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I have a 1930 Chevrolet Coach that I am putting back together and have some parts that I would like to get chromed, but it is way to expensive. I'm now looking at power coating, but I read that UV rays take their in 5 to 10 years.
Is this your experience?
UV stability is an issue with ANY pigmented coating.
clear top coat helps.
Some things to consider are powder compatibilities, and durabilities.
like paint powder is "use specific", meaning you will want to use a powder with good UV stability to start, and again I always suggest a clear top coat (make sure your coater knows they are compatible)
I always suggest finding a local CUSTOM POWDER COATER with a good reputation.
as most production coaters while slightly cheaper, usually don't know the intricacies of custom parts, and/or proper powder for application.
We had a sign on our roof 24/7/365 for 6 years that faded 20% in color difference with NO clear coat.
in 7 years I have only had 1 complaint about UV stability. However the client had the parts on a semi that was outside all the time, and spends alot of time on the west coast. The color difference was about the same 20% lighter, he didn't want the clear coat 5 years ago, and now is going to have the parts refinished as a result.
spend a little more up front to get what you want, and find a qualified coater to do the job
Streetwerks brings up a very important point.........make sure your powder coater is familiar with how to apply the clear. We had 46 parts powdercoated (one of them being a car frame) and had clear put over the black. As we were assembling things we kept hearing crunching as we tightened up bolts. The crunching was the clear cracking . We actually were able to take our fingers or an air hose and remove lots of the clear..........it just peeled off in sheets! :eek:
Our powder coater has done a lot of stuff for us, but this was the first clear coat, and we suspect he over cooked the black before adding the clear. From what we hear, you have to slightly underbake the first color coat, then let it fully cure when you do the clear on top. (Streetwerks can correct me if that is wrong) He did step up to the plate and sandblasted everything back to bare metal and redid it.........BUT NO CLEAR THIS TIME OR EVER AGAIN.:) It came out great the second time, but did cost us quite a bit of money and time as we had to resurface the entire frame with Tiger Drylac EPO, and sand it smooth again before he redid the second coating.
If you get someone with Streetwerks saavy on how to do the clear you will be fine, but here in Ft Myers we only have so many choices......actually one.
Don
Pick up the latest issue of Street Rodder. There is an article called "Spray-on Shine" that you might be interested in. It is a spray-on chrome that looks like it may give you another alternative to chrome plating.
Don is correct, whoever you chose to do your powder coating needs to have a good grasp on inter coat adhesion, and cure schedules. It's not rocket science, and most custom shops have a good understanding of the correct process.
here's a shot of one we did that had 7 coats applied with ghosted graphics for a rock crawler that the coating is going strong. It is possible, just like any other custom project, with a little planning, and a lot of hard werk awesome results can be achieved.
Thank you very much all, this is good information.