serious questions about powdercoating

[JasonB]

SO this is where im at: Just had my frame and +6 swinger coated for the 86R. I am putting together a second batch of parts to get blasted and coated now that I am unsure about.

FOOTPEGS! when you coat them, they will end up looking bad after one ride, right? when you coat them, do you give the blaster and powdercoat guy the entire peg with pin/foot rest/spring in it? can you powdercoat a spring?!


the rear shock, I want to dissamble it and paint the spring. Can I even powder coat that, will the heat from backing it mess up the spring???? How do you guys paint springs? Do you just have them paint sprayed?

what about the brake pedal, is there something I can do to it to stop it from having the powder coat rubed off it?

looking at new axles but had considered having my stocker coated. Not sure about that since I have no way of ensuring its completely straight in the first place. anyways, do you guys have any input on powder coating, this is my first time!

[oldskool83]

i taped my axles with electical tape. i wouldnt waste the time to PC axles. springs are powercoated from the factory i belive, or close to it. Id be more worried about the springs flex flacking off the PC.

[TatTooL23]

u can powder springs. it wont break off when compressed. it holds up amazing. i am doing mine on my quadzilla. lots of guys that race quads do it and they hold up fine even on motorcross tracks with all the jumps.

[JasonB]

doing that then! what bout foot pegs though? Wont that be an issue with them getting all messed up? and can I have every part of the foot pegs coated? SPRING/PEG/PIN?

[Dirtcrasher]

Most of these old footpegs are worn anyhow. PC'n every seperate pice is the way to do it properly and sometimes it helps take up slack in the holes etc.

Just blasting it and coating it will end up with sandblast media stuck in places and PC'd over.

Taking them apart is more work, but looks better and how often does you peg pop up anyhow??.

When I blast them, I do the inside/outside and bend them in different ways to get all the rust out of the nooks and crannies; Then I PC them.......

In my 20 day build, I did the pins in read and the rest in super mirror black. They still look great.

[JasonB]

Im plannign to do the front hub too, is there a special tool I will have to go rent from oriely's to pull the breaings out with?

front fork halves are being done in black too. Im thinking about doing the brake fluid reservoir and shock linkages as well. Going to break it ALL down tonight and make a list of stuff that Im dropping off tomorrow when I go get the frame and swinger from the guy.

[Dirtcrasher]

A long punch on an angle takes care of hub bearings.........

Make sure it has a nice 70-80 degree end on it against the bearing.

[dksix]

You ask your coater about using an SD powder. SD stands for super durable, they wear much better than standard powders but with hardness comes a higher chance of chipping and clears won't stick well to SD powder. The best of both worlds would be to base coat in a standard TGIC and top coat with an SD clear. IF you go base coat/clear coat expect .008" to .012" build up on the way things fit together.

[JasonB]

damn dude, nice info! very technical. errrrrrrr I am just going to powder caot everything. I will ask my guy if he knows anything about SD.

[bkm]

Who you having do your stuff?

[JasonB]

same guy you did :D HP Powdercoating. He suprised the hell out of me, I called him for a month and he kept saying he had too much on his plate for me to drop off my parts and to try back in two weeks. Tried back the second set of two weeks and he said to just drop it off it might take 2-4 weeks. Had it ready in 7 days lol happy but havent seen parts yet. Im going to drop off a pile of stuff for this bike and then work on getting more stuff done. Very happy with him right now lol

[bkm]

That's cool. The only complaint I have with him it that he is very busy and it took an extra two weeks past when he told me it was going to be done. He did have the best prices and does great work so I can't really complain that much.

[ama009]

Amazon sells an Eastwood starter powdercoating kit for $175 shipped. Is that any good or is it a piece of trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro????

[2Tim215]

I haven't used Eastwoods but was thinking of it. I would trust theirs over Harbor Freights. Eastwood's been out there for a while and I believe there are a few posts on this board with members who have them.
@ATCaddict, when they did the frame did they preserve your VIN? I've heard of a few frames that came out with the VIN totally covered and "filled in" and thought I would point that out in case anyone else is having their frames done. Make sure to protect your VIN's! As far as the foot pegs they will eventually wear anyway and the PC holds up longer from everything I've heard.
Looking forward to some pics!

[TatTooL23]

My 350X frame is powder coated and u can still c the VIN. It's much harder to make out but u can c it. I thought it would have been covered too.

I have a craftsman powder coat gun. It's really nice. Not sure what anyone else thinks of it but I know another guy who has a side business powder coating and he uses the same.

[dksix]

I started with the HF, I think they are fine for the money but limited. I didn't like the HotCoat because of the hand held trigger. I really like the the Redline Alpha 100KV system but it died. I still use my Caswells 50KV system allot for single stage stuff and when I just don't want to clean up my hopper system. The new technology in systems now helps allot but it comes at a price. After using a half dozen different systems over the years I think if I was only going to coat my own stuff I'd be happy with the $229 Caswells system over anything but I've never used one of the self contained Redlines.

[JasonB]

I would love to have my own set up, but im unfamiliar with the specifics of it.

[dksix]

I would love to have my own set up, but im unfamiliar with the specifics of it.

I'd be glad to share any information I can. What size set up are you looking for? Most people start out with one of the cheap hobby systems, an out side pot blaster and residential oven. If you don't already have one, you'll have to come up with a compressor. I had been working on guns for years before I started coating, so I had everything except the coating system. Borrowed a HotCoat system, then bought a HF system and so on. If you started from nothing and wanted to do frame sized stuff you're looking at several thousand dollars, if you can't build your own oven. To do stuff that will fit inside a (dedicated) residential oven you can get started for a couple hundred (if you already own a decent compressor).

[JasonB]

I have a compressor and I know I could come up with some free ovens off craigslist. Considering building my own oven using parts, I'm handy lol. Got a compressor too. Haven't even looked at guns yet though.

[Dirtcrasher]

^ The hardest part is the blasting because you need a great compressor and a decent blast cabinet.

I probably have 1200$ into my setup and use a Columbia gun, which could use upgrading now.........

I still can't do frames and you can get into it cheaper, just a smaller scale and longer blasting time. I blew up to 400$ sears 6HP compressors before I went up to a 60 gallon twin cylinder cast iron compressor. Very glad I did!

[jadleybray]

If your powdercoating your frame, be sure to know the laws in your state where you ride. Here in Oregon, sheriff or forest service has the right to impound the atv/dirtbike if they cant read the vin clearly. And they will impound if you dont scrape the powder coat off on the spot if they wanna be diks

[TatTooL23]

im about to start powder coating on a big scale. i had a regular house oven, myself and one of my close buddies went in halves on a 6 foot long, by 3 feet tall, by 2 feet wide oven. it has a door on one end and metal rails inside. so we have a cart with steel wheels that u can load/hang/mount the parts, parts or FRAME to and roll it right in and bake it like that. it will be great to be able to do things that big. most people r all confined to a house size oven.

[JasonB]

picked up the 86R frame and extended swing arm from my powder caoter guy yesterday, HOLY CRAP!!!! didnt think i was going to be this excited to pick up parts lol quality work for sure. ALSO, dropped off more parts including tripple trees, pegs, mounts, and a few small parts. going to start building the bike asap!

[bkm]

I was definately pleased with his work. I'm glad it worked out for you. There is nothing worse than recommending someone to another person, only for that person to be unhappy with my recommendation.

[250x]

I know a few who PC, one does picasso quality work, definitely A+, but you get what you pay for, superior quality comes with a price, and I know others who do a very nice job at a more economical price. The first guy I am talking about can do partitioned powder as smooth as glass with inlaid PC logo's. Rims were like 30.00 each, for example. I think he said a two layer frame prepped and finished by him was 250 or 350, can't remember which. But his work is flawless, and he is fast on turn around. sent 4 rims to be done in black, decided on pearl black, took 8 days for Sand blasting them, prepping, and the dual layer powder AND back to me, all in 8 days. Cost me 150.00, including shipping.

[TatTooL23]

That's amazing. Where is he out of?