ain't rocket science.
That's how most professionals start out, as a hobby working on our own cars. I will not completely agree that it's always easy or that you can achieve decent results without any practice ... and to be totally honest, some of the jobs I've done in the past probably couldn't even be attempted by a rocket scientist. LOL!!
ragtop, I recall we talked about some work on your Satellite a couple years ago. Just for fun, I see your little black brackets and will raise you a few teasers just as an illustration of what can be done with powders :love5: ...
It's as durable as the preparation is good. I've seen some Powder coating blow off fairly easily, some, is impossible to get off as it was put on so good!
So true Donny! And I can tell you with certainty that a good, long-lasting job was prepped, sprayed and cured properly. If you have powder coating that chips easily, flakes off in sheets or chunks, looks or feels bumpy, orange peels (a little orange peel is normal in powder but a LOT isn't), some parts are shiny and others are not, etc., then there was some problem -- or a combination of several -- that caused the issue(s). Most can be attributed to substandard or incomplete prep work.
The way I understand it is, powdercoat is much harder than paint, so that makes it brittle. You wouldn't want to powdercoat say, a frame for instance, since it will twist and tweak and possibly crack the powdercoat and cause it to get contamination under it. I may be wrong about that, but that's always been my understanding.
I'm not 100% sure. That's why I said "it's been my understanding" because I'm not sure about it. I DO know powedercoating is tougher than paint so it's stands to reason it cannot stand flexing as much. I wish Leanna would chime in on this. She is the Mistress of Metal.
Powder coating is much more flexible than paint but, again, a quality job requires quality prep and finish work. Curing for too long or at the improper temperature for instance can make powder coating brittle, change the color, chip easily, and even adversely affect the metal itself (especially when working with alloys such as rims).
... I was amazed and bought into it just like many others and have used it for my own projects only to be disappointed when it chalked, faded or rust formed under a tiny chip and caused a very large section to pop off. Like all things in this world you get what you pay for and there are low & high end powder coatings. you must also be careful because the company I worked for would lie the UV rating. I still like powder coating cause its easy but i choose where I use it more carefully now.
If a tiny chip resulted in a big section of your powder falling off, you probably had oil, residue from the blasting media, undissolved solids in your rinse agent, or cured it too hot or for too long ... but without seeing the part it's tough to tell from a description. If you run into that again in the future, shoot me a few pictures and I can try to help you figure out the source problem. Most likely it's NOT caused by cheap powder.
I'm here to help if any of you need it! Feel free to shoot me an email, give me a call or send me a PM. Now that I just finished up my first job for MarPar, a FBBO-exclusive member who
isn't on FABO lol, I guess I'll have to check in here more often now. :icon_lol: Just wait til you see his 6-color MP valve covers heh hehhhhhhhhhh ... they'll have a cameo spot front and center on my website soon but he gets to see 'em first.
Nicely done sir!
