Powder-coating, Bead blasting

[EclipticalGS]

Well, I used to powder coat bicycle frames back in the day, and I just finally set-up my own professional booth/15ft oven. Ive been messing with many kinds of blasting sands and media...Here are some pics of my Gloss Black and my Silver/chrome.

My valve cover and intake pipe were powder coated after being sand blasted, my coolant necks/housing and tranny mount plate were powder coated after being media blasted. You can tell my Valve Cover has more texture to it because it was just sandblasted, and my media blasted stuff turned out amazingly smooth and very glossy.

Either way, I like how everything turned out and the pics are from my first attempt as I had to get back in the loop because its been some time now, and Ive lost some little tricks along the way.

Let me know how you think it turned out, like I said, I just got back into it.

Ill get pics of the VC when I get back home from this weekend trip.

 

[Guzman08]

they look good. just missed a spot on the tranny. so what media did u use?? glass? pic of the VC

 

[EclipticalGS]

I just used glass, the VC pics will be up when I get back from my vacation.

Can you circle which spot i missed? So i can go over it again. Thanks.

 

[steve]

If you bead blasted the rocker cover you might want to rethink using. It's almost impossible to get all the media out of the baffles and that's destroyed more then one engine.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/app...-sand-glass-bead-beads-media-baffle-grit.html

 

[jdodds]

have you ever tried soda blasting? I imagine it wouldnt damage an engine if you used it. Just rinse it out pretty well with water and youre good.

 

[EclipticalGS]

If you bead blasted the rocker cover you might want to rethink using. It's almost impossible to get all the media out of the baffles and that's destroyed more then one engine.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/app...-sand-glass-bead-beads-media-baffle-grit.html

Yeah I had thought about that, but im cleaning it out pretty thoroughly, im sure itll all be fine.

 

[steve]

have you ever tried soda blasting? I imagine it wouldnt damage an engine if you used it. Just rinse it out pretty well with water and youre good.

Soda blasting is safe since it disolves.

Yeah I had thought about that, but im cleaning it out pretty thoroughly, im sure itll all be fine.

It's pretty much impossible short of removing the baffles to clean it all out. But it's your engine, I hope it works out for you.

 

[EclipticalGS]

It was blasted with the ends of the pcv and valve cover breather plugged. If there is anything in the baffles Im doing my best to get it out with compressed air and flushing it. I did not hit the underside with the blasting, just shot the top

 

[snowborder714]

That really doesn't matter if you shot just the top as media flies around every direction. Just think how much oil sludge could be built up under the baffles and retain media, no matter how much air/water you put through it.

There's a reason JNZ uses a jig to blast their valve covers on, and I use an old head.

 

[EclipticalGS]

Well, I sandblasted the valve cover, so theres probably sand in there, I doubt anything would happen after I go through flushing it with air/simple green, purple power and other things.

Im just not too worried because every dsm Ive ever owned Ive sandblasted the valve cover and Ive just flushed it out.

 

[greengoblin]

Glass bead is not a good media for prepping powder. Use aluminum oxide of black beauty.

If you are doing a vc you need a jig or a lot of duct tape (not the best idea). You cannot get all the media out. This is what actually got me involved in coating. This was a vc I picked up before I started coating. It never made it on my car .

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[Guzman08]

what did u use to powdercoat with

 

[EclipticalGS]

Glass bead is not a good media for prepping powder. Use aluminum oxide of black beauty.

If you are doing a vc you need a jig or a lot of duct tape (not the best idea). You cannot get all the media out. This is what actually got me involved in coating. This was a vc I picked up before I started coating. It never made it on my car .

Well like I said, I didnt "media" blast the VC, I sandblasted it, along with the intake piping. So im trying to get the sand out, not media.

 

[Artago]

If you bead blasted the rocker cover you might want to rethink using. It's almost impossible to get all the media out of the baffles and that's destroyed more then one engine.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/app...-sand-glass-bead-beads-media-baffle-grit.html

Like mine. Thank you overbore.com.

 

[snowborder714]

Media is a generic term use for any type of material use to blast with - sand, aluminum oxide, coal slag, glass beads, etc.

 

[EclipticalGS]

Yeah if I dont feel comfortable with it after I clean it, ill just end up getting it chemically stripped, hot tanked, then re-powder coat it. No big deal.

Thanks guys

 

[brian9397gsx]

everything looks good im also curious as to what your using for a powder coating set up?

 

[EclipticalGS]

Well, I am great friends with a previous owner of a powder-coating business, I got my hands on a 15' oven system for free, its old and rickety, and has leaks, but it works.

Ive been using the same electro gun and air compressor, and I order my powder and little odds and ends through Magnum Coating.

Its not the most professional set-up, but my mirror black is mirror black.

 

[steve]

So I see in another thread you took your baffles out, how much junk did you find in there?

 

[VETTE_50_TH]

Or you could use stripper... b17 works wonders.

 

[92AWDHX40]

I like glass beading plan on doing some more this winter. Nice powdercoated pieces.

 

[97 GSX 97]

There's a reason JNZ uses a jig to blast their valve covers on, and I use an old head.

Yea at JNZ Finishing we used a board that we bolted it down to and used plugs for every single hole.

 

[hurricanecris24]

wanna powdercoat me some things

 

[Lunny]

I too just used glass on my vc, I cleaned the snot out of it. Is it still a bad idea to use it? It's a new motor 2.3l. Won't any of the small particles if any are still in there be smaller than the filings produced from my new engine? I plan on changing my oil 3 times in the first 300miles. Any advice is appreciated

 

[snowborder714]

Did you remove the baffles? If not, did you cover the bottom of the valve cover to prevent any media from getting under the baffles?

If you answered no to both of these questions, I would not run it.


And if you plan to have it powdercoated, prepare to have it turn out sub-par because of using glass beads. They have been known to embed themselves in the valve cover and pop out when baking to set the powder.