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Auto Detailing and AppearanceShare tips and tricks on how to make your Third Gen shine! Get opinions on products or how something tasteful looks on your Chevrolet Camaro or Pontiac Firebird.
Hey guys I have been doing some powder coating on the car lately and wanted show you all how it was coming and how much better it is compared to just rattle canning it. It is a process to do, but to me the effort is worth it. For those that don't know, powder coating is a multi-step process that uses a plastic powder, static electricity and heat to bond to metal. It is chip and scratch resistant the process is as follows:
First you take the piece and disassemble it (like the brembo ss calipers) making sure to remove anything that could melt or cause a problem with heat. Then you mask off any areas that you don't want to be sprayed or hit with sand.
Next you place the piece in the sand blaster and use an appropriate media to blast the work. After this place the item in the oven at 400-450 for about 10min to bake out any oils that are in the metal (I dont recommend using your house oven as your wife will not appreciate the smell from any oils baking out of the work) find one on Craigslist or 2nd hand store to put in your garage.
Remove items and allow to cool completely. Then clean off the piece using a lint free towel and a non residue degreaser. Once you have removed any dirt or oils left its time to hang the work or take the oven rack on a piece of wood so you can carry it right over and slide it into the oven without touching it. Hook up your powder gun and air compressed or and pour in your powder and apply a good coat so you can no longer see the base metal. Then place the piece back in the oven at 415 degrees for 15min or whatever your powder company recommends for their specific powder. Remove from oven and enjoy your beautiful long lasting part.
Below is an HSR I had before powdercoating
As you can see the lower intake base has already been cleaned with brake clean and solvent but still not great.
This is what it looks like right before the powder gets baked. It looks like a chalky matte color but the oven will melt it all into a nice even finish.
After bake as you can see its all even and smooth I did a chrome color first and baked it and then sprayed it and right before baking wiped off the excess powder where the fins are.
Bell housing for my t56 before blasting.
Here is both upper and lower of the Holly. The lower was done with the same chrome used on the fins.
HSR and bell housing
I do custom lifts for trucks and this was a show truck ford excursion I built and converted from leaf springs to 4 link bar and coil overs and lifting it 10 inches. The powder coat will be much more durable to rock chips and flex rather than just paint
My 2012 camaros ss brembos before being pulled apart and stripped down
After blasting
Here they are in the sandblaster. The seals and pistons have been removed and the cylinder walls I put towels in and taped over 2x to make sure sand couldn't get in to ruin them. Also plug any holes
And my factory wonder bar I added more weld to and coated
Thanks for looking! Check back in a few days and ill have more pictures of the brembos when theyre finished as I'm waiting for the next batch of powder to arrive in the mail.
Powder coating is awesome. I have a buddy who does it in his garage, and we've coated EVERYTHING. We used to sit up at night, drink beer and powdercoat anything we could.
I love doing it. Something that started out as a hobby and now I get paid to do it for people all the time. Right now I'm working with prismatic powders and multi layer / stage jobs. What powder coating system do you guys use?
He was more of the "powdercoater", I was more of the beer drinker! I couldn't tell ya what we used, other than my TPI was done in Alien Silver! We've been friends for a long time, and whenever I needed a part done, the deal was I bring beer and help him sandblast and clean, he did the coating. ....we'd go for HOURS though, and when we ran out of parts we NEEDED to coat, we'd start going through the old parts on shelves!!! ...we powdercoated several beer bottles over the years, lol. Actually worked real well.
05-31-2015, 09:06 PM
I couldn't tell ya what we used, other than my TPI was done in Alien Silver! We've been friends for a long time, and whenever I needed a part done, the deal was I bring beer and help him sandblast and clean, he did the coating. ....we'd go for HOURS though, and when we ran out of parts we NEEDED to coat, we'd start going through the old parts on shelves!!! ...we powdercoated several beer bottles over the years, lol. Actually worked real well. 
