The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Powder coat before or after

I'm doing a ground up resto on my 52' AD. The guy I'm having upgrade my differential from a Patrick's kit wants my torque tube and rear-end complete before sand blasting and powdercoating. After his initial repairs, he'll give me back some pieces with firm instructions of how the powdercoating should be done. My question now is; since the sand blasting and powdercoating will be done on everything connected to the frame (i.e., all suspension, steering etc.) should any and all work be done first to these parts 'before' the blasting and powdercoating?
Thanks ahead of time

Seems you would want to remove the parts, clean and coat them individually, then coat the frame and reinstall each part. Leaving them on the frame will leave the rust underneath where it counts the most. I don't think I understand your question.

You may want to keep in mind that if you are thinking about powdercoating the leaf springs. It is possible to get them too hot and dis-temper them. I painted mine just to avoid any possibilities.

Also from my recent experience you may want to get your frame back after sand-blasting and make sure you grind out any rust pits and straighten any pieces before they powder coat. I didn't and a awesome powdercoat job looks kind of crappy with the rust pits and a few very minor bends in the frame.

Good Luck!

When doing a frame off restoration is it better to powder coat the frame or use something like por 15. And when your doing the front wheel wells can powder coating withstand the heat.

dazed and confused

I think he might be afraid of buildup on some of the part that need to fit together. When you PC, you have to be carefull not to PC threaded, or sleeved parts. I had many of my parts PC'd and I had to do some grinding in a few areas that got a coating when it shouldn't have. It wasn't that big a deal. Cecil.........

Ok,
I think i'm getting the idea. All parts that can be removed from the frame will be. That's a good pointer on the pre PC inspection of the frame after sandblasting. Can the powdercoater be given a heads up and mask all threads and other areas that should not be coated? Or does this all go into a basket with not control?
Another way to ask the question is; should I be replacing (renewing parts like the King pins) prior to sandblast and PC?

When you take the stuff over the the powercoater make sure you point out all the places, on parts, that you don't want powdercoated. You could even mark the places with masking tape. Hopefully, he'll slow down enough to do it right. Cecil.............

Rattletrap,
I'm going through almost the exact same process on my 1940 1/2 ton. So far, I've had my frame completely stripped, sandblasted and PC'd. When I dropped off the frame for sandblasting and PC'ing I specifically told the guy what I wanted done, including having both bumper mounts removed prior to doing anything. When I went to pick it up I was disappointed that he apparently didn't hear a word I was saying. One bumper mount was removed but not the other. How stupid can you get! So now I've got to have him redo part of the job.

Also, I was planning on having my front axle assy, rear end, etc. PC'd. But a couple of really knowledgeable old hotrod guys got ahold of me and said that would be a mistake. They've both PC'd their running gear in the past and say that it's very susceptible to rock chips and other damage. They both highly recommended just painting the running gear since it can more easily be touched up in case of rock chips and the like. So that's what I've done. I had my driveline guy remove the diff and axles, etc. and just give me the housing. This also gave me an opportunity to clean out the axle housing and driveshaft enclosure really well before taking everyting back to him for reassembly. It really needed to be cleaned out, too, after sandblasting. I wouldn't want to reassemble everything with all that sand in there. I sprayed Brake Kleen into the axle housing and used a round toilet brush to get it absolutely sparkling clean!

That's my 2 cents.

Thanks Neil and all who had their two cents. When none is going through this for the first time (maybe the last) two cents here and two cents there really adds up quick. It all helps to round out the picture. Some ol sage said to learn by someone else's experience. Partly true. But you never really own the experience then.
Thanks,
jeff