Powder coating a car/truck?

[thejeepdude]

Hey all you PC gurus... have you ever seen or contemplated the powder coating of a vehicle's body panels? I would think that a patient soul that could remove the hood/fenders/bed/etc of a truck could pretty easily PC them if they had access to a large enough oven. Man, some mirror finish PC with some metalflake and a thick clear coat would look awesome, not to mention be rock hard, durable, and not any more expensive than a good pain job (provided the labor is free). Is this crazy? I must be overlooking SOMEthing... :huh

[Pappy]

alot of todays cars are powdercoated not painted:eek2:

my buddy brian at columbia coatings did an entire jeep:p

check out the pics im sure they are still there www.columbiacoatings.com

[thejeepdude]

That's exactly what I wanted to do! PC my Jeep!

[thejeepdude]

Originally posted by Pappy
alot of todays cars are powdercoated not painted

I'm assuming that given the $$-saving mindset of the auto manufacturers that the PC they use isn't close to the quality of the powder you use when doing folks' a-arms and such, right? Seems like PC would last forever if done right...

[Pappy]

ive only read in trade magazines of how they do it. its a typical line set up with automated everything:p i lways wondered what would happen if the fender was wrecked up...if they could match it with paint or what not:confused:

durabilty wise pc will outlast paint, but some of todays paints are pretty strong especially in the automotive field.

[redroost85]

Hmm, I have kinda thought about this in the past. Man, getting my whole truck with some badazz PC. I think you are on to something jeepdude, lol!:D

[Woodsrider]

I would love to see the up close pictures of that hood they did. It was cured with their infrared heater system. I would like to see how clean it is, and how much debri is in the finish.

Pappy have you ever cured anything with the infrared method?

I did a set of jeep leaf springs and the front and rear axles for chits and grins, and my god what a chore babby sittin that stuff through the whole cure out:blah:

[Pappy]

the cure lamps are a joke. they will not properly cure a part ...maybe a thin piece of sheet metal but thats it.

i belive brian did the jeep parts in his booth so airborne debris was the same as paint.

[Woodsrider]

I havent used the lamps thanks for the heads up though. I used a dual burner MR heater, and as for cure, I use a MEK swipe test to check for cure on all parts that I dont do a butt load of. I have found that using the charts available through Eastwood, that proper cure can be acheived. But, and thats a big but, paying attention to the part is absolutly critical. You can burn the powder in a heart beat if you leave the heat in one spot too long. On the other hand, if the heat is not left on the area long enough the powder will not reach cure out. Curing with the heater is in no way a lucrative or sanitary way to cure powder but I found that it is possible.