Phosphate and Ecoat?

I sure could use the advice of you folks who consider restoration an important aspect of your life.

We have a 28,000 gal (100,000 L) ecoat tank where we currently dip units for the auto induistry. We are considering opening the facility to the restoration market, and I'm just trying to get a feel for what kind of need there is. Would you be interested in ecoat capability for your restoration work?

We currently do not have a phosphate system, but we are considering that as well. The possibility of this kind of installation would be based completely on market potential. Your thoughts on whether you would use such a service would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

ecoater,

just a few thoughts regarding your plan:
1. How would you advertise and spread the word about the benefits of Ecoating?
2. Not many hot rod / restoration guys understand the process so spending the $$ might be a tough sell
3. Transportation to/from Flint could be a problem for large parts
4. Working with the public sucks. Our local powder coater gets parts that are grease caked, rusty, etc. Then, the customer gets mad when he charges them a prep charge.

Not to say that it wont work but it will be a challenge. Why not also contact manufacturers like Brookville, etc to see if you can get their business....new, clean bodies and they dont whine and bitch about the job.

Jet Hot does a good thermal coating busness but they are handling smaller parts that fit the UPS size criteria.

mike in tucson

Being in the Detroit area I would think it would be great. Would this be thru the PPG Developement Center? Would it be capable of dipping body shells?

There is a place in Clinton township that can do smaller parts (and they do OEM work) but their tanks are not capable of dipping body shells. A large bonus is a chemical dip tank for one stop shopping.

Considering how few companies actually do this kind of work, especially at a reasonable price, the business, if handled right, could do rather well. The midwest alone between Illinios, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan should keep you busy.

It would solve the biggest issues in stripping a car. Cars that are chemically stripped and not e-coated tend to either leak the chemical stripper long after the dip from the chemical staying in the seams. This, and when sprayed with primer, the primer can not get into the seams and small hidden pockets that are in a stamped and welded shell.

Cars that are media blasted still have area that rust will not be removed from due to the limitations of the blast nozzle.

The best way is chemical dip with a multistep e-coat process. I hope this becomes reality and that the business does well. If you go forward, e-mail me some info and pricing (swifster@sbcglobal.net)

If you are after the resto business, I would try to establish a list of restorers within a days drive of Flint, focusing on high end cars, or cars restored in large numbers. BTW, the Auburn-Cord-Duesenburg hobby is centered in Indiana. An ongoing relationship with these types of businesses would seem to make sense to me. Of course you would want to have a program for the one time customer, also. Maybe a mailing of flyers to prospective businesses, car clubs, and body supply shops, would create a response.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. I will attempt to answer some of your questions.

Horordpaint - "If you are after the resto business, I would try to establish a list of restorers within a days drive of Flint, focusing on high end cars, or cars restored in large numbers. " Thanks for this. It seems like the logical first step.

Swifster - Yes, it would be in the Development center, and we can dip full-size shells. The tank is about 28' x 12'W x 12'D, so it can handle pretty large packages. Stripping old units continues to be a major problem. The only way we could handle it, at least initially, is to make it part of the criteria. That is, it would be the customer's responsibility to deliver a unit free of grease, mice nests, etc. This is really a scary part of the business because the $$ wrapped up in contents of the tank is huge, and one little contaminant could destroy that.

Robot - Preaching the benefits of ecoat is a large task, for sure. I think a media blitz in various publications, and web locations would catch a lot of folks. Transportation is also an issue for the one-at-a-time restorer, but there are companies all over the place that can handle shipping bodies (I'm talking car bodies ). Our current customers send us shells now in enclosed trucks, where the units are braced to prevent shifting/damage.
We will look into Brookville. That's a great idea!

We are very early in the investigative process to say for sure whether this will be a GO, but it seems to be a fairly good sized market. Thanks again for your input!!

If there is somebody who acid dips nearby, you may want to form a partnership with them instead of buying your own tank.

I am extremly interested in e-coating. I am planning on having my chassis, cab, tailgate, inner fenders and core support dipped and coated this winter.

You are close enough to me that i would consider bringing you my truck.

I know some people are concerned with transportation of there parts. I've made special dolly's to transport the truck to whomever does the work.

I think this is a cruical step in restoring or rebuilding a custom car. Why spend all kinds of money on a car and still have rust under the skin. It will eventually sneak out.

Can you give me your e-mail addy so we can talk about price.