I'm having some engine parts powder coated for cheap. I found an industrial powder coating company local to me. They do small parts and jobs on the side. For around $100 I can get my UIM, LIM, cold-side of turbo, front cover, custom TID, pulleys and other random bits coated. Color selection is slim. They do industrial work so it's the basics and whatever they have on hand. Gloss black, white, a basic silver, etc.

I just want to make sure I don't miss anything as this is my first time powder coating. Wanna make sure I ask them the right questions and ask them to do the right things. I've spent some time googling but can't find these specific answers:

1) I'm assuming it's safe to have vacuum nipples on the intakes coated?

2) I'm assuming that I DO NOT want to powder coat gasket surfaces between LIM and UIM and LIM and keg coated?

3) What about gasket surfaces for intake accessories. BAC (which I'm keeping), block off plates for ACV and that tube that runs to the cat (can't remember the name of it)?

4) Front cover-I'm assuming no gasket surfaces (oil pan, front iron, and OMP) or the back (inside) of the front cover?

5) Is the OEM wastegate actuator safe to heat cure? Isn't it just a metal spring in there? But how fragile is that spring?

Color choices are probably going to be gloss black for the intakes, block off plates and pullies. Silver for the front cover, water pump housing, turbo cold side, TID, metal part of the apexi cone filter and fuel rails.

Oh and either silver or black for the infini iv strut bar ends

 

yes and no. you can, but i always mask these sort of things off with high temp tape, less clean up
again, yes and no. i always mask them off to prevent the powder from going where it doesnt belong.
same as 2
same as 2
no actuators or anything with rubber inside are safe. industrial powder coating ovens can get as high as 650 degrees, no spring will hold up under that heat
check my sig, i powder coated an engine for my buddy. you can get an idea on what should be masked off

Lloyd

 

^thanks for the feedback I remember seeing pics of those irons and housings. Great work

I originally rattle canned my parts. I did it more as a joke than to be serious. I wanted a duracell engine!! Over the winter I got bored and made some changes. I changed the front cover to copper, but don't have pics of it.




Once my replacement housing arrived I matched it and polished the logos


I'm content keeping the irons and housings what they are. But the intakes aren't going to hold up and will eventually look like ***. So I found the cheap powdercoat alternative and once I found out just how cheap they are I decided to throw in other parts.

Another option is a local shop that will do custom colors but it's more expensive and I don't know that the extra bling is too high on my priorities.

 

I actually kinda like the "duracell" look.

 

Have you considered this option?

You can buy a used oven from someone out of the local paper for around $50.00, Harbor Freight sells powder coating guns (around $60.00 I think), and powder.

If you go this route I would suggest putting the stove outside to keep the fumes out of the house.

 

I liked it till I started thinking about all the accessories in the engine NOT matching the copper. Things like the BAC are gonna stick out like a ***** at church. That and once the copper starts to flake and get some chemicals spilled on them the aluminum is gonna start coming through.

It looks good sitting on the garage floor and in pics, but once the real world gets ahold of those parts they won't look so good.

I have considered such things. But I do not own an air compressor or any of the other supporting tools needed.

There is a new powder coating specialty shop that just opened..literally. I stopped in and they hadn't gotten their mediablaster in yet. They were still hooking up their oven, etc. He wanted $100 for the UIM and LIM in gunmetal. I had my Koyo in the car with me and he offered to do it in a basecoat and translucent coat for $120.

I'm gonna stop in later today let him know how much cheaper I can get the industrial coating for. Maybe he and I can work out some kind of sponsorship type deal? See if he'll charge me less if I agree to have his logo on my radiator panel or painted under the hood somewhere. It's a long shot, but I'm sure he wants to get his name out there. Added to that mix a friend of mine opened up a shop practically across the street from him. The friend has alot of drifters and tuners at his shop and he's setting it up with a rec center (pool table, entertainment and gaming setup, etc). That shop is where I'm likely swapping all my turbo parts onto a new vert.

 

damn, 100 for uim and lim. thats a good deal. i charge 120 for valve covers. but my ***** hella legit

Lloyd

 

The industrial place is even cheaper. They quoted me $45 for the UIM and LIM. When I found out how low they are I went home and got all my parts I could think of doing. Guy said $100.

From talking to the specialty shop the industrial place's system isn't the best for quality. I guess they use a conveyor system while a batch version (or whatever he called their system) gets better results. Specialty shop uses the better system.

I talked to the owner of the industrial place on the phone. He's ok with me buying powder and bringing it to him to use. On Monday I"m going to stop in and let him look at all the parts so that I know how many lbs to buy. I remember in your thread you had a link to a company you ordered from. Gotta check out their prices compared to ebay.

 

ya, i dont care about cost, even a lb of the specialty colors (candies, chrome, etc) are only like 16$. but a lb of powder goes a long ******* way. i think with all the parts i did on that engine, plus a bunch of valve covers, i still have like 1/4 lb left of the 3 powders.

Lloyd

 

Nice, I may hit you up for advice on which powders to choose. I spent some time on the website you said you shop at...alot to choose from.

 

yup. i love columbiacoatings. they have some bomb stuff, as long as you know what you are doing of course lol.
i started out with a craftsman kit, found CC, and never looked back

Lloyd

 

Met with the owner today. He needs a min. of 3lbs for the size of their equipment. Unless I get some local friends to go in with me it's just not worth the expense. Pretty much he is charging me only for labor whether I use his powders or my own.

 

I didnt pay much more then that from my local shop, check another coater that will let you choose your colors, may not be that much more money

 

It's pretty slim choices for powdercoaters. A few years ago I checked a diff shop and they wanted $100 for the intakes, same price the new shop gave me.

The industrial coater will do all my parts in any color they have for $90-100. They'll also do any color I bring to them (same price), but they require a min. of 3 lbs to work with. The new place, One Stop Powder Coating, wants $100 for my UIM and LIM. A diff place across town quoted me the same price several years ago for my UIM and LIM.

I stopped in last week at One Stop and let them know how much cheaper I can get all the parts. The owner acted a little indignant when I showed him all the parts and left it at, "Well if they say they can do all that for that price go with them"

 

that price isn't bad, considering the amount of time masking everything off. keep in mind to properly powder coat parts they must first be bead blasted and then thoroughly cleaned to keep the beads from going into the motor.

i charge a bit more than that and most shops around here do as well. it seems some people don't know how much work it takes to properly powder coat items.

if it's cheaper, they either aren't blasting the parts and the powder won't properly stick or they aren't doing a thorough cleaning job after blasting.

 

Everything is beadblasted and cleaned. My understanding of why they are so much cheaper is they are using a conveyer belt system which the owner of One Stop explained to be inferior in terms of quality. The industrial place has two HUGE ovens standing about 20 feet high. First time I was in there they were doing 10ft high screens. Second time in there some guys were picking up a car frame done in black.

But, I've seen their finished work in various parts waiting to be picked up and it all looks like quality work. Saw some rims and a v8 intake manifold in the same black I'm getting and it looked real nice.

I'm also pretty sure that the money they make on side jobs doesn't end up in their books and the powder they use isn't recorded/inventoried. My boss explained that when you pay it's cash only.

Oh...and I'd be willing to pay $100 for my intakes, that's what I was prepared to pay going into this venture. BUT if I can get more for close to the same quality and at the same price....

 

Dropped off all the parts today.

Gloss black:
UIM
LIM
Block off plates
Main pulley
Water pump pulley

Silver:
Turbo Compressor
Fuel rails
Front cover
Water pump housing
Strut bar ends

In a few weeks I'll take front brake pistons and InfiniIV strut bar in for red

Water pump pulley