[lortsie]

Hey fellas,

So I have completely rebuilt my rear end and powder coated the housing and backing plates, etc. etc. It looks fantastic. My drivline has a side to it that is showing surface rust from sitting for so long and I have been looking into powder coating it - since painting it seems like such a shame with everything else having easy-baked goodness as a coating

When I first looked into it, I called a couple reputable driveline shops around here - one a favorite - Six States Distributors. They told me that the curing process (450+ degrees in the oven for a few hours) will warp the drivline and they will have to repair it which will ruin the powdercoat finish in the end.

But, on Sunday I went to the Portland Rod & Custom show and saw probably 8 different rigs with powdercoated drivelines and a booth that a driveline shop had setup with a powdercoated driveline on display.

I asked the guy at the booth and he said he's not sure on the detials, they get them after they have already been coated and they do a lot of them with no problems. (why they put a guy in the booth that only knows enough to distribute hand-outs I'll never understand)

So, my question is - has anyone here had this done and have any more details? I googled the hell out of it and came up with a process of using RF to cure it rather than high temp gas furnaces but I'm not sure if that's the trick. Also, I have access to powdercoating and curing with high temp for very cheap - so paying someone else to do it would be a crime. Am I just missing something? Any ideas? Thanks in advance...

Adam

 

[Brian Lewis]

I didn't powdercoat mine, but I wired it to bare metal, sprayed Rustoleum Automotive Primer on it, then applied 6 very light coats of Chevy Orange Engine Paint on mine. 2 years later it still looks brand new. In between every 2 coats I used 600 3M and wetsanded the paint.

 

[Tinkerr]

I had mine done with no problem. That sounds like nonsense to me. My wifes cookware doesn't warp in the oven at 450 degrees and it's a hell of a lot thinner than a driveshaft. I had the outside(engine side) heater box powdercoated and that didn't warp and that's thin enough to bend with your hands.

 

[lortsie]

Yeah I'm starting to think the guy at Six States was either paranoid about recommending the work, or has seen some really bad PC jobs in the past. I think if I use some old U-Jount caps in the ends to make sure those don't warp I'll be okay, those would be the first to go if anything did. Thanks for the help!