Paint Vs powdercoat. Not the usual question.

I know this has been done to death and I have read all the posts done the research and decided to go with powder coating. Now the problem.

There is only two places local to me that do PC and when I asked about undercoat PC they have both said that they can't do it... Don't have the powder. They are commercial outfits doing quick cheap stuff. I had a look at what they were doing and one place looked pretty good. The only issue I have is does the frame need to be under coated or is it ok to go straight with top coat? I know all these places advertising PC for bike frame say they undercoat but is it really nessecary?

I really like the idea of PC but don't want to have a problem with corrosion down the track. The other option is paint. There are plenty of places I can get a good paint job done. Two pack?

Has anyone done a single coat of PC done that stood the test of time?

Thanks D

"Has anyone done a single coat of PC done that stood the test of time?"

Five years on my 1975 Honda CB550 and three yrs. on my 1973 Commando. They both look like the day they were PC'd. No undercoat. My 1969 BSA was completed last Sept. but hasn't been exposed to the elements yet. I used the same PC guy on all three bikes.

Never heard of a two layer powdercoating process and was wondering how it would work?

I have had several bike frames powdercoated over the years and they have stood up great. Very durable finish. I recommend you go with satin rather than gloss as it doesn't show fingerprints, scratches etc. nearly as much as gloss. Also be careful to plug all threaded holes and protect areas where there are tight clearances between parts. PC is very thick.

All my frames x10 have been powder coated. Most of them by the same company who only coat motorcycle & car parts. I am pretty certain that they apply the powder to the freshly blasted metal with no undercoat. My 750 TR7 Tiger was done in 2001, has been used in wet weather as well as dry, & is still perfect. The secret is proper preparation, best quality polyester powders, & smoothing all sharp edges of brackets etc. Any type of coating will always be at it's weakest on a square (sharp) corner.
The oldest powder coat is the factory finish on my 1991 Hinckley Trident, which has done over 100,000 miles & is still much to my amazement, in fantastic condition.
It's always best to go to a motorcycle specialist finisher

The guy that did my PC was a DOD contractor and said he was required to use a phosphate dip under coat. I'm no expert on this, but supposedly he did that to mine. Apparently it's a process that stops rusting if the PC gets scratched or chipped. Maybe you can find someone that does that? This guy is in Front Royal, VA, I'm sure there are others around the country.

You'll need to mask lots of places and the painters won't know what to do there, look at what Old Brits procedure is, and they missed a lot, like around the rear brake/rear axle parts. My guy let me come in to the shop with one of his helpers and we took a couple hours and masked it after it was stripped, he had all the circles and sheets to use. I just wish I had taken care of some of the dings before I gave it to him to strip. I used paint on Rustoleum enamel to cover the parts that didn't get covered from the masking after assembly.

DogT said:

The guy that did my PC was a DOD contractor and said he was required to use a phosphate dip under coat. I'm no expert on this, but supposedly he did that to mine. Apparently it's a process that stops rusting if the PC gets scratched or chipped. Maybe you can find someone that does that? This guy is in Front Royal, VA, I'm sure there are others around the country.

You'll need to mask lots of places and the painters won't know what to do there, look at what Old Brits procedure is, and they missed a lot, like around the rear brake/rear axle parts. My guy let me come in to the shop with one of his helpers and we took a couple hours and masked it after it was stripped, he had all the circles and sheets to use. I just wish I had taken care of some of the dings before I gave it to him to strip. I used paint on Rustoleum enamel to cover the parts that didn't get covered from the masking after assembly.

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The phosphate dip isnt an undercoat, it is a surface conversion on the bare steel, yes it does help slightly with corrosion resistance and powder adhesion. Having the frame absolutely clean, rust free and dry before powder coat is very important. An undercoat powder will (can depending on what it is) increase the corrosion resistance. For those interested the undercoat (well the one I am familiar with anyway) is applied and then half baked so to speak, then the top coat is applied and baked.

You are Ok with no base coating if you do not see a lot of salt.
If you live on the coast or ride on salted roads then the corrosion will get under the powder through the inevitable rock chips. Jim

We do all of our powder coating in house and I have tried many different approaches over the years

I have found that, especially when doing a high gloss black, its definitely easier to achieve better results if you apply a primer coat first. This will give you great mechanical bond to the steel but also fill in a lot of smaller imperfections. Besides, the primer is fairly friendly to work with after its applied.

We cure this 100 % and then completely sand the entire piece. Then we apply the finish coat. Depending on color, we will apply a clear as well

Moisture can definitely become an issue if the frame isn't prepared properly before the powder is applied. Problem is that you would not necessarily know that the piece is rusting underneath the powder. Having said that, you will have the same problems when using a regular paint, if the prep isn't done right. In other words, this problem is not exclusive to powder coating

Matt / Colorado Norton Works

www.coloradonortonworks.com

Sounds like a good reason for the phosphate procedure in either case. When I painted mine many years ago with enamel, I primed it with zinc chromate, the powder coat guy said it would be hard to strip, but I don't know about that, or if you can get zinc chromate any more. The enamel didn't hold up very good.

Thanks all. Think I will go for it. The owner is happy for me to be there and mask up as per old Brit as soon as its blasted so it will be bare metal for the minimum amount of time. Not to much worry about salt. As for rain it's only rained twice in the last 3 years so pretty dry here. A bit hot in summer but...

Dean said:

Thanks all. Think I will go for it. The owner is happy for me to be there and mask up as per old Brit as soon as its blasted so it will be bare metal for the minimum amount of time. Not to much worry about salt. As for rain it's only rained twice in the last 3 years so pretty dry here. A bit hot in summer but...

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Yeah, that's a bit hot!!

Some of the UK powder coasters offer phosphate dipping as an extra.

Sounds a good idea to me