Anyone mess with powdercoat?

[Duneroller]

I wasn't really sure where to put this.

I recently detailed a 40' Weekend Warrior 5th wheel for a guy. It was a ton of work, but came out very nice. Before I left he asked me to take a look at his sandrail and see what I could do with it. It is powdercoated black and the wing (which sits just behind the rear tires) is pretty much sand blasted to a flat color (no shine what so ever). I told him that it would most likely need the rotary to restore it properly, but I was leary about touching it with a rotary because of how thin the powdercoat is now. He understood, but would like to have me see what can be done with a DA to make it shine a bit. Anybody with any experience working on powdercoat have any tips?

This is not the car, but just like it. The side of the wing to the outside of the blower and above the header is the main area he is concerned with.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Anyone mess with powdercoat?

First, paint technology and polishing technology, (Our new SMAT technology), is always changing so what didn't work yesterday may work today.

The reason I posted the above first is because I have not worked on a ton of powder coated components, that said, from my experience with the powder coatings I have worked on, I've never had any success cleaning or polishing them to remove stains or scratches with the end-results looking original or better.

Some coatings just don't like to be polished like automotive paints, so if you do anything at all on this other project make sure you do a Test Spot first, make sure your product and process of choice will make a small area look good or better before going over the entire surface.

If you do tackle the project successfully be sure to come back and let us know what you did and how it worked out.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Anyone mess with powdercoat?

Try giving forum member "Stang crazy" a pm. I believe he does a lot of work with powdercoating. He is a very good and knowledgeable guy.