Challenge Budget Question: Paint vs. Powder

I have been sandblasting misc pieces on my challenge car with the plan to paint them black. But I started kicking around the idea of one of those do it yourself powder coating systems as an xmas gift to myself. I can round up an old oven easily and have 220 and gas in the garage already, so setup should be easy enough.

I like the hardness of powdered parts better then paint, but I have never done powder coating myself. I guess my question is can I powder coat stuff for about the same price as painting if I do it myself? How much powder does something take to coat? Looks like 5 pounds of powder is pretty easy to source off of ebay, but not sure what kind of coverage I would get out of 5 pounds. Do you think 5 pounds is enough to coat misc brackets and whatever front end parts I can get in an oven.

If I paint the parts myself I assume I only have to count the supplies. Same as if I powder them myself I assume I only have to count the supplies. Am I correct on this?

Thanks in advance!

20Ver wrote: Do you think 5 pounds is enough to coat misc brackets and whatever front end parts I can get in an oven. If I paint the parts myself I assume I only have to count the supplies. Same as if I powder them myself I assume I only have to count the supplies. Am I correct on this?

Yes on both counts.

Yes, my understanding is like a welder, the MIG Welder itself, is not included but the wire that stays attached to the car is. Hence the powder is included but the equipment is not.

aussiesmg wrote: Yes, my understanding is like a welder, the MIG Welder itself, is not included but the wire that stays attached to the car is. Hence the powder is included but the equipment is not.

I never knew that the wire was supposed to be counted, I assumed that it was just considered a consumable similar to argon/oxy and such.

Back to paint, what is the budget hit for paint already owned. I have close to 20 cans of spray paint ranging from 1/2 to 3/4 full from past car projects and honey-do list. I also have some left over paint from when I painted my Miata (close to a quart). None was bought specifically for a challenge car.

If the MIG wire is required, how do you know how much wire you used on the car? If 10lbs of wire is $20, how are you going to guess how much wire you used on the car?

Seems like a trivial (and ambiguous) expense to me. I suppose that's $0.25 we didn't include in our Civic budget for our radiator relocation.

If you used 2lbs of wire on a 10lb roll the rate would be 20% of cost, how is that difficult to figure.

Come on guys, if it is on the car when it runs it is included in the budget: ie sandpaper is not included, but paint is.

I believe that 1 lb. of powder covers like 35 sq. ft. If not exactly that it is close. A 5 lb. bag would be more than enough for your parts.

Buying coating by weight instead of volume really makes me think, 'Leave it all naked, and save weight.'

Is the blasting media & sandpaper also included in the budget?

xci_ed6 wrote: 'Leave it all naked, and save weight.'

I might try that line at the bar some night, however I'm guessing my rusty control arms will work better then that line.

Media is the same old media that has been in my blast cabinet for years and really should be replaced, so I'm not counting that.

we powder coated a bunch of stuff on gutty this year , for a total powder investment of like, less than 2 rattle cans.

wheels, tons of brackets/bolts/etc.

and , its indestructable vs. paint. a large portion of the powder gets flung all over the shop....so might want to have a little area for it, like a closet, dropcloth'd off area, etc.

CL blast cabinet converted to a powder cabinet.....keeps powder contained and lets you recycle the overspray.

redzcstandardhatch wrote: and , its indestructable vs. paint. a large portion of the powder gets flung all over the shop....so might want to have a little area for it, like a closet, dropcloth'd off area, etc.

One of the best hints I saw to address this is to pre-heat the part before spraying. More of it will sick, and apparently, the surface comes out even better.

We vistited a powder coating shop in a restoration class.

I think it's a great gift to yourself.

Eric

Powder is cheap. If you are getting alot of powder all over your shop turn down the air pressure and check your ground. It should be no less than 85% transfer effeciency.

I have both the eastwood gun and the harbor freight gun and while the HF gun is better built I prefer the eastwood guns spray and coverage. For a beginner stay away from specialty powders and super mega high gloss stuff. Some satin black and basic gloss colors will get you hooked. Powderbuythepound.com "Patented ultimate Chrome" is another very good looking powder that is very forgiving and easy to use.

xci_ed6 wrote: Buying coating by weight instead of volume really makes me think, 'Leave it all naked, and save weight.' Is the blasting media & sandpaper also included in the budget?

Dude, really, look two posts up from yours

aussiesmg wrote: If you used 2lbs of wire on a 10lb roll the rate would be 20% of cost, how is that difficult to figure. Come on guys, if it is on the car when it runs it is included in the budget: ie sandpaper is not included, but paint is.

You guys are getting way to picky! My welder is use for a lot more than my Challenge cars, I have no way of knowing how much wire is used on a car, I have built 3 cars plus how knows how much for other projects and neighbors and I'm only on my 2nd roll of wire in 8 years.

As for your paint statement does that mean I didn't have to count thinner because it will evaporate out and not be on the car after the paint dries.

Just something to think about.

If it is not on the car when it runs, it doesn't have to be counted, so under this description you would not have to count thinner, however you may need to substantiate your claim.

Of course this is my take and all final decisions belong to the GRM judges.

You guys are waaaay to anal about counting stuff. I mean you know there is cheating? its happens, not counting $.25 in welding is getting kinda drastic. Talk about taking the fun out of the event, bottom line is have FUN!

powder is heavy vs paint..

redzcstandardhatch wrote: its indestructable vs. paint.

so does that mean if you powdercoat the body panels on a car that the panels then become like the undentable body panels on a saturn???

don't answer that, I know the answer.....

I can't believe we're talking about powdercoating on a challenge car. Isn't that like buying a real diamond for a hooker?

Powdercoating is strong, but not perfect. If it chips, you will have a very tough time getting paint to stick to it to repair. Paint is cheap, effective, and if you scratch it, you just paint over it.

curtis73 wrote: Powdercoating is strong, but not perfect. If it chips, you will have a very tough time getting paint to stick to it to repair.

Nail polish, it's what we used on the race car and it works pretty well.