Polishing Powder Coating ????

[smurf]

Has any one polished a powder coated service ???
If so what would be the best product to use please
The area I am working on is the air vents on a kit car (Lambo)

[smurf]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

no one has any ideas yet

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

Sorry, I was off yesterday and missed this post.

Based upon my personal experience working on powder coated surfaces, powder coated surface don't lend themselves well to being polished or abraded in any way with the end result looking original or better.

Powder coatings don't react like a normal paint used to paint cares with.

About all you can do is wash or wipe clean and apply a coat of wax and this might add some shine.

Someone else may chime in with a different experience and some hope...



Picture?

[Kevin Brown]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

Treat the powder-coat in a similar manner as you would paint!
As Mike Phillips and Meguiar's so often recommends... DO A TEST SPOT... F I R S T !

I doubt you'll get into a troubling situation removing mild defects from power-coat. By coming up with a plan (via test-spots), you'll be certain to avoid the inevitable headache associated with tackling a large area without knowing what to expect. I've removed defects & polished powder-coat utilizing the same products & machines that I use on paint.

Recently, I spent some time polishing the powder-coated frame on a recreated top-fueler dragster. I used a Metabo SXE400 random-orbital polisher, some 3" foam pads, and M105. Sections that I could not reach with the machine, I polished by hand with an M9910 Ultimate Wipe.

I've used Meguiar's M86 So1o Cut & Polish Cream and M105 Ultra Cut Compound previously, so I went back to what worked for me. I really like these two liquids because they lack solvents that can sometimes soften a painted/coated surface.

You'll find that powder-coat may not have the hardness of catalyzed paint, but resiliency/flexibility tends to be a bit more. That being the case, powder-coat sometimes has a tendency to gouge or scratch easier than paint. However- A guy that does it for a living can adjust the hardness based upon the bake temp.

If you're planning on wet-sanding and then polishing, I'd AGGRESSIVELY recommend that you do a test spot before tackling a larger area!

About ten years ago, I saw a Jeep that looked great using powder-coat on the entire body, instead of paint. It looked KILLER. The guy had wet-sanded and polished it.

[Kevin Brown]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

HA!

During the time it took to write my previous post, Mike chimed in!
Sorry Mike, didn't mean for the post to look as if... Well, anything!

I just happened to be typing and readjusting my post, then submitted it and saw yours there.

I guess the best thing to do is... Do a TEST SPOT first!!

[smurf]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

Thank you very much Mike and Kevin .The area that I am polishig are the air vents on a Lambo .This will all need to be done by hand I will do a test spot with some M80 and see how that looks
Thanks guys

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

It's all good Kevin!

I haven't worked on a lot of powder coated components, so my experience is limited, what I have worked on I haven't had much luck with as far as buffing goes.

Would actually like to have someone post some tips and techniques for working on powder coated objects to help our forum members that find themselves working on this coating in the future.

One thing for sure, paint technology is always changing just like everything else, so it's important to always have an open mind and test, test, test, to see what you can do.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

The area that I am polishing are the air vents on a Lambo.

I read somewhere that driving a Lamborghini at high speeds for a week or two helps the powder coated vents look better, let the owner know this and be sure to let him know he'll have to pay for the gas....

[smurf]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

I read somewhere that driving a Lamborghini at high speeds for a week or two helps the powder coated vents look better, let the owner know this and be sure to let him know he'll have to pay for the gas....

Thats a good one Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

Thats a good one Mike

If you're not familiar with the procedure we would be happy to perform it for you, just have the owner drop the Lamborghini off with a full tank of gass....

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Polishing Powder Coating ????

As others have noted...powder coated surfaces are a double sided sword. Its great due to its strength...but on the flip side powder coating by nature does not polish well.

In the past, we have been able to get light surfaces imperfections out with a very, very fine wool pad. I had my H1 parked at the Reno Air Races and someone tided a banner to the left rear bumper...well guess what..the movement of the banner string caused some minor imperfections.

We worked with a very mild polish and as noted a very soft wool finish pad at low speeds on our rotational (1000 rpm) and slowly worked over the entire area of the powder coated bumper. While the results were not perfect, it was not visible from a couple feet back any longer.

With your need for hand tools on this one, try a light polish with a nice microfiber and a little elbow grease...if its already in pretty good shape...you will at least add better shine to it and I bet minimize any micro scratches at the same time.

Good luck and enjoy the work...