Powdercoat on body exterior?

Just curious, What is the cost?

"Would this be someth> Hey Everyone,

If you decide to get the powder coat on the exterior of the hood, make sure it is UV tolerant so it doesn't fade. Also make sure he does a good phosphate etch on a clean surface so the powder coat will cross link and bond to the surface correctly. 90% of powder coat failures are from lack of proper prep. If it isn't done correctly the cured powder coat can peal off in a giant sheet. Also, plug up all threaded holes. Personally, if I could afford it I would do an entire jeep in powder coat. The only draw back to a powder coat finish on cars in general is touch up and matching colors. Something I wouldn't worry about in a jeep. If the powder coat is applied correctly to a 4" square sample you can fold it completely in half and back again and the powder will not pull away from the metal. Much better than wet paint any day. Also, there are tons of new colors with metal flake, candy clear coats etc that are amazing. Tqm

At this time no powder is being used as a topcoat on OEM vehicles, the only exception is some Mercedes which is a powder clear over the water base coat. Most OEM powders are primer surfacers on an OEM level over Electrocoat. You can use powder for the exterior as most of the trim components (metal/ cast- luggage racks, pillars, door handles) are indeed powder (polyester and acrylics). The problem I see is that the metal needs to be nice and straight and will allow for a high heat (350-400f) bake. You do not have a chance to 'straighten' the metal with powder, primers and surfacers allow you to do just that prior to color. Will it work? yes. Would I? depends on how picky you are regarding color match/ OEM system. Oh ya, Acrylics will have more UV durabilty than polyesters but are less flexible. As stated earlier, surface prep is key.

I'd bedliner the underside of the hood and just use a good urathane paint on the outside. Keep in mind that a Jeep hood is a pretty flat piece of metal and the heat curing of powder coatings might warp it into a taco shaped piece of metal that won't look good even if it IS really shiney.

Good luck, - Jeff G

An update.... I stopped at the shop yesterday.... the boss had my hood done, at least the underside. It looks great! The top had been blasted to bare metal, i can paint it. He said he's not sure if he can do a gloss urethane on the topside, because it's gotta be baked 50 degrees hotter than the underside. He's gonna look into that for me. So far i've invested $105 into this project. Hood cost $25, sandblasting cost $50 (two layers of undersoat PLUS primer and paint, no wonder i couldn't sand it!!!) and $25 to have the hood taped and coated on the bottom. I completely trust his judgement. He's been doing this work for a while, and everything i've sent to him comes out fantastic.

Don W

and the pics are where?

sandblasting

You guys might be interested in the pics here:

Click on the customer pics link and scroll way to the bottom to see a Jeep hood done in a candy red powder. There are other pics on the page too, and they look very good.

Chris

Now THAT is what I wanted to see! lol

A thing of beauty Chris! ;-)

Custom Metal Coating Sunbury, PA.

570.988.2226

Don W

Here are a few pics of a Chevy TPI setup that I powdercoated using the Columbia chrome and translucent red powders. It isn't perfect, but I did it with a home powdercoating kit and thought it turned out pretty decent.

Chris

Thanks

Chris

The black on the underside is probably an epoxy or hybrid (epoxy / polyester blend). These chemistries can be cured as low as 280f. The chemistries required to stand up to UV require a hotter cure (polyesters, acrylics). It sound like 'the shop' knows what he is doing. Just a note that most all metallics require a clearcoat to protect the coating. A good example of powder applications would be aluminum wheels where there is a primer (optional for filling shot blast and adhesion) a basecoat powder/ liquid metallic, then a clearcoat. If you noticed some wheels have paint only in the windows and the face is clear over aluminum. This requires machining after color to cut the face and remove the coating on the face. Any questions regarding powder coating please let me know.

sandblasting