Date: 28-03-24  Time: 12:34 pm

Author Topic: Powdercoat or paint ?  (Read 2164 times)

ArchDruid

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Powdercoat or paint ?
« on: 11 February 2018, 07:49:31 pm »
I have my opinion on this, but I'd like to hear from others...
Assuming that colour matching was not an issue, would you powdercoat or paint ?

I have my Gen1 completely stripped and intending to have Frame, Swing arm & Wheels done.
Perhaps someone has some compelling arguments for one compared to the other.
I'd be interested to hear pro's & cons for both.

Cheers

devilsyam

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Re: Powdercoat or paint ?
« Reply #1 on: 11 February 2018, 11:17:37 pm »
For durability powder coating all the time
Find a company specialising in bike powdercoat and do ya home work Google is your friend
www.Devilsyam.com (Fazerpedia)

Dustydes

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Re: Powdercoat or paint ?
« Reply #2 on: 13 February 2018, 05:20:00 pm »
Ask about plugging any holes that need to be clear of paint. Powdercoat is a bitch to get out any holes, its tough, even retapping holes can be a pain and it tends to chip away at start of hole. A good company will do any you want doing for you with the appropriate plugs.

solorider

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Re: Powdercoat or paint ?
« Reply #3 on: 14 February 2018, 12:35:52 am »
I have had my frame recently powder coated and I also had a zinc coating put on first, I paid £76 and they even had the vin sticker copied and restuck on the frame, because they have a deal with a company opposite them I got the vin sticker free of charge

Millietant

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Re: Powdercoat or paint ?
« Reply #4 on: 03 March 2018, 08:21:10 pm »
Powder coating, every time, for me.

Had my first experience of powder coating on a CB 500 Four frame that I converted to monoshock back in 1982. Every experience of powder coating over 30+ years has been a good one.

However, a friend showed me some car brake calipers that a customer had brought to him for "repair' following blasting and powder coating. The people who did the work hadn't removed the pistons, or the bleed nipples and they hadn't blocked any of the orifices in the calipers, hence the beads inside the brakes sitting behind the pistons, which were seized in place by the powder coating.

Bloody cowboys :eek
« Last Edit: 03 March 2018, 08:21:53 pm by Millietant »

bludclot

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Re: Powdercoat or paint ?
« Reply #5 on: 05 March 2018, 08:48:43 am »



My local powder coaters, K and N in Portchester, Hampshire, are excellent for frames, fork legs and the like. For more bike specific stuff like calipers, master cylinders etc. then triple s are superb and accept posted parts.


http://www.triple-s.co.uk


Powder pros:
- cheaper and quicker to have applied than paint
- simple for the home restorer to drop parts at coaters and pick up soon after
- a quite hard finish


Powder cons:
- work piece requires blasting and baking, there are scare stories about wheels cracking etc. (although not in my experience)
- can't fill larger imperfections with anything other than metal
- not easily applied at home
- powder chips, especially at edges and not easily blown in
- only applicable on metals, forget plastics


Paint pros:
- a higher shine than powder when applied and polished well
- infinite colour matching and finish choices
- can be applied over pretty much anything, including filler for a smooth finish
- can be applied at home making small repairs easy later


Paint cons:
- toxic when applied
- not as hard as powder
- easy to get wrong, then it looks rubbish
- paint is expensive to buy and more expensive to have applied


The reality is that a stripped bike is so many parts to paint them all at home takes months and months. Some parts will want to take powder and some paint. Having a good reliable applicator for each is a must for any home restoration.


I am not claiming any real expertise here, I have restored 3 bikes, two cars and one van in my life so have picked up a little knowledge on the way. As I get older I am painting less and less parts myself, I an veering towards letting my local paint man do the work as painting parts is just so time consuming.


By the same token, poor work is time consuming and costly to put right, choose your finish partners carefully!


Hope this helps.
is it clean enough?

bludclot

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Re: Powdercoat or paint ?
« Reply #6 on: 05 March 2018, 08:52:32 am »



Also, some parts will have other finishes - plated, anodized, linished, vapour blasted etc. Finding a good local place for each of these is also required.
is it clean enough?