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By lyonroad - 12 Years Ago
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The previous owner of my 292 had a number of components powder coated, ie. valve covers, intake manifold and the timing cover. In the accompanying photos you can see that the TC was coated both inside and out. I am wondering if this was a good idea. My limited experience with powder coating tells me that if it ever starts to come off it will be in pieces (perhaps even large ones) rather than wearing away or dissolving. Chunks of powder in the cooling passages or in the oil pan would not be good. So how to remove it? I have already done the valve covers and that was very difficult. I eventually used a sand blaster which was very slow, (about 1 hour which is expensive - $60.00 per hour) and tedious. It also got me into trouble at the U-Blaster when I filled his unit with sheets of powder coating. I can only imagine that removing powder coating from a cast object would be even more difficult, perhaps exceeding the value of the cover. Your advice is appreciated.
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By Grizzly - 12 Years Ago
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Mark,
I don't like powder coating and have been warned off using it by proffessionals. I like you took a fairing support braket (motorcycle) to a sand blaster he looked at it and handed it straight back, sorry I can't do this. I removed it sucessfully with a flame then had it sand blasted. I would suggest you do it outside and if you have a lot of it, do it in batches over days/weeks.
I don't like the idea of breathing the stuff .
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By lyonroad - 12 Years Ago
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Thanks Grizzly. Are you suggesting that I burn it off with say a butane torch? I just have the inside of this timing cover to deal with. I'm not using the intake that came with the motor and I have already done the valve covers.
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By Grizzly - 12 Years Ago
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Mark
Yes, a butane torch or whatever you have. Turn it to carbon and sand blasting should get the rest.
Depending on how porous the casting is there may be some residual. If it were cast Aluminium it would wreck it for anything but painted finished.
Regards
Warren
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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The powder coat will sand or blast off just takes a little time. Eastwood also sells a chemical (probably something we could buy localy if we knew what it was) that removes it. If the job was prepped well I would think it would be ok but I can't help but wonder why he did the insides. I always mask the engine sides. I do some powder coating at home and havn't seen any real problems when the preperation was done correctly. Includes gassing out aluminum parts and I also do the same for engine parts that have been exposed to oil or grease. Chuck
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By lyonroad - 12 Years Ago
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I expect the whole thing was done because he didnt want to take the time to mask off the inside. I actually removed the powder coat from the gasket surfaces with a razor blade. He also did the entire harmonic damper. I cleaned off the area where the seal goes with a razor as well. You could see that the seal didn't like running on the powder coat. I have been kindly offered another cover from one of our members for the cost of shipping so I will accept that. The powder coated one can be wall art.
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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Powder coat requires temps up to 450 degrees I don't think I would trust a damper that had been heated that much. The Damper Doctor told me he powder coats his prior to assembly. I think I would have that damper rebuilt or just replace it. Chuck
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By lyonroad - 12 Years Ago
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Thanks, Chuck, I have another damper.
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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Brake cleaner or acetone, or mek will take paint off in no time. Maybe they will work as well on powder coat.
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By brokengate - 12 Years Ago
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I don't disagree with changing the part and certainly a low cost replacement makes it a no brainer for peace of mind, but if the stuff is that difficult to remove (ie torching, heavy duty blasting) why would it disintegrate and contaminate under normal service? Just askin'
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By lyonroad - 12 Years Ago
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Hi brokengate. Quite possibly nothing would happen to the powder coating under normal service. Its, as you say, for the peace of mind.
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By The Master Cylinder - 12 Years Ago
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brokengate (3/28/2013)
Why would it disintegrate and contaminate under normal service? Just askin'
Because when it come off, it comes off in big pieces...
When it's chipped and corrosion gets under it, how do you repair it? At least with paint you can touch up one spot. Powder coating is WAY over rated IMHO.
Just my 1¢ worth.
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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Again, surface prep and temperature along with proper curing time is important. Powder coat has a deeper bond than paint its tougher than paint and easier to apply. Paint will also come off in sheets if not properly bonded.
That said I don't doubt your experience and agree with your caution about using powder coat, especially on internal parts. The inside of that timing cover had to have been deeply soaked with oil and without proper cleaning and at least one full heat cycle to over 400 degrees the oil is still there and will cause adhesion problems. Aluminum and carburetor parts must be heat cycled, sometimes more than once, to "gas out" the contaminants the are in the actual pores of the item. Otherwise you get poor bonding and pimple imperfection in your finise.
As you can probably tell I had to learn the hard way on the aluminum and carburetors but haven't had any significant problems since. In each of the cases I blasted and sanded to remove the bad spots and re-coated the item with decent success.
On caution is that if you powder coat aluminum wheels don't let the carwash do their wheel clean chemicals. I've had two incidents with the Chrome type coating that turned completly grey after a trip to the carwash. The finish is nice and smooth just no silver/Chrome look left. I've re-coated them with minimum prep and had success. Chuck, definately not the pro, in New Hampshire
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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Powdercoat is the same as paint, bad prep = bad results and good prep = good results. Powdercoat is very durable and when applied correctly works very well. We send out our motorcycle frames and some other small parts for powdercoat for that reason. In regard to the touch up issue, I really don't know if that is an issue because we haven't had to touch up any powdercoat, yet. That being said, I would not paint or powdercoat the inside of any engine components.
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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Actually you can reapply powder coating to fix flaws but of course some sanding and repair may be required. Sometimes parts come out of the oven with a dull finish. I commonly reheat them and apply a second thin coat while the parts are hot. Result is usually a high gloss finish. Due to the electrostatic bonding of the powder if the first coat is applied correctly the second will bond to it. Chuck
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