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Technical & Reference Section => Tech and Restoration => Topic started by: SteveG on February 13, 2011, 09:10 PM

Title: Paint over powder ?
Post by: SteveG on February 13, 2011, 09:10 PM

My landing gear forks were in a bit of a state so I thought black powder would be a good idea. Not so sure now and was wondering if it's possible to paint over the powder with anything. They had really bad rust pitting on them so wet spraying may have been a better option.
Could the powder be flatted and then overcoated ?

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: Del on February 14, 2011, 08:49 AM

yes it can, done it myself with a few frames... no problems at all.

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: SteveG on February 14, 2011, 09:40 AM

Just worried about possible reactions. What did you use ?
The forks in question were standing gears I cut the stands off of. They looked like they had been left in a bucket of water for about 15 years when I got them. I filed the worst of the rust off and then got them blasted but the black powder finish is more like plastic coating and is a bit orangepeeled.
I fancy baby blue now though as there is a bit too much black on the bike

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: Swivel on February 14, 2011, 09:45 AM

I've had it done before no problem  ;)

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: SteveG on February 14, 2011, 06:09 PM

Just edited my post as I mixed Del up with Dan :uglystupid2:
Thanks for the reply Del and Swivel what paint did you use.  Will almost anything be ok I guess the powder is pretty much resistant  to everything.

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: meticulous on February 14, 2011, 07:28 PM

i wet spray over powder all the time and never had a problem, i would go as far to say the powder is the perfect underrcoat coat to work from, all you need to do is flat down the powder with 400 wet n dry for the paint to key too....     :daumenhoch:

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: SteveG on February 14, 2011, 08:36 PM

Thanks for the advice, might give it a go.
I suppose the other option if I stay black is to flat the powder off and try and re-polish it.  Never tried that either.

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: superbikedan on February 14, 2011, 08:54 PM

hi steve believe it or not but the solvents in wet spray soften powder witch then

make it a good key and the paint sticks well, all i would do is flat the powder down as

much as you can and try not to flat back to raw metal, just work on the pitted

areas and a light flat over the rest and they should come out good :daumenhoch:

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: SteveG on February 14, 2011, 09:43 PM

Hi thanks for the reply Dan.
I've messed about with cellulose on cars and did a bit of paint testing at work but know zero about powder coating.
I've been thinking about changing the colour of the forks for a while, time to do a quick photoshop (more like a few hours) and see what it looks like.

Title: Re: Paint over powder ?
Post by: meticulous on February 14, 2011, 09:44 PM

like dan says, the solvents in the paint seem to soak in the powder, dont bother polishing the powder, it the same colour all the way through and wont get any shinier...