Powder coating engine compartment

[slpro1207]

Wondering if anyone has had experience powder coating the engine compartment sheet metal. Does it hold up? Is paint a better option? Just started my build and exploring options. Thanks

[edwardb]

Powder coating will absolutely hold up. Lots of us use it. Easily handles the heat. Will hold up to any of the various chemicals around an engine compartment with the possible exception of brake fluid. But then paint won't hold up to brake fluid either. Whether paint is better is a matter of opinion. In very general terms it probably wouldn't hold up as well, but then it really depends on so many things. Lots have done paint too. Pluses and minuses with every choice.

[slpro1207]

Thank you for the information Edward. I have been following your build thread for some time and have found some really great ideas I am incorporating into my build. Thanks for sharing with us.

Scott

[Phoenixmsb]

I'm using bed liner on my engine bay panels. Should hold up to rocks and any debris that get kicked up.

[GoDadGo]

1. Take EdwardB's advice and powder coat the panels if you have a vendor available in your area.
2. While mine are all painted, I would have preferred to have powder coated them.
3. Fit, Drill and Cleco them in place prior to coating.
4. That way you know they fit, plus it will reduce damage during the final installation process.

[AC Bill]

I personally like the look of the plain aluminum. It has more of an unrefined, race car look, and more like an original roadster from the 60's. It can be coated if corrosion is a concern, or you want to avoid it eventually getting cloudy. Some builders have even polished it to a mirror like finish, for some added pizzaz.

[Feen]

I painted mine with rattle can "hammered" paint, and its been fine so far, but as GoDadGo said, If you have someone local, get them powdercoated. There aren't that many and from what I've seen on here the cost shouldnt be too bad..

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I did truck bed on the outside of the panels & left the inside natural. Don't know what your engine choice is but with a COYOTE there is not a whole lot of visible sheet metal to see.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=14336&pictureid=56504

[edwardb]

I'm using bed liner on my engine bay panels. Should hold up to rocks and any debris that get kicked up.

I'm assuming you mean the sides facing the underside vs. the engine compartment side? There is certainly stuff kicking up in the wheel wells. The splash guards and underside of the body should take that into account. But after many driving seasons I've not seen any road debris in the engine compartment other than dust.

[RickP]

I powder coated my engine bay. The reason I did this is for durability. I liked the result so much that I ended up powder coating the entire car. I still have some last minute panels such as splash guards etc. which will get a different treatment.

If you go the route of powder coating, get every panel possible to the coater in one shot. In doing so, you will get a much better quote if the coater can batch the process. Also, if you can cleco all panels in place first, then give them to the coater, the rivet holes make a nice way to hang the pieces in the oven. Use some isopropyl alcohol to remove any ink imprints on the aluminum and de-burr the edges with a hand file. Last, find a reliable coater. I can't stress this enough. Took me three coaters to get to one that would turn my stuff around within a 2 week window. If you take 2 panels to the coater, and he makes his living on coating exhausts systems for xyz company, guess what job goes to the bottom of the list when company xyz says the need their stuff. Everyone's "stuff" is priority.

oh, one last word of caution. If the coater tells you he needs to bill time to "prep" the panels, meaning they need to beaded, go find another coater. The FFR aluminum if cleaned properly with alcohol does not need to be beaded. The coater I have been using cleans them up with a solvent, shoots, then bakes them. All done in Kingsport grey. Same color means less batching, which means less time on his part.

[slpro1207]

Thanks Rick. All good advise. I'm taking everything not covered by carpet in at one time. Found a good company some distance from me but highly recommended and good turn around. Less than a week. Hope they do a good job.

[markiemark]

I did truck bed on the outside of the panels & left the inside natural. Don't know what your engine choice is but with a COYOTE there is not a whole lot of visible sheet metal to see.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=14336&pictureid=56504

That looks awesome!!!!

[slpro1207]

Just dropped off all the sheet metal to be powder coated. Quick turn around and highly recommended locally. Pick it up in less than one week. Hummm. What to do now waiting for back order parts.

[edwardb]

Just dropped off all the sheet metal to be powder coated. Quick turn around and highly recommended locally. Pick it up in less than one week. Hummm. What to do now waiting for back order parts.

Did you fit and drill everything first? That's what most of us do and highly recommended. The fit of the panels is surprisingly good. But some tweaking and occasional trimming is required. Plus it's easier to mark hole locations on untreated panels.

[slpro1207]

The very first thing I did after taking the body off was take detailed pictures as I removed all of the panels. The second thing I did was say to myself "that was stupid" and put them all back on so I could predrill and fit all of the pieces. i am only powder coating any exposed sheet metal I have more fitting to do later. And you are right about the pieces fitting well. I had almost zero tweaking or trimming and everything fit very tight. Thanks for checking in Edward.

[slpro1207]

Picked up all of my newly powder coated sheet metal today. Turned out great. So glad I went that way. Spent the evening getting Wilwood pedal boxes put together. Finding all the parts in 3 boxes. More parts coming tomorrow.

[mcwho]

I'm with RickP, I wanted a color that would hold up and not show fingerprints. I chose Hammertone Black, which looks grey, but it makes the engine compartment look professional.

[CraigS]

We need pics please.

[RickP]

you will find powder coating is addictive. All the little one off parts that normally would get rattle canned, led me to look into doing it myself so I could cut out the middle man. Eastwood Paints offers a nice gun/colors. Even a little oven. However, whatever coating you do "at home" will be confined by the size of your oven. And no, not the one you normally use for food consumption. Once you hit the realization to effectively powder coat from home is not cost effective, you will start looking into superior paints/coatings. Eastwood Paints is a great source. I'm lucky enough to have a store a couple of miles from me.

I still have parts I want powder coated such as my side pipes/roll bars and various brackets but like I said previously, send them to the coater as a "batch", especially if it's all one color.

Shark hide exposed aluminum
powder coat whatever you can afford
primer/Eastwood rust encapsulator parts not exposed to road degree/human intervention

so far the above has been my formula.

And I second CraigS. We need pics.

[Jeff Kleiner]

...I still have parts I want powder coated such as my side pipes...

So you know Rick, you can't powder coat the sidepipes. Ceramic yes, powder no! This guy didn't know that:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/lex446/055.jpg

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

Jeff,

Not Pretty!
"Uggg" Saidth Charles Brown

Steve

[Dave Howard]

I'm assuming you mean the sides facing the underside vs. the engine compartment side? There is certainly stuff kicking up in the wheel wells. The splash guards and underside of the body should take that into account. But after many driving seasons I've not seen any road debris in the engine compartment other than dust.

Seasons might be one thing but if you put a few thousand miles on your car each year (especially on the highway), you'll experience road grime, tar, road paint, mud and bugs in the engine compartment.....in addition to a little dust.
You can't go wrong with powdering the engine bar aluminum. Looks aside, it's just a whole lot easier to clean and maintain than the raw aluminum.

[RickP]

JK -

Oh man, that doesn't look good. Ceramic coating it shall be then.

[slpro1207]

I think the powder coating under the hood was the best way to go. Went with a dark grey metallic and going to put it all together with black rivets. All offset with bright silver body. At least in my mind ir will look great. When I have enough post to qualify I will put some pics up.

[edwardb]

Seasons might be one thing but if you put a few thousand miles on your car each year (especially on the highway), you'll experience road grime, tar, road paint, mud and bugs in the engine compartment.....in addition to a little dust.
You can't go wrong with powdering the engine bar aluminum. Looks aside, it's just a whole lot easier to clean and maintain than the raw aluminum.

By "seasons" I meant driving seasons. Good grief. I too put several thousand miles a year on my cars. I've seen most of those things in the wheel wells, on the outside of the body, and collect lots of bugs in the radiator. But rarely see them in the actual engine compartment, which was my original comment. But I 100% agree the powder coated panels are a lot easier to maintain if that's the look you want over the raw aluminum. My builds have been 100% power coated. Top and bottom.

[slpro1207]

I decided to powder coat everything that is visible under the hood, trunk, wheelwells. If it's not covered with Lizard Skin S&H coating it got powder coated