Powder Coating



I’ve been getting allot of calls recently about powder coating. There are many experts and places to learn (Eastwood has great tech support), but all I can do is share my experiences, what works, and what doesn’t work for me. First of all I have powder coated all kinds of metal, steel, aluminum, stainless, brass, copper, copper-nickel, and a small piece of titanium. One thing is important regardless of the base material; cleanliness. Starting with an even finish all the way around is critical whether by bead blasting or polishing. All surfaces, including chrome must be 100% de-greased and handled with latex gloves. One fingerprint is enough oil to leave a pattern in the finished product. Aluminum should go through a de-smut or chemical bath to clean the pores. This can be done with a water/battery acid mix 50/50. ALWAYS add the acid to the water and rinse the part thoroughly in purified water.

I have found that preheating the part makes it easier to get an even coat on a dry part, and to make sure the little nooks and crannies get filled. If you are using a translucent powder over chrome it is critical to have a ton of light to get the coat an even color. The chrome must also be spotless. I use lacquer thinner to clean chrome parts. Inspect every part with a strong light to make sure there is powder in every corner. Always follow the recommended temperatures and cooking times.

I think that less is more. A thick coat of powder melts unevenly and does not make it better. A thin, even coat is adequate. You can always re-coat if needed. I have found that a hot part re-coats easier than a cold part, but do what works for you.

Finally, hang the part the way it is going to go in the oven. When you are coating the part it is much easier to avoid hitting or bumping it, which knocks powder off. I hang the part on a spare oven rack and transfer it to the oven by lifting it by the hanging hooks. The only reason I do this is because I coat out in a garage because of the mess, and keep the oven in my clean shop. Don’t rush! Let the part cool down naturally and you’ll have a gorgeous part.

427 Cobra Engine

This is a 351W 408 stroker going into my 427 Cobra. I am almost ready to take it to the dyno. I just have some more electrical and vacuum line work to do and it's ready to run. When I set out to build it I targeted a minimum of 500 HP but I think it will get at least 550. I started with a basic 351W block and bored it 0.030". It has a forged crank with a custom girdle, H beam rods and SRP pistons. After cc'ing the Racing Head Service heads the compression will be 9.6:1 which will allow it to run on regular pump gas. The intake manifold is a stock Edelbrock dual quad dual plane manifold I modified for fuel injection. I am using the Accel Gen 7 EFI package including two 1050 CFM throttle bodies. Comp Cams custom ground a cam for me that will make it idle around 800 RPM with a wicked slope. It is right on the edge of being a streetable motor that will make this Cobra a rocket. The blue is powder coating and all the hardware is polished stainless. I spared no expense with the price tag for parts topping out just over $15,000. If this were built for someone it would easily be a $60,000 motor because of all the custom parts and painstaking detail. I should have a final build and dyno video posted with a couple of weeks.....stop by my YouTube channel and check it out.