Powder Coating

[Re-Vision]

Plan on having a bike sand blasted and powder coated this coming week, looking for tips that might prevent me from screwing anything up. Tia         BDC 

[dingleberry]

Surely the only thing that could be screwed up would be the colour or falling off the trailer in transit? Hope it all goes well and doesn't come back pink!

[Kenny]

  Hi,
    I recently had a 83 Vision I purchased in  Quebec  sand blasted & powder coated , be sure to have the swing arm bearing surfaces & steering stem bearing surfaces covered for protection.
  Mine came out great. Another item you may wish to consider is if you want to keep all the metal wiring harness tabs or substitute plastic tie wraps, your call.
   Cheers Ken S. ;)

[The Prophet of Doom]

I've had really poor, and really good powder coating done in the past.  There doesn't seem to be any way to tell which you will get.

I'd talk to them first about masking - generally they seem happy for you to do the masking.  It saves you a packet as this is the most time consuming part - and lowers their risk.  My guys even gave me free high temp tape to use

+1 for de-tabbing the frame.

[lexx790]

I've had really poor, and really good powder coating done in the past.  There doesn't seem to be any way to tell which you will get.

I'd talk to them first about masking - generally they seem happy for you to do the masking.  It saves you a packet as this is the most time consuming part - and lowers their risk.  My guys even gave me free high temp tape to use

+1 for de-tabbing the frame.

Totally agree, +2 for de-tabbing if they haven't already half broken off

[Re-Vision]

Dropped the frame off at the powder coater Monday, told him I wasn't in a hurry. I decided to leave the tabs on as they all looked to be in good condition.     BDC

[Re-Vision]

Anyone ever powder-coated a swing arm? I haven't disassembled one and was wondering about seals and parts that might melt.      BDC

[The Prophet of Doom]

I have - Take the transmission off, that only leaves one bearing but no plastic.  I didn't mask it and it got filled with blasting media and it took ages to get that out.

I don't think you could do the transmission without a full disassembly which I think you need special tools for.

[Re-Vision]

Got my frame back, had a not-so-glossy black coating applied and it looks quite good to me. Now the fun begins, hoping I can keep up the interest to finish the project. My aim is to build up an 82 with 83 upgrades and also an 83 with a fairing. Once I've picked all the components for these two bikes. I plan on getting rid of everything that's left over. Any one wanting to trade high grade appearance items will receive preference on these items.       BDC

[The Prophet of Doom]

With powder you just don't get the dead black or full gloss of an enamel paint, but as a tradeoff you get ruggedness, and chemical resistance.
I wouldn't powder bodywork or a tank, but for everything else it's quite superior.

[dingleberry]

What about the POR15 "topcote". I seem to recall you showing me a piece done in POR Rohan, was that the stuff? What was your opinion on the finish compared to powder coating?

[The Prophet of Doom]

The POR topcote is pretty good as far as paint goes.  Nice and black and glossier than powder and self levelling so you don't get brushmarks.  It does need an etch primer on bare metal, or can go on over POR15 which is recommended for steel.

It's tougher than most paint - not as tough as powder.  I ended up with a couple of fugly chips and powdered after that.

On the subject of powder coating - look what I got on auction $52 !
1100x700x2350mm (external)

[dingleberry]

Wow terrific buy there!  Everything not nailed down will be getting coated now eh.

[Re-Vision]

That is nice, I was already looking for a used regular oven to bake smaller parts.     BDC

[The Prophet of Doom]

Up till now I've been using a free benchtop toaster oven I picked up which will take parts up to the size of a chicken - that's just a good portion of the parts on a bike.

I have to say that doing your own powder coat is about as easy and rewarding as it gets.  It's a short learning curve  and  in a day you can take a dozen parts from grunge to looking factory finished and brand new.  Pic below is an afternoon's work - all in satin black.

[fret not]

So, is the 'cooked' powder coat sufficiently resistant to brake fluid?

[The Prophet of Doom]

I don't know for sure first hand, and I'm not so keen to experiment on fresh parts.
The brake fluid's meant to be on the inside of the system, not on the coated bits

[Re-Vision]

Up till now I've been using a free benchtop toaster oven I picked up which will take parts up to the size of a chicken - that's just a good portion of the parts on a bike.

I asked my wife to get me a benchtop toaster if she found one at a garage sale, she had one in a cabinet that she doesn't use anymore and I'm up and running now for small parts.     BDC

[The Prophet of Doom]

Nice to have an enabling wife.  8)
What gun did you get? 

[dingleberry]

Why would you want to shoot a perfectly good wife like that? She gave him a powder coating oven..