The powdercoating on "Pegasus" is coming along fine so far (my 14 y/o son won't let me rest!). Some notes to those interested: I have two sandblasting outfits; one is a syphon outfit (sold at Sears, JC Whitney) and the other is a big 80lb pressure-blasting outfit sold by Harbour Freight/Eastwood. The pressure blaster is great for blasting off large rust-covered items quickly BUT don't expect a smooth finish, the 125psi pressure from the tank produces a rough texture on almost anything. Painted or powder coated, you'll notice it. The syphon blaster, using the same media, and while slower to do the same job, produces a much smoother finish which is ready for powdercoating/finishing right away. Both of these observations were made using Grade 4 (semi-fine) sand so your results may vary. * * * Powdercoat curing: I noticed with my "test" panel (a hood off a '73 Mav) that I was getting an "orange peel" finish when I used either my 12,500 btu LP gas-fired heater or Eastwood $400 curing lamp. Both were set (via digital infrared thermometer) to read 385 degrees for 20 minutes on the finish while curing. After consulting my powder-coating guru at ColumbiaCoatings.com, he asked me to bring the temp back up to 385 degrees on the "test" piece. (unlike paint, you can re-cure powder coating several times with heat!). When I had done this he then asked me to go around the back side and measure the tempurature of the metal itself (non-coated, backside) and it read 248 degrees! FAR too low to cure the powdercoat! (375 minimum). He asked me to "crank it up" on the front side until I saw the magical 375 degrees on the back side of the metal and Whola! it flowed out smooth as glass! (I was worried I would burn the powder on the front). As he explained, the reflections off of the shiny, partially-cured front side was giving me a temparature reading of the heating element itself (the shinier the finish, the greater the error). Anyways, just thought I'd pass this tidbit along to anyone interested. * * * Question: On Pegasus ('76 two-door) I noticed a large rubber insert into each of the bumper mounts. Also, on the rear bumber mounts there appears to be a cylinder with maybe something inside. As these items were badly rusted, I would really like to powdercoat them but cannot because any rubber inserts will melt at the 375 degree curing temp. Should I try to disassemble them for powdercoating or just blast and paint them? Thanks again for all of the help on the board, Tracy
Great to hear things are going your way on the powder-coating, Trace. I don't know nuttin' bout no rubber inserts on the bumper (if you have the bumper guards, which I can't remember, I'd tak'em off anyway - they look like like they belong on a police car or a pulp wood truck IMHO). Keep up the good work! Rick
my powdercoat place was able to do up my gas cap (black) and they used heat tape on the rubber parts. i know it gets hot but it still looks like new (the rubber). mike
RE: Pressure blaster I used a pressure blaster under the hood of my Comet this past fall when it was with the body man using Extra Fine sand at 115-120 psi and it did not damage the metal. You have to be careful not to hold it in one place too long or it will dig and heat up the metal. About the only places that I have any indentions/pits are around the shock tower and battery area where I had so much acid corrosion. By the way I do not know the size of the ceramic nozzle that I was using, but the body shop buddy of mine that owned it said that it had gotten larger over the years as more and more sand went through it, so that probably cut down on the pressure a bit in a given area. I have used sandblasters and that one pressure blaster. I loved the speed at which the pressure blaster worked, but they get sand every*&%$#! where. I was using a throw away suit and a blast hood and I would still go home with sand in my eyes and ears. Seth
?????? The large cylinder looking thing is a shock absorber for the 5mph bumpers. The rubber is just a insulator to avoid metal to metal on the mount.
