Finally, getting a correct paint match is not possible (with PPG either). Here's what was said on the LCUSA forum regarding matching powder coat color.
This is what my research turned up:
"Greetings. Ramble mode "on." I've got mixed emotions about poweder coating. That said, I've heard good things about Maas Bros. Though I used a joint in Concord for my stuff. The mixed emotions are based on the fact that while powder coating is tough you simply can't repair it. Plus, you'd be hard-pressed to get the powder coat to match the paint you'll use on the FG fender. "Conventional" paint is more expensive 'cause there's just more work involved.
Of the restorations in our fleet some are powder coated, some are painted with "conventional" paint and some are even rattle can. The body work on Anne's CB160 race bike has held up very well over the last few years - it was rattle canned. WCLW did the paint on my Series II about 10 years ago and, for the most part, it's help up well too. Plus, I can touch it up if I ever get around to it.
If you're going for a 100 point restoration I'd go with conventional paint - as much as the powder coated stuff we have looks like "paint" on close inspection you can tell it's not.
Bottom line - I think you get what you pay for in a finish job. Regardless of what route you go, ask lots of questions about the prep work - that's key to a good finish. Ramble mode "off." Ciao." - Dave Stark
Of the restorations in our fleet some are powder coated, some are painted with "conventional" paint and some are even rattle can. The body work on Anne's CB160 race bike has held up very well over the last few years - it was rattle canned. WCLW did the paint on my Series II about 10 years ago and, for the most part, it's help up well too. Plus, I can touch it up if I ever get around to it.
If you're going for a 100 point restoration I'd go with conventional paint - as much as the powder coated stuff we have looks like "paint" on close inspection you can tell it's not.
Bottom line - I think you get what you pay for in a finish job. Regardless of what route you go, ask lots of questions about the prep work - that's key to a good finish. Ramble mode "off." Ciao." - Dave Stark
"The problem with powder coating.......... Where do I start? Think of it like chroming. The base metal has to be in really good shape for starters. Then you have the heat aspect of it. You can warp a frame pretty easily by heating and cooling it. Grounding issues, it's tough to ground electrics through the powder. Color matching is harder, the finish isn't as good as paint usually and sand blasting removes base metal. Gas tanks, there is another lever of problems, grit. It's bad for carbs and top ends and gets everywhere when tanks are blasted. Anyways that's the short of it. I've had whole bikes coated before and its just not as good one would think.
I'm not anti anything, it's just some things are better suited for certain applications. Depends on what you want to powdercoat. Rims, forks, small bits are good to coat. Big stuff like frames, pannels, bars and legshields just cause more problems than it's worth." - Mike A.
"Labor rates here seem to run from $15 to $30 an hour (in Portland, OR). The paint and bodywork on my TV cost me 2000 in labor. With parts and supplies the total came closer to 3000. It was all 2-stage Dupont, no
powdercoating. Powdercoating is nice and durable but it does not have the same quality or repairability as a good paint job. Should be fine for stuf like hubs and rims though.
I went with a show quality finish so you get what you pay for. There are many other paint/bodywork folks in town but I've really only worked with my guy. He also did Dave's award-winning Starstream. His specialty is classic custom Harley pan-heads and shovel-heads and would rather keep to that level of finish. Rudy has his own paint &
body person as does Mike. Mike's guy does single stage which is nice for vintage bikes and gives them a more period look." - Ming
powdercoating. Powdercoating is nice and durable but it does not have the same quality or repairability as a good paint job. Should be fine for stuf like hubs and rims though.
I went with a show quality finish so you get what you pay for. There are many other paint/bodywork folks in town but I've really only worked with my guy. He also did Dave's award-winning Starstream. His specialty is classic custom Harley pan-heads and shovel-heads and would rather keep to that level of finish. Rudy has his own paint &
body person as does Mike. Mike's guy does single stage which is nice for vintage bikes and gives them a more period look." - Ming
For those in the Bay Area that want to Powder Coat, the best price I found for a single color was $300-$400 for a Lambretta at Maas Brothers Powder Coat in Livermore, CA.
2 comments:
I enjoy reading your blog and thought I share some info I read recently on powdercoating. This is from a forum thread on Lambretta.org from Eric Lussier who is a well know scooter painter from 2nd Avenue Scooter Painting in Phoenix, AZ.
http://lambretta.org/message/viewtopic.php?t=8788
So many of you may be asking "why powdercoat the frame if your going to paint it?" well that is a good questions and one Ill try and answer. There are several reasons that powdercoating is to our benifit here:
1. it seals up the metal and will not allow rust to ever plague us again.
2. it is more durable than paint and will not chip or scratch as easily.
3. it covers better than paint can in all the nooks and crannies.
for this reason alone I powdercoat vespa bodies and lambretta J range bodies. I cannot get the paint gun into the body section of a vespa or a J so there would be NO way I could get paint or clear coat 100% into those areas and since that is the airbox basically of the engine, it is going to collect dirt and oil and make a huge mess over time in there, now with powdercoating in there you can easily wipe clean that mess and guess what else, it will never rust in there where you can't get to it to dry out the water when you wash the bike...
painting tubes is not an easy task, it requires a lot of time and a lot of material as well so powdercoating makes this job that much easier. Now there are instances when we cannot use powdercoating. If a customer requests a color that I cannot find in powder or if you want a 100% correct single stage match to an original innocenti color, then I would have to paint the frame of the bike as well as all those other parts. there is one exception and that is I can have the powdercoaters match any color for me, but at a cost of $400 for each color and then its $80 for the 5 lbs of powder. If I had enough interest in one color specifically say like an innocenti off white or grey that i was to use a lot, I would have it matched and then always have that color avail to me.
Jared, great information here and I really appreciate you sharing. Please continue to share as often as you like.
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