Hot Rods Grill powder coating and other decisions

Anybody powder coat a grill? My powder coater says he can’t. I picked up a stainless grill but I’m not really sold on it. The bars are about 1/32 narrower than the painted version on the right. I think the paint version is a Vintique product about 20 years old, I could always have it painted…..but then what color?

 

I'm curious, why does the coater say he can't do it? Most anything metal you can paint, you can powder coat, it's just a different process is all...

 

Not sure, maybe the chrome trim? I would like to powder the the bars only

 

Sounds like your powder coater WON'T do, not that he can't. That would require a TON of intricate, time consuming masking that would not make for a profitable (or affordable) job. Paint it, color depending on your car color....

 

Interesting. Why powder coat? I have a small dog in this fight as I'm wondering about coloring my similar grill but I have an aversion to powder coat. What's wrong with paint? Seems easier (to and for me) to maintain when the inevitable chips occur. Looking to have my eyes widened!

Chris

 

My painter suggested it, I’m not sold on either paint or powder. What colors are you leaning on? Today I’m leaning on a light grey, similar to the natural steel color

 

On both my 32-5 windows I masked the stainless outer trim and etch primed and painted the insert black (with rattle cans) Why not do this although you can paint it whatever color you want, be it light grey or beige or what is original..
That's a job you can do and reduce your paint bill. My first insert was a chromed original and the second was an after-market Vintique which is why I used the etch primer. Have over 40k country miles on the first one and with exception of some chips it's held up well.

 

Same except RED

 

My bet is the powdercoater doesn’t want to do it because sandblasting those thin, stainless grill inserts will likely warp and or destroy them beyond repair before it even gets to the powder coat stage.

 

When I was building the 32 Roadster package cars I bought the Dales 32 grilles 10 at a time with the plain bars. I found a coater in CA that did a flawless job. Unfortunately he retired. Charged me $100 per grille for a satin finish. Lately I used a coater in Omaha but he retired. I'm planning on trying a coater in Grand Island NE for the next one. We'll see. 29phonebooth nailed it it's the masking time required. Most production shops don't have the right employee or the time to do it.

 

I’m probably going to mask it my self and have my painter prime and paint. Color? F if I can decide today.

 

I paint'em light gray/silver/aluminum

 

To dam much gravel, sand and big bugs in this area. Paint doesn't hold up.

 

Sandblasted and powder coat. Hopefully lasts longer than paint

 

I’m going to double check with the powder coating guy tomorrow. Did you just get the bars coated?

 

Looks good.

 

Personally, I think mine came out very well. The bars and surround are aluminum.

 

Industrial sand blasting can be very aggressive, as they use the resulting profile to promote adhesion. Just like any process they can dial back the pressure and be less aggressive. However the shops that do this type of work are production shops, and often don't want to slow down and do more intricate work.

 

Powder coating company I use has a variety of grits. They use what is appropriate for the items being coated.

 

When I was building my '39 Chev I tried to do it on a small budget, and when it came time to buy a grille I got sticker shock! They were $1600-$2000 for nice grilles, and just average grilles were impossible to find. I went to my local old GM parts place and he had a perfect new grille, but way above my budget. He offered an option of used grille halves that all had lower grille bar damage in the first 4-5 bars.
I bought one of each side, plus a 3rd half for $150 and took them home to see what I could come up with. Ended up cutting the bottom 4 or 5 bars off each grille half, and cutting the same off the spare half up in the good sections. I cut them to length leaving the outer solid edge and ground them until they fit the sections of grille I needed to be filled. I don't tig weld, so I took the two halves and the filler pieces to a good tig welder and he tig welded them in. I then used my die grinder to blend in the welds, and painted the sections in a graphite gray mag wheel paint that's more durable then body paint. The mag wheel paint comes in a variety of colors, and I liked the graphite because it was a neutral color, and I hadn't picked a color to paint the body yet.

After repairing the grille halves:



Painted, and body painted also:

 

Gloss Black is the only colour I would go with !

Dovetail grey I believe was the original colour, but not my preference unless a vintage car.
Painted same as the body colour says street rod.
Reds and orange hit you in the face and take your eyes away from seeing the whole car……..
(just my opinions and not necessarily those of others on this forum)

have a look here for ideas………
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/32-ford-5w-picture-thread.437955/page-27
.

 

Got back from my powder coater, yup, he didn’t want to quote me because of the masking time. He gave me a roll of heat proof tape and told me to get busy. I’m gonna go that route

 

You'll be glad it's coated.
Mine is easy to clean and still looks good after 60+ k miles.

 

NoChop: Bars only

 

what colour did you decide on ?

 

Odd in my mine a shop that knows it will take longer and is not a standard quote. Why would they not want to stand behind their work and say something like “well, it’s a lot of extra time involved and you’ll be paying “**” and hour for us to do it”.
I mentioned this only because you are doing the masking yourself, I’m sure you’ll do a fine job, but if the end result is not as expected, who bares the responsibility?

 

I bare the responsibility of the masking quality. The powder coat they will stand behind. I have done business with them and my body/painter guy as well as my gl***/ upholstery guy have all been working with them. They are a stand up team

 

Today….light grey

 

I'd still ask a few questions... Is he planning on blasting the grill to promote adhesion? If he is, I'd mask it with much tougher duct tape first for blasting, then get it back and re-mask with the heat tape. In any case, clean the grill thoroughly to remove any grease/dust/oils before final masking (including body oils from handling) then use some latex gloves for all handling after cleaning for coating.

 

I’ll probably detail out the bars and powder guy will final prep