powdercoating tin….question

Fit and tweak it all first, or you may be very disappointed, beating on freshly powdercoated pieces.

There's guy on SAMBA that has OEM complete set for $250.  

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/cla...detail.php?id=806179

Darkbeer, I'm no expert, but I don't think you can powder coat over chrome! Took my chromed Reutter luggage rack to be powder-coated and the shop (one of the busiest shops in SoCal) said chrome would have to be removed.

I would say put the old tins on (to get back on the road) while the new 'black' tins are being PC'd. Hope it all goes back together so you can drive that bad-boy! 

Yes, Hope it all goes black together!

Jim, is right, chrome can not be powder coated. It can be 'black chromed' however and that is a very good look in some cases. It looks like a shiny black until up close.

A custom shop out of Denver did a '49-50? custom chopped Merc a couple years ago and displayed it at Goodguys, won a couple builders awards. Every piece of chrome on that car, and there is a lot of it, was 'black chromed. It really stood out with the Candy Apple Red pearl metallic paint job.

You guys must have skimmed his original post - he HAD chrome tin but bought a set of Black painted tin which is what he'll be using.

Get it all mounted and tweaked so it all fits properly, then talk with the powder coat guy - you may have to get them all degreased and sandblasted before you apply the powder so it'll stick while curing. 

Trying to tweak a piece after powder coat will just cause the coating to crack and chip off.

As I touched on earlier (I only had a moment) and Gordon expanded upon, get all the engine tin fitting the way you want and then send it out for powdercoating. Twisting and hammering to make it fit properly after powdercoating will destroy the finish! If it's a stroker engine and you need ideas to get the cylinder covers to snug up against the engine case properly, ask.

Thanks to all…..

I have to agree that pre-fit is the smartest route. I too was unclear about the PC over chrome…guy said he could…I will cross examine him on this.  I only want to 'reuse' just the cyl cover pieces (as stated above) and the rest is new, flat black, and will PC just fine.  GET ER DONE… right ?????

My concern was the fan and shroud rubbing. Other then that, it should be good.

I'm going to go with gloss black on all except shroud, which I will do in Porsche Super 90/ SC light grey. It's the '36 HP' style shroud, with the two heater horns. I will get those 356 wire mesh looking air cleaners for the Webers…should be rather handsome when finished. (unlike me...

Dark (love that first name....);

I've had pretty good luck powder coating over chrome IF you sandblast the chrome coat first.  You don't have to blast so hard that you remove the plated layers, just enough to get a satin finish that the primer can stick to.  I also added the step of "pickling", or dipping the parts in a diluted (low strength) mixture of hydrochloric acid  but I only did this because the process was freely available to me (as was a commercial sandblast system at the time, sadly, no longer available...).  You certainly could put some diluted HC acid in a spray bottle and spray it on and then hose it off after sandblasting, if you think it's necessary.  

I think your primer adhesion would be acceptable for powder coat with just the sandblasting.  Otherwise (if you don't sandblast), it will look like the powder is totally adhered, but that's only because the stuff sticks to itself well, even though some areas may not have adhered.

That's it - sandblast 'em and powder coat 'em.......

Stormy

(I'll let you guys figure out that handle.........)

I've used the hammer finish rattle can paint on used engine tins and was happy with finish for $12.  I did wet sand first - which was a pain.  I put it all back together using button head hex stainless steel metric screw and washers which actually are easier to insert and remove over the OEM slot headed screws.

My steelies are powdercoated over chrome. Very durable until you replace tires. If you have the powder over chrome, and use a MODERN rim-clamp machine, they'll be fine. I did lose a little powdercoat because my guy used an old Coats machine without the nylon rim-guards.

The exposed chrome on my wheels doesn't look sand-blasted, so I agree with Gordon on this.