Powdercoated the coolant lines today!!!

Before (Straight from Nissan Dealer....BORING):



After base coat Sparkling Silver:



Final Candy Blue after High gloss top coat:









HELL YEH!!!!

 

Looks AMAZING bro! You gotta be happy.

 

Are you powder coating all this stuff yourself now? If so, care to link what you are using?

Looks great man!

 

YES!!! Saving $100's of dollars...its so easy!!! Its a Craftsman powdercoating gun and you can buy them off ebay for like $40.

 

A word of caution, becareful with your tolerances when coating. Like the tolerances of the water jacket where the coolant lines fit into. The powder can/will build up quicker than you think unless you mask off these areas. Did you try to test fit the tubes into the jacket yet, if you coated the mating surface of the jacket where it mates to the engine?

 

Awesome, thanks!

Looks like I'll be needing one of those, I was doing a black and blue theme on my Z but haven't got really far with it just silicone pcv hoses, balance tube, coilovers (pics in my thread). I wanted to do the manifold and heater pipes and such.

You did a good job! Now doesn't it feel better when you do it yourself

Nothing like that "accomplishment" feeling.

 

I didn't powdercoat the part that goes inside the engine. I did not tape off the mating surface...but I made sure I did not put too much coating on those parts. I think it will be fine in this case.

 

Again, you did a hell of a good job!

 

What front brake caliper is that?

 

The stock front brake caliper. its the racing brake front oem upgrade kit with 12.8" rotor.

 

Looking good

 

i gotta get one, i need to clean my engine bay up lol

 

Everything's looking great. Have you been down to R/T yet or are you going there after the turbo install is done?

 

RT Tuning is way too busy. I made an appointment 2 weeks ago and the earliest they had was July 2.....cmon man...thats.too far. Going to take it to Jas JDS Motoring so he can tune it.

 

Yeah its impressive how big they've gotten in past couple years.

 

yep, but in this case, for customers, bigger is not always better. They gonna have to hire more than one tuner besides Vince and get another dyno if they keep it up.

 

I couldn't agree more but it's a testament to the quality of work that they do. They have 2 dynos but I didn't know they still only had one guy tuning.

 

any updates

 

He's gone turbo, so no updates, ever.
Unless it's a turbo update which can be found in the FI forum.

 

Powdercoated the connecting piece for the coolant lines today (the piece where all the coolant hoses and collant temp sensor goes).....

Before.....UGLY:



Tried to tape it off with high temp tape as good as I could....I'm no professional...



Sparkling Silver base coating applied....



After base coat cooked in oven....looks good...



After candy blue and high gloss clear coat applied:



not perfect and got a little on the the parts where the hose connectors go but overall its a nice job.....

 

That's the same HD tape that the local PC shop used except it was red....the candy blue is stunning. I'll start on some small parts using a cheap little toaster oven which should be fun. Too bad the Harbor Freight oven is a few hundred $$$....Keep up the good work!

 

yo J , you just powdercoat and place it on a cookie sheet to bake ?

 

Its a lil more than just that. Sometimes you can get away with the cookie sheet method if the item you are coating is only on 1 side. The best way is to coat it and bake it the same way so that there is minimal movement, which can disturb the uncured powder. Its best the rack the parts and cure them this way. As you progress and get more experience, you'll discover which method9s0 work best for you.

 

NO, thats after the part was already cooled down. I actually hang the part with a couple metal hangers on the rack in the stove while its baking and then open the oven after its finished and pull the rack out and turn the oven off and let it cool down for about 30 mins.....thats when I placed it on the cookie sheet just to take pics. If you bake it on the cookie sheet it ruins the coating, just like 4DRZ stated, unless the part laying on the sheet is not coated. You gotta "let it hang"

 

It's never as easy as it looks lol

 

Green tape is good for 400 degrees before curling under and releasing, red tape is same mil, however formulated for up to 430 degrees before releasing. As it is said, the devil is in the details! Its like learning to ride a bike....once you learn, you will never forget, and only continue to get better with practice. It must be stated that as you progress to larger parts, if you arent making money, as if i=this is just a hobby, it will start to get expensive because of the greater surface prep. You will eventually need a larger oven, especially when doing wheels. A parts washer isnt necessary but sure makes life easier. A blast cabinet allows for SUPER fast cleaning and surface prep of parts, especially used rusted parts etc. A small stash of caustic stripper is a must. If you have a PC job become contaminated or outgas under your powder, you will need to strip the coating and re prep. Having an IR thermometer ensures the parts you are curing are at and maintain the critical cure temp over the specified time the manf. suggests. I cant say this enough, prep is EVERYTHING, especially when you are woring with used parts. New unserviced parts are cake to coat.

 

Exactly, that is why I will only do small parts. Not trying to buy no $10k oven to bake wheels and car frames....LOL. If I do bigger piece I'll need to buy a higher voltage gun...more $$$. Its just for fun, little brackets and stuff is all I will ever do and everything else I will take to a professional.

 

Lol, your stuff already looks professional. lol

 

Thanks!! Im about to buy a new bracket for the clutch line and powdercoat that candy blue then polish that valve off and get titanium bolts and put them there so they dot corrode again like this.

 

Why dont you just powder coat the bolts etc.? If you have a way to clean them really well, all you would have to do afterwards is wipe them down really well with acetone and coat them. I have had great success coating fasteners like this with a single stage coating. I even have special plastic metric adaptors so as no to damage the coating on the fasteners. If you didnt want to coat them a color, then media blast them clean, and simply apply a nice clear and your set.

 

hmmm..thats an idea...thanks.

 

Get rid of all of that crap with this.....

http://forums.maxima.org/group-deals...tch-lines.html

The one piece line from Master -> Slave, deletes the upper bleeder.....

 

Congratulations! Took me hours to read the entire thread, lots of information, you guys are awesome.. Maximas FTW!