CRF's Only Forums

Hey Everyone
Figured I would try and give back to the community with a little powder coating tutorial. So my engine plugs were a bit messed up and ugly stock So I though I would do a run down of how easy and inexpensive powder coating can be and the results you can get. You don't need any expensive tools and the process is pretty simple.

Tool List
- Allen wrench to remove plugs
- Metal Polishing Kit (for aluminium)
- Drill or rotary tool to power a polishing kit wheel
- Powder coater( I use a craftsmen kit I got for like 30 bucks + ship on ebay)
- IR temp gun
- toaster oven (one your not gonna be using for cooking anymore)
- Sandpaper (up to at least 1000 grit)

OK so lets go!
First a look at my unwashed plug and case that I haven't washed since I had my accident back in sept.

Grossness



First remove any rubber o-rings or anything that doesn't like heat


Next I'm going to sand off all the gunk and scratches starting at a low grit paper and working my way up to a 2000 grit paper. I kept a clockwise wet sanding motion to try and keep consistent when sanding.




Once your sanding is complete you can move on to the polishing process, if you buy a cheap polishing kit the instructions will tell you how to get the desired look you want. Basically you start off with a polishing compound on a tight stitched wheel and move your way up to a fine compound on a lose stitched wheel. I use a drill to spin the polishing wheels.



Once your done polishing you should have something shiny like this



Now its time to add the powder coating to give your part some colour. Im using a transparent powder because I nice shiny red plug. If you wanted flat black or something similar you can skip the polish stage and just sand, clean and coat. The powder coating process is pretty simple, just clean your part with acetone or brake cleaner, electrically ground your part( you can put to part in the oven for a few mins so the powder adheres easier),shoot the powder on the part, and then bake for the correct cure time of the powder your using ( the cure time starts at the point when the part reaches the desired temperature).
Once the part has cured your done, just let the part cool replace any O-rings and reinstall.

Nice work, looks good man! I've been wanting to get a gun for a while and just haven't got around to it yet.

A little off topic but I noticed you have a pan head screw where the weep hole for the trans fluid is. Is this a repair you did because of stripped threads? Reason I ask is because the previous owner of my bike stripped the threads on this weep hole and I just put some oil/gas resistant gasket maker on the bolt and stuck it in there but it still leaks a bit of trans oil.

yea its a repair for stripped threads, its actually a slightly bigger SAE bolt that came with a rubber washer. Its not pretty but it has never leaked any oil on.

That is pretty cool. Never even knew you could buy home kits for that stuff. You said you were using transparent but it came out red. Am I reading that right?

Very cool!

yea its a transparent candy red so you get the reflectiveness of the polished plug underneath.

ah very nice

That is too cool. I could have so much fun with that. Ken could louse so much money with that,
You make it sound like the only limitation is the size of the oven.
But you have reviled no real secrets, like… how do you protect the threads?
How do you keep bolt holes clear? Can I combine two or more colors at once to make like a camo effect?
Can I coat a portion with an oil or wax (whatever) so the coating will stick to one half but not the other?
Can colors be layered?
Can I cook one half with one color then cook the other with another?
Can you recommend a good “how to” web site?

Forgive me for over filling your plate.
You have really peaked my interest.

Sorry haven't been watching this post. You guessed right, the real drawback to powder coating is the size of your oven. However protecting threads is easy You can buy silicone hi temp plugs for any hole size. I also like to drill holes in sheet metal to place bolts into then powder coat over the tops. You can also buy hi temp tape if you need to mask something off. You can layer colours, shoot two colours side by side, and even fade colours together. However I've never tried any of these procedures, for more info you can try http://www.powdercoatingboard.com/forum/forum.phpHope this helps

Imitation is the highest form of flattery. Thanks for the “how-to”
My first batch, the hot start lever (back on the bike) and my old oil filter cap (bet it sells on Ebay now).

And the clutch cover bolts.

I am going to have fun with this! The only problem I foresee is going overboard.

Wonder if u could pull this off on dirtbike rims?

callahan24 wrote:Wonder if u could pull this off on dirtbike rims?

yes you can. Had I a big enough oven I would have already done so.

So can you use this method to paint the bolts? I feel like the wrench torque would scratch the paint right off.