Powder coating whole car

[sergei]

Is powder coating whole car possible?
I don't care if it is not glossy, I am weighting of full respray vs powder coat the whole thing (I guess powder will be more durable, which is what I am after).
I am planning on stripping the whole chassis and "media" blasting it...
Has some one in here done something like this?
It would be cool at least to powder coat the under/inside/engine bay.
As ST165 is super rust bucket, and will continue to rust unless drastic measures are taken, I am going to strip it and cut out panels that need to be replaced and replace them.

[postfach]

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, if you could find somewhere with a big enough oven thing, you can also get powder coating with a glossy finish I'm not sure how smooth the finish would be though, how important is that to you?

[Alex B]

Anodize it please

[sergei]

No importance. As long as it is uniform colour.
The only drawback is fixing damage, how one goes patching the scratches/dents?

[Toby]

I remember vaguely electroplating some stuff at school - how feasible is that?


I think powder coating a whole vehicle will prove to be an Everest that only the truly stupid can climb.

[sergei]

http://seattlepowdercoat.com/myths__faqs

Question: Can you powder coat a car body?

Answer: Yes, but it is pretty rare. Because powder coat cures in a high temperature oven and non-metals are typically not coated, car bodies need to be stripped of all non-metal components. Any existing coatings also need to be stripped, including the removal of any lead or plastic (Bondo) fillers. It is a rare craftsman who can smooth sheet metal well enough for top coating without lead or plastic fillers. Finally, because powder coat is not easily spot-repaired/touched up, door dings and fender benders in powder coated car bodies usually have to be repaired with wet paint and it may be difficult to blend the finishes to completely hide the repair.

I guess that answers my question.

[stolic]

interesting idea.. could be very hard getting the colour to match over the whole car tho. The body will be fine, but plastic stuff like bumpers, door handles and wing mirrors probably wont accept the powercoat too well and would need to be painted by more conventional means..
Also I imagine the cost could be equal to repraying your car 3 times over by normal methods.. but I could be wrong.
I'd be interested to know if any can do it, and what they would charge, so by all means do the research and be sure to post up your findings

and if all else fails, you could always chrome it

[Distrb]

i looked into it when building my corolla, and consulted a few powedercoating firms about it. Heres what i found out:

You need to get every surface you want to treat back to bare metal. bare metal will start to oxidise after only 1 hour in the atmosphere, so you need to get it from where it is being stripped, to the powdercoaters in double quick time.

Shell must be cleaner than clean. This means cleaning the surface absolutely of any bead/soda you used to blast it with to strip the paint off. Every cavity must be completely empty of bead/soda. I gaurantee you will be there for years trying to get the bead/soda out of every nook and cranny that the high pressure forces it into. If you dont, it'll wreck the finish of the powerdercoat. I know (as i bead blasted my shell) i've still got beaches appearing in my footwells after every event.

All seam sealant/bog/whatever must be gone. From everywhere. bead/sodablasting wont remove the seam sealand (it will destroy the bog and other not so durable additives), you have to do it manually. That includes every seam that i found it in. in some cases it means opening up the seams to extract any sealant that may be lurking within. If you dont, as soon as it gets into the bake oven and heats up to temp, it'll liquidise and completely ruin the finish of the powedercoat.

I'd seriously look into acid dipping the shell as a means to strip it if you wanted to go down this route. Personally i found it much easier to paint it.

[sergei]

Yeah, looks like better off painting it.
at least I can paint it myself without any issues.

[frost]

just spray with a 2k paint with good quality hardener and it should be durable,
or if you can get your hands on some air craft grade paint, that stuff will withstand anything powder coat can, but cost a kidney,