I have a 54 F100 and Id like to powdercoat the grille and rims in the old Ford Sungate Ivory color. I found the paint codes here but haven't been able to find anything on powdercoating. Has anyone got any tips on where to start looking or how to pull this off? I don't know much about powdercoating, but I believe you can't mix the powders; has anyone tried to match Sungate Ivory off a color chart with any luck or is there somewhere I could go with the paint codes and get a match in powder? Thanks!
Matching powder to a paint color will be nearly impossible. You might try to find a coater that has a large color swatch selection and see how close you can get. You can get custom colors, but it's expensive and you'll have to buy a large quantity. Keep in mind that powder does have it's shortcomings; while very durable in terms of chipping, it does 'micro-scratch' easily and it's nearly impossible to repair any damage. Generally, you'll have to strip and recoat, not a easy process. It is a plastic coating, with everything that implies. I've used it a lot on motorcycle builds, and it's a poor choice on sheetmetal body parts. If you want it to retain it's finish, a clearcoat with a good urethane clear is needed.... but you're back to paint... Best bet? Find a powder that's as close as you can get for the wheels, then have paint mixed to match the powder for the grill.
Good stuff, Steve... thanks! I've been on the fence about the grille but I've seen a few mentions of powdercoating it and thought maybe I'd look into it. Your point about repairing the damage is a good one, I plan for this to be a driver so thats definitely something I've got to consider.
One other thing to keep in mind; you can't coat over 'non-metal' fillers (well, you can but you probably won't like the results) so if a part needs any 'bodywork', paint will be the best choice. Powder really only 'likes' clean, bare metal, anything else will be a real challenge to get an acceptable finish.
True, true... Eastwood sells some stuff called Lab Metal which I think can be used, but they sure don't give it away. I'm lucky in that I don't have a ton of work to do on the grille, just take care of some surface rust in a couple of spots but I will need to use some sort of filler so it is a legitimate concern. I hear a lot on the pros of powder coating, but it's the cons that I want to learn more about. I thought it would be good for a grille because it was "tougher" and would hold up out in front, cruising down the highway but I need to dig in to how it ages more.
Even that expensive 'lab metal' doesn't always work. The big problem is the different expansion rates of the fillers vs the parent metal. Unless they match almost perfectly, you'll get a 'line' around the filled spot. You can do additional coats of powder after sanding the lines out, but you end up with a very 'plastic' looking finish with multiple coats. You'll get best results with very thin filler amounts. Don't get me wrong, I love powder, but for body parts or visible trim items, you just don't get that good of a finish compared to paint and the inability to fix flaws or rub it out is a big minus. I'd use it on wheels all day long as it will take far more abuse than paint... A couple of pluses.... Powder will stick to chrome with no special prep (you can use it as a 'primer' and put paint over it) and is also a better choice for aluminum or pot-metal parts as it will stop corrosion dead as long as you get the metal clean before coating.
NIC in White City, Oregon , next to Medford, claims more than 6000 colors. If you spray out a test panel and mail it to them they will eye match to their existing colors. They also have colors displayed on their web site. It's best to metal finish before coating. If there are slight imperfections a good coater can basecoat, sand and recoat to smooth out. But then your getting into the area of a lot of hand labor and it drives the cost up. About powder sticking to chrome...you better sand blast it for adhesion. and the plastic remark..paint is polyurethane, that's plastic. Most powders are polyesters. Epoxy powders are tougher, but does not have UV blockers. Powders can be cut & buffed just like paint, again labor intensive.
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