All we hear is Powder Coat gaga

worntorn

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Powder coat blah blah. Powder Coat what's new?
Powder Coat someone still loves you!

This frame was powder coated about ten years ago now. The bike gets used very hard in the bush, lots of contact with tree branches, rocks logs etc. Afterward it is put away muddy and wet, no paint care whatsoever.

Until today I've never really cleaned the bike since it was built from parts ten years ago. Some years before loading up for a trip I will hit it with the pressure washer to blast off most of the old caked on mud. Pretty brutal treatment , but it is a tough little Spanish bike, so it endures.
I was pressure washing last fall's caked on clay mud today then realized the rear tire was flat and the tube stem was leaking.
So the first pic is after pressure washing.
Once on the lift for the tube change, I gave it a more thorough cleaning.
I was pleasantly surprised at the state of the powder coated frame.
It looks just as it did ten years ago.
I sandblasted the frame to bare metal for this PC. That's the only way my local Powder Coated will do it.
 
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Well I had my frame powder coated 45 years ago and it is still fine. The swinging arm powder coat only lasted about 25 years though before it needed redoing. :rolleyes:

Ian
 
I've only got 18 years on my first powdercoat job, so I think I still need a good few more before I can speak with "real" age results.

However, over 50 motorcycle chassis & various associated parts powdercoated (35+ clients, 15 of mine), ZERO have so much as a single chip reported or observed in that 18-year span of time).

Also, I have modified 2 of my PC'ed frames, and touched up the welded spots with Gloss Black Rust-O-Leum; those spots cannot be detected due to obvious fade / shade / shine differences over 10 years...

As somebody said "your mileage may vary". If it DOES, it is down to the outfit that performed the prep and coat job. When done CORRECTLY, it is virtually bulletproof.
 
it is down to the outfit that performed the prep and coat job. When done CORRECTLY, it is virtually bulletproof.

I concur GP. But that Doesn’t make it any less of an issue for many folks. Unless you KNOW a good outfit, your chances of getting a good job done seem slim.

The last time I had any done I went with very high recommendations from a very well known and respected local bike builder. But I STILL had the usual issues!

Very frustrating !
 
Thankfully, I had repeatability at two large outfits that were assembly line style setups where conditions were maintained specifically and consistently.
 
It is important to have he powdercoating done by a a company that is familiar with motorcycle related work, and your material is not rushed trough the process with some industrial job lot.
Also the places where fasteners are fitted must be properly masked.
 
It is important to have he powdercoating done by a a company that is familiar with motorcycle related work, and your material is not rushed trough the process with some industrial job lot.
Also the places where fasteners are fitted must be properly masked.
All true. I sat down with the shop foreman (a woman) and handed her full-size print-outs of the Old Britts masking photos, plus my own drawings of where I wanted bolt holes masked. They had all kinds of plugs and bungs in a huge selection tray, and rolls of various widths of heat-specific masking tape. Each customer had their own lot, I was never mixed in. They had rows of various size ovens, up to a full 25' bay for giant projects.

The place is in San Antonio, TX - Alamo Crosslink.
 
I spent about 4 hrs masking these wheels for powder-coat.
My masking job let go during the 24 hr oven pre heat done for off-gassing. The owner of the powder coating company called me in to fix. He and I spent about an hour redoing them with a new type of PC mask tape. It was much quicker to use ( flexible) and it stayed put.
The end result is perfect and nearly indestructible.
There is no spray on paint finish I've seen that is durable enough to live on wheels long term. Not even two part.
I don't hate spray on the way some seem to hate PC, but spray on would be useless for this. In a few years you would be busy removing the remains of it.

It helps that the local PC company here is a very good company.

Glen

 
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In California, land of the many regulations, I sent a paint distressed and stripped down Master Cylinder to a local
powder coat shop. they were good about masking off areas that I had identified. It looked beautiful when done.
It cost me $100. After assembly and new brake fluid a tiny bit of seepage from the screw cap resulted in PC in
that area to lift and dissolve. Exactly what I was trying to avoid.
 
That is expensive and unfortunate!
The outfit I use here charges $10 per small item. A master cylinder would qualify as a small item. I believe their PC would stand up to brake fluid. I know that it stands up perfectly against acetone, laquer thinner and even paint stripper when I forget to mask an area. The only way to remove it is with abrasion, a lot of abrasion.
Here is some 27 year old gloss black powder coat done by the previous owner of my MK3.
It was expensive to do in 1993, looks like $173+ 35 US way back then just to powder coat the instrument cups and switches.
Today this would cost $40 cdn or about $27 US at our local outfit.
The 27 year old stuff was expensive, but it has held up beautifully, still glossy, no chips or scratches. It's like iron on there. It has stood up much better than the chrome on the turn indicator stalks.
This reminds me to replace those ugly little devils!

Glen

 
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I’ve stripped powder before by abrading the surface and using a paint stripper called Nitromors. So long as the surface was abraded it would get an ‘in’. Applying it to a nice shiny surface just meant it sat there and did nuthin’ !

But it was a while ago. Has paint stripper fallen foul of H&S or environmental concern these days perhaps, and gone ‘soft’ ?

I was told that powder cannot be blasted off, is that true ?
 
I've not tried sandblasting it as everything here that is powder coated looks like the Commando clock holders, the wheel set or the silver gray frame above. I won't be redoing those in my lifetime.
Knowing that it is a bitch to remove, Ive been careful to mask and plug places that need to be left bare.
My one slip up was on a wheel set similar to the above. The masking lifted and pc applied itself to about a square inch of alloy that I wanted bare. It took 2 hours of hard work to rectify!

That was one instance in which spray paint would have been preferable to PC, for ease of removal.

Glen
 
I’ve stripped powder before by abrading the surface and using a paint stripper called Nitromors. So long as the surface was abraded it would get an ‘in’. Applying it to a nice shiny surface just meant it sat there and did nuthin’ !

But it was a while ago. Has paint stripper fallen foul of H&S or environmental concern these days perhaps, and gone ‘soft’ ?

I was told that powder cannot be blasted off, is that true ?

Yes, Nitromors is a pale shadow of its former self. Euro regulations have meant the strongest chemical in it has been removed. There are a lot of paints that it has no effect on now. Bizarrely the ingredient no longer used you can still buy.
 
I Know I’m already a self declared member of the ‘NOT a fan of PC club’... so I am biased... but...

If PC is that difficult to remove, it presents another dilemma in my book. It is essentially a none maintainable plastic wrap. The ‘none maintainable‘ part is the rub. It’s fine on dirt bikes etc as they’re essentially disposable. Also the alloy wheels shown would be relatively easy to strip using flap wheels etc. so no probs there.

Bit it wouldn’t sit well in my mind using it on something less ‘disposable’ or more intricate and / or delicate. I’d be thinking about the poor sod down the line having to deal with it, whether that be me or someone else. And the potential damage that removal could cause.

Stripping something complex like a Commando frame and cradle using only abrasive methods would be a nightmare. I just don’t see how,you could get it all off? Stripping something more delicate, thin and intricate must surely be impossible?

Imagine having to deal with a fully powder coated Vincent Black Shadow... !?
 
I’ve stripped powder before by abrading the surface and using a paint stripper called Nitromors. So long as the surface was abraded it would get an ‘in’. Applying it to a nice shiny surface just meant it sat there and did nuthin’ !

But it was a while ago. Has paint stripper fallen foul of H&S or environmental concern these days perhaps, and gone ‘soft’ ?

I was told that powder cannot be blasted off, is that true ?
I can second that Nitromors ain't what it used to be... Tried to strip a guitar body for that 'natural' look (!), alas even with wire wool and judicious abrasives it just slid around smelling vile and doing naff all!
 
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