Powder-coating of engine block

[GerryLP]

Ok folks,

I was told by my engine machinist that the L81 block, crank, rods with 0.020" over pistons and the whole thing balanced should be ready by this Friday.

While speaking about it at work, a friend of mine offered to powder-coat the block and intake (my heads are cracked, and I am still on the search for a good set of 624 heads).

My question is -Does anyone know where I can find the early 80's GM blue (or is it Chevrolet blue) as a powder-coat agent?

GerryLP:cool

 

[norvalwilhelm]

I don't know how your friend does his powder coating but my son's powder coating involves running the part through a costic bath followed by a spraying of the paint. This paint goes everywhere , into every crevise so you really have to mask everything well. It then passes through an oven at 400 degrees.
It would bother me putting my freshly machined block through this.
Normal paint works fine on the block. You can brush a few coats on and not have to deal with all that

 

[GerryLP]

I don't know how your friend does his powder coating but my son's powder coating involves running the part through a costic bath followed by a spraying of the paint. This paint goes everywhere , into every crevise so you really have to mask everything well. It then passes through an oven at 400 degrees.
It would bother me putting my freshly machined block through this.
Normal paint works fine on the block. You can brush a few coats on and not have to deal with all that

Norval,

That was one of my first concerns! The prepping needed to do something like that would be considerable. I thought of making metal blank-off plates for the cylinder banks and bottom of block, but I will ask Dave how exsactly he does his powder-coating. He did his big block Ford, but mostly he does components like oil pans, timing chain covers, and the like.

Thanks for the imput!

GerryLP:cool

 

[Twin_Turbo]

It can be done, a guy here in NL does it but it's very expensive and for a reason. they mask off everything that must not be coated and stuffing plugs into every hole...this makes it very labour intensive. Also the casting has ti be slowly heated and remain at a temp above curing temp for a while to let it outgas.

 

[GerryLP]

I talked to my buddy Dave, and he said that it is the Eastwood system shown in their catalog. There is not need for caustic baths or anything like that. Just a clean surface. So perhaps just a simple masking with tape will work?

I also called Eastwood today, and they told me that the Chevy Blue media is not available. I also asked if they could ask their manufacturer or disclose who their supplier is, but the guy said he was not allowed to revealed that.

I have even checked with Rik's Vettes and Corvette Central, and they don't have the Chevy blue in spray form (or any other form as far that is concerned). So I am still looking.

GerryLP:cool

 

[JohnZ]

I have even checked with Rik's Vettes and Corvette Central, and they don't have the Chevy blue in spray form (or any other form as far that is concerned). So I am still looking.

GerryLP:cool

Bill Hirsch has it in quarts or aerosol cans - go to www.hirschauto.com, click on "paint" - it's called "GM Blue".

 

[Twin_Turbo]

Does that chevy blue have a RAL color? you can get powdercaot in just about any color you can imagine, don't buy your powder from eastwood..very expensive. Buy directly from a powdercoating company.

 

[GerryLP]

Bill Hirsch has it in quarts or aerosol cans - go to www.hirschauto.com, click on "paint" - it's called "GM Blue".

JohnZ,

Just in the nick of time -Thanks! I called Casa Chevrolet in Albuquerque, and they don't carry it. I will be ordering some from Hirshauto.

Does that Chevy blue have a RAL color? you can get powdercaot in just about any color you can imagine, don't buy your powder from eastwood..very expensive. Buy directly from a powder coating company.

Twin turbo,

I am not sure what an RAL is, but I have a Mil-spec chart at work that has the GM blue color paint chip/strip. I saw a "Teal" in Erie Powder Coating that is very close, but the problem will be in getting some sort of idea to see whether it is or not.

I might as well order the paint. Hell that's the way that came-out of the factory anyway, and I am trying to stay as close as possible to a stock configuration (is more like a personal goal). Thanks for the information.

GerryLP:cool

 

[GerryLP]

Does that chevy blue have a RAL color? you can get powdercaot in just about any color you can imagine, don't buy your powder from eastwood..very expensive. Buy directly from a powdercoating company.

Hey Twin,

The Mil-spec I was talking about is actually a Federal standard 595B, and the color that I think is closest to the GM Blue is a 15092, 15102, 25102, or 35183. It's hard to tell without a good example of the actual color. That's what is convincing me to go with the spray bottle type.

GerryLP:cool

 

[Twin_Turbo]

RAL codes are paint codes, it's sort of an industry standard (at least it is here) A lot of photo editing programs also use the RAL/Pantone/FS charts. All blues are in the 5000 range
You can get a color swatch w/ all the blues (or even all the colors) and pick a sample of whsat you want, then supply the ral code to get the proper powder.