What's the verdict on powdercoating engine parts? Good idea? Bad idea? Heat trap? I'm mostly interested in intake manifolds, valve covers, carb parts, water pumps, valley covers (where used), etc... Was thinking a clear powdercoat might be good for intake manifolds or other aluminum parts, but have heard it might trap heat and make the engine run warmer. So let's talk about it... What do we think?
Very good idea. I had my intake, pulleys and brackets powdercoated. Made 'em look great and really easy to clean- just a squirt of windex and a paper towel and they looked brand new. I can't speak to the R-value of powdercoating, but it can't be that much worse than a few coats of paint. The only negative thing about powdercoating is that sometimes it has a "dipped-in-plastic" look that's not very traditional.
Yeah, you can't exactly do it yourself either. I especially like the idea of clear powdercoating aluminum cast parts that you want to stay looking nice. If any of you have done this, how does the clear look? Is it shiny or can you actually get a satin-ish look out of it? Is there a good clear coat you can spray on aluminum parts that won't yellow or chip and look like **** after awhile?
The local powder coating guy said that he would not powder coat anything without first sandblasting it. I was thinking about clearcoating the aluminum that I just spent so much time polishing so I decided to p*** on the powder rather than having my nice finish blasted.
Another thing to consider when powdrcoating aluminum... After it gets powder it's going to cook in a oven at about 400*. I've seen a lot of aluminum parts come out looking like there is trash in the powdercoat. Impurities in the aluminum will often times rise to the top when its baked - even after a date with the sandblaster. Billet pieces tend to do fine. Cast parts are a gamble. Newer cast parts tend to do better that 40 year old aluminum parts. If it isn't BRAND NEW cast aluminum or billet I wouldn't even consider it. JH
I've powdercoated intakes and side plates on my banger and they look fine. One of the manifolds is a 75 year old Stromberg-Bendix.
the clear coated intakes I've seen look good. (think Edelbrock Performer or Victor... new stuff.) They have a neat look to them. I've heard it wants to yellow over time, but never seen it. I always have my SBC intakes powdercoated black and the only problem I ever had was coolant leaking by a pipe plug got under the powder and caused it to lift. Gas (even 112 octane), carb cleaner, engine cleaner... had no effect.
The coaters we use have done everything external on a motor including block and heads, the only part that yellows is around the exhaust ports. Be careful with brake fluid,, and battery acid, the only things that will unitentionally eat powdercoating.
What about having the aluminum parts anodized in clear? That should alow you to polish the part first and still keep the look.
I had this done with a heat treat coating inside and out, it comes out clean looking and if you want the polished look you can polish the manifold and then coat it. The plus side is it smoothes the co**** texture of a n aluminum maniflod so it is easier to clean and second with the intake runners coated on the inside the fuel flows better so some power improvement or so the theory goes. I used this place www.processcoatings.com I also had my headers done there and they look like chrome but are heat treated inside and out.
I've worked with turbo-charged diesel engines that are powder coated for twenty years.We ran the piss out of them to all extremes.Water and oil temps to 240 deg.and turbo exhaust to 1700 deg.never saw powder coat fail.The new stuff has all kinds of uses and most of it acts like an armor coating against just about anything.My 2 cents.
Scott, If you want to speak with a local powder coater to get a professional opinion here locally, drop me a line. My friend Jason is getting all of his parts powder coat locally here in LV and the guy gave him a great deal and seems to be a stand up guy to deal with.
Just be carefull to clean parts, the guy that built my first engine left sand in the sump after it was blasted, it was under the baffle, result one ****ed engine. Coyd
Yes aluminum parts definately need outg***ed prior to coating. Usually this is achieved by putting the piece in the oven at 450*-500* and baking for approximately an hour. I have done extensive testing on powder coats with brake fluid and it has held up well over weeks. A good coater will periodically check his coating to ensure its baked properly and adheres well. Any underbaked powder is susceptive to chemicals because the baked powder is still soft and soaks up the chemicals. Its all in the coater.....if they do a good job and strictly adhere to guidelines then powder coating makes your parts last 100 times longer and is a cinch to clean up. Another thing to consider is a clear coat over a color to give you that much more resistance to the elements. I do powder coating for a living and have studied up extensively on it and I would prefer it over wet paint any day. There is also endless colors and combinations that you can do with it. I have never heard of any underhood temps raising after coating. Also during powder coating, there is caps and plugs that I use for vacuum ports and threaded parts, as well as masking off all machined surfaces where gaskets seal. Other than polyester, you also have the epoxt powder coating that has a greater resistance and is also more durable than polyester. Normally known as TGIC powder, the polyesters hold up well. If you want more info, check out www.tigerdrylac.com and they have PDF files that you can look at as far as resistances and other info on certain powders. Hope this helps out guys...
I always bead blast first. I've personally never had a problem with real aluminum. Pot metal is another thing all together. It looks like aluminum but you can't powder coat it. It blisters as above. Most carbs are pot metal or white metal. You'll never see any powder coated carbs for this reason. The cast iron carb bases were done with black. The carb bodies had to be left natural.
Another thing to consider with powdercoating is it will yellow and turn hazy if exposed to UV rays for prolonged periods. Just a thought for anyone that doesn't have a hood.
I have the Eastwood kit and I like it. The powder is cheap to buy and the gun is easy to use, especially cleanup. The clears are available in flat, semi, gloss. They do recommend pre cooking, but I haven't and it hasn't been a problem. As far as yellowing, if you are super **** you won;t be happy no matter what. Raw- will look like **** soon, Painted- might be attacked by gasoline, powder coated- likely to look good the longest.
We've used powder from Eastwood on all sorts of parts with no problem. As everyone says, alot of it has to do with prep. The high temp stuff works very well, we did the flathead intake and heads a**** other things....seems to hold up fine, still looks good.
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