Cam Cover Powder Coat with script detailing???

[John O]

Hey All,

I got an extra set of Lancia script cam covers (which thankfully don't have broken webs) that I'd like to wrinkle-finish powder coat and then detail the "lancia" text. Sorta like this, on Andy Schor's motor:

http://picasaweb.google.com/roadbox128/AndySScorp#5107654207994819954

The powder coat part is not a problem, a friend with a lot of powder coating experience is taking care of that part. What I'm hoping is to get advice from someone here who's actually detailed the letters. I was thinking of sanding through the powder coat at the raised letters and fins, then polishing the exposed bare aluminum. Anything I should look out for? Is there a better way to go? Any prep I should do in anticipation of detailing the lettering before I powder coat?

Thanks in advance for any help.

John O.

[HF Stinger]

John, powder coating is pretty durable, just be careful you don't chip away the material at the edge of the letters / fins.

There is some high-temp (I think polyester) tape that powder coating companies use to mask off areas which shouldn't be painted. If you were to pre polish your details and then mask them you may be ahead of the game for your final finishing.

There is the option of also just wiping off the powder form the raised areas prior to curing - this takes a steady hand though.

[SubGothius]

I once read a suggestion to use liquid car wax and a fine paintbrush to "paint over" detailed areas you'd want to mask off before spray-painting, so after the paint dries, you can just scrape or scrub the painted wax off. However, that advice was intended for sprayed paints, so I'm not sure a wax-based mask would be advisable where heat-curing is used, as in powdercoating. However, the principle could still be useful, if you can substitute a more heat-resistant masking agent that'd still be easily removable later -- something like diluted rubber cement, perhaps?

[Andrew S]

Sanding off afterwards is the way to do it. Use fine wet/dry paper on a rubber rubbing block. The only thing that may go wrong is the edges chipping as HF said; I suppose you'll have to try it to see. I've done this with painted covers and it worked beautifully.
The wax is a non-starter, unless there is a wax based product designed for this that I don't know of. Wax enters the surrounding atmosphere and affects paint adhering. I can't be certain that it would affect powder coating but I would expect so. I distinctly remember wax-polishing a car I'd just sprayed when I was a young apprentice whilst it was still parked in the same area as other cars being prepared for paint... Woah was my arse kicked! EVERY respray that day had problems with wax. Lesson learned. As I say, perhaps the powder coating process is immune to it but I doubt it.

Andrew.

[Will]

These wer done in powder coat (polyester) and I would avoid doing it unless you use a high temp powdercoat. I used the Eastwood powder coat colors for this, translucent red over clean bead blasted aluminum.

http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/541/medium/Picture_113.jpg (http://lancisti.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=946)

The text was polished beforehand, and then the way I got the powdercoat on evenly then removed off the letters without any chipped edges was I powdercoated the entire thing and then used a pad dampened with acetone to clean the (cured) powdercoat off the raised letters.

Unfortunately the prolonged elevated temps dull the jewel-like transparent powder coat and it softens up and becomes a gummy mess in places like under the oil cap. If you are going to use powder coat, be sure not to use the low-temp or you will be doing it twice. smae goes for coolant fittings I had powdercoated. I have learned the shortcomings of the material the hard way, hopefully you won't have to.

[Andrew S]

Will, that looks SOOO good. What's the availability of those Abarth cam covers? Any left anywhere? I like 'em!

Andrew.

[Timo04]

I have learned the shortcomings of the material the hard way, hopefully you won't have to.

It always seems to work this way for me the first time I try to perform some new (new to me) process or application...there is hardly ever a perfect outcome on the first try...any way great job Will on those cam covers, they look outstanding!

[Will]

They DID look nice and did is the operarative word. As I wrote, the clear red did not hold up as well as I'd hoped. It is now darker and duller, less translucent.

Those are real ones, came with my Abarth engine- there are aftermarket replicas but the casting is IMO inferior (sorry if the producer is on the list, just calling like I see it) to the originals being that the castings are 2nd gen.

[John O]

Hey All,

Here's a quick update. I had some errands to do this afternoon which coincided with dropping of a pound of wrinkle finish powder with the friend who was to shoot my cam covers. I got to his place and he already had them bead blasted and ready to go, so no point in waiting. Fired up the oven and got out his little Eastwood powder rig. Including oven time and clean up, maybe took all of a half an hour.

Once things calmed down a little this evening at home, I dug in at the sink with various grits of sandpaper. I have a lot more to go yet, but twenty minutes of work yielded what you see in the attached images. I'm pretty pleased so far.

BTW, the color is Aegean Blue, not quite as pure a blue as I was looking for (it's a little bit "Ford" to my eye), but as close as I could come in a wrinkle finish.

John O.

[Will]

Hey All,

Here's a quick update. I had some errands to do this afternoon which coincided with dropping of a pound of wrinkle finish powder with the friend who was to shoot my cam covers. I got to his place and he already had them bead blasted and ready to go, so no point in waiting. Fired up the oven and got out his little Eastwood powder rig. Including oven time and clean up, maybe took all of a half an hour.

Once things calmed down a little this evening at home, I dug in at the sink with various grits of sandpaper. I have a lot more to go yet, but twenty minutes of work yielded what you see in the attached images. I'm pretty pleased so far.

BTW, the color is Aegean Blue, not quite as pure a blue as I was looking for (it's a little bit "Ford" to my eye), but as close as I could come in a wrinkle finish.

John O.

Is that hi temp or regular polyester? (see post #5 and check under oil cap on a hot engine to see if it's turned gooey) I have never tried to mix hi-temp, but regular polyester can be mixed really easily, you just combine the colors and shake or stir the powder. For example, if you wanted a darker blue, you could just soak the covers in acetone for five minutes and clean them off with a paintbrush, prebake at 425 for 1/2 hr,then add some black powdercoat to your blue , shake it up, load in the gun and respray, and bake at 375 for 13-14 minutes. Since your script will be already polished, a rag damp with acetone lets you pretty much "wipe" the script clean again. You can also wipe the powder off before baking but in my experience it gets a little crumbly around the edge and does not give as good final results.
You'll also want to wipe any overspray from the gasket surface with a little acetone so it doesn't stick to your cam box gasket.

Caswell has a (IMO) better version of the Eastwood type gun on sale (beefier power supply) if you wanted to get your own gun- mine had paid for itself a few times over and small parts can be baked just fine in a toaster oven. Bigger parts require you wait until the moment your wife leaves for her mother's and have plenty of air fresherner to mask the palstic smell in the kitchen before she gets back LOL! :D

[John O]

Is that hi temp or regular polyester?

Regular polyester. My friend with the powder coat set up already warned me about cleaning away the PC on the oil cap face, the hold down bolt face, and the cam box mating face. He didn't on his first set, then couldn't get the oil cap off!



if you wanted a darker blue, you could just soak the covers in acetone for five minutes and clean them off with a paintbrush

This blue is not "the" blue I actually want, but I've been searching for a few months now and most, even the darker value blues, are too green. This is kind of a placeholder, but as you note, everthing will be levelled and polished for the second go around.

FWIW, having dealt with color mixing most of my adult life (not a brag, just how it's been), adding black to a pure hue makes it darker but reduces chroma significantly. Said another way, the blue I have on the covers now has a fair amount of white in it, so adding black would actually gray while darkening. I'm looking for a wrinkle finish in more of a pure hue blue and if I don't find it eventually, this will do for now.



Caswell has a (IMO) better version of the Eastwood type gun on sale (beefier power supply) if you wanted to get your own gun ...wait until the moment your wife leaves for her mother's...

There's no winning; she knows too much. If I had a powder coating gun, she'd want to know where I'd done the baking. I'd have to keep the whole thing secret and I'm terrible with that kinda stuff. Better to wait 'til we move and build our uber-garage where I can set up an oven.

John O.

[Will]

Regular polyester. My friend with the powder coat set up already warned me about cleaning away the PC on the oil cap face, the hold down bolt face, and the cam box mating face. He didn't on his first set, then couldn't get the oil cap off!




This blue is not "the" blue I actually want, but I've been searching for a few months now and most, even the darker value blues, are too green. This is kind of a placeholder, but as you note, everthing will be levelled and polished for the second go around.

FWIW, having dealt with color mixing most of my adult life (not a brag, just how it's been), adding black to a pure hue makes it darker but reduces chroma significantly. Said another way, the blue I have on the covers now has a fair amount of white in it, so adding black would actually gray while darkening. I'm looking for a wrinkle finish in more of a pure hue blue and if I don't find it eventually, this will do for now.




There's no winning; she knows too much. If I had a powder coating gun, she'd want to know where I'd done the baking. I'd have to keep the whole thing secret and I'm terrible with that kinda stuff. Better to wait 'til we move and build our uber-garage where I can set up an oven.

John O.

Well, if you want to try to mix full spectrum color I have some translucent red you can play with, I could mail you a small envelope of the stuff for mixing if you'd like.

You may find it darkens over time (and heat cycles). My translucent jewel-red ended up more of a dull brick semi-opaque color after a bunch of hard use. This may actually work to your advantage with that very bright blue though.

If the wrinkle finish appears to be immune to this effect and the softening while hot, please let me know as I might consider wrinkle over hi-temp if the wrinkle is more durable than the standard. I also have some coolant fittings I have to shoot with something that doesn't melt. the translucent powdercoat ain't it. Oh well, live and learn I guess!

I bought us a new toaster oven with the full intention of scavenging the old one for the shop. Maybe your house needs a new wall oven? :D

[John O]

Well, if you want to try to mix full spectrum color I have some translucent red you can play with, I could mail you a small envelope of the stuff for mixing if you'd like.

I appreciate the offer, but I don't think I want to expand my powder coating expertise too much right now. I already have enough projects and distraction opportunities on my plate to last far beyond my current estimated lifespan.

John O.