So a long while back I impulse bought a powdercoating gun at sears to match the old oven I had laying on my back porch. Well a year or so later I finally moved the oven to the garage and decided it was time to get busy. With winter coming on, I knew I'd have some free time to powdercoat a bit. I ordered some fancy expensive powdercoat from Eastwood that matched my Rio Yellow (according to their color card) and went to work on an old manifold cover I'd bought here on prime. I first used the spray on type "Aircraft Stripper" you buy at Wal-mart and three cans later I was still stripping. FINALLY I had it done and got down to the nitty gritty. I noticed the powder looked a shade lighter than the Rio Yellow, but the color sheet was spot on, so I went ahead anyhow. I must admit the Craftsman gun is well, crap. It was broke right out of the box (the "lock" broke) but fortunately it fit tight enough to not need it. As I sprayed, the PC would go from either almost none, to huge clumps as a result of the "shaking" you have to do. If you buy a gun, but a different one. Anyhow, when I had a nice light coat on I baked it. After an hour had passed and it was all cooled down I ran down to see my beauty and was once again let down. The final color was lemon yellow. BRIGHT lemon yellow. And nearly translucent. Maybe it needs a second coat? I shot a second coat and learned that powdercoating (with this gun) is a one coat deal. Damn.
Well I stripped the cover back down (more cans of crappy stripper) and contemplated what to do. After a few weeks I remembered there was a Harbor Freight store just down the road so I checked there. Amazingly they had a color that looked JUST like the Rio Yellow. It was five bucks. Score! Well I bought it and ran home ready to shoot more powder.
I opened the tub and noticed it was more cheddar orange. Dark orange. In a rare moment of intelligence, I decided to 1st shoot a 1 inch washer I had lying around as a "color test." Who knows.... Well after it was complete, the color turned out to be perfect. I mean, except for there's no pearl, it is SPOT ON PERFECT! Go cheap powder! Well I then shot the manifold cover and it has turned out great! In the last coupe weeks I've also shot the valve covers and they are sweet!! Not perfect, but nice!! Here are my results!
In the beginning:
The stripper I used this time came in a one gallon jug from Advance Auto and had the considstency of snot (or a money shot...) It worked MUCH better, and in spite of the $35 cost, is well worth it if you have to do many parts as you'll save a LOT of time and effort using it. Paint it on until it is just solid goo!!
After one coat!
After a second coat and now taped up and ready to go. It's IMPERATIVE you get ALL old paint off. Powder will NOT adhere like paint does!!!! Also make sure to buy POWDERCOAT tape and high temp plugs!!
The cheddar cheese orange, about to hit the oven.... It looks like crap at this point!
The finished result!!
The color match! Matched under flourescent even!!
The car it's going on!! hard to believe it was once black!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo..........
In the end, lessons learned. Buy a PCgun that is a "top feeder" where the powder sits on top of the gun so you get more uniform results. ALSO buy one that has a "variable voltage" transformer as that will allow second coats.
ALSO, the jelly like stripper is wayyyyyyyyyy better than aerosol! And make sure to get ALL old paint off, even small flecks!
Finally, spray a random piece of metal first to ensure color match AFTER baking (it changes a LOT!) and spray the powder on THICK!!!!!
As soon as I finish my valves I'll put it all together!! (thing go slower when you have one arm....)
Well I stripped the cover back down (more cans of crappy stripper) and contemplated what to do. After a few weeks I remembered there was a Harbor Freight store just down the road so I checked there. Amazingly they had a color that looked JUST like the Rio Yellow. It was five bucks. Score! Well I bought it and ran home ready to shoot more powder.
I opened the tub and noticed it was more cheddar orange. Dark orange. In a rare moment of intelligence, I decided to 1st shoot a 1 inch washer I had lying around as a "color test." Who knows.... Well after it was complete, the color turned out to be perfect. I mean, except for there's no pearl, it is SPOT ON PERFECT! Go cheap powder! Well I then shot the manifold cover and it has turned out great! In the last coupe weeks I've also shot the valve covers and they are sweet!! Not perfect, but nice!! Here are my results!
In the beginning:
The stripper I used this time came in a one gallon jug from Advance Auto and had the considstency of snot (or a money shot...) It worked MUCH better, and in spite of the $35 cost, is well worth it if you have to do many parts as you'll save a LOT of time and effort using it. Paint it on until it is just solid goo!!
After one coat!
After a second coat and now taped up and ready to go. It's IMPERATIVE you get ALL old paint off. Powder will NOT adhere like paint does!!!! Also make sure to buy POWDERCOAT tape and high temp plugs!!
The cheddar cheese orange, about to hit the oven.... It looks like crap at this point!
The finished result!!
The color match! Matched under flourescent even!!
The car it's going on!! hard to believe it was once black!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo..........
In the end, lessons learned. Buy a PCgun that is a "top feeder" where the powder sits on top of the gun so you get more uniform results. ALSO buy one that has a "variable voltage" transformer as that will allow second coats.
ALSO, the jelly like stripper is wayyyyyyyyyy better than aerosol! And make sure to get ALL old paint off, even small flecks!
Finally, spray a random piece of metal first to ensure color match AFTER baking (it changes a LOT!) and spray the powder on THICK!!!!!
As soon as I finish my valves I'll put it all together!! (thing go slower when you have one arm....)
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literally took me 2 full days.
