TOPIC:

Hi every one. I know this subject has been beat to death but my dilemma is powder coat or rattle can it? I did my original frame with POR15 as the base coat and then brushed on some thinned out rustolium paint on to the frame and it came out nice. Turns out I can't use the frame because it doesn't have a title (Which I knew )and when I inquired about the cost of getting one and it just wouldn't make $$$ sense. Fortunately KZ1300 frames are easy to find. I bought one for $125 and now I'm thinking powder coat it or rattle can it.Please advise,thnx.

PJ1 gloss black has always worked well for me. And the satin black for engine cases on other bikes. Pete

I think powder coating is over rated. For one thing it doesn't touch up if chipped. I'd go with Pete's PJ1.

Bill

There is a paint KBS and it apparently can be sprayed of brushed and comes up a treat and is as tough as old boots. I came across it on a BMW forum and several guys there have very good words for it. Maybe it is worth a look.
www.kbs-coatings.com/stop-rust-paints.html

Yeah there are a lot of coatings to choose from out there POR15, rust bullet, East wood stuff etc. I'm just looking for a satin black that is close to the original color that is easy to apply and goes on smooth and is UV resistant. I just hate to lay out the cash and find out the paint is garbage.Please keep the feed back coming want a lot of opinions and real life experiences,thanks.

New auto mobiles are still painted new from the factory by robots with at least a 3 step process i.e bare steel preparation in a zinc coating tank, 2 part catylized primer , base colour and then clear over top. And all these liquid coatings are made up of a two or 3 part system. It is quite a process. How could you ever expect a spray can from the local parts store to duplicate this. Any liquid coating has far better qualities if it has a base and a hardener that have to be mixed together and then used in about an 8 hour window. Spray cans have improved along way in recent years - there was a brand from Germany that had the catalyst built into the can so when I was ready to use it, there was a plunger on the bottom of the can that punctured and the 2 parts of the paint mixed by the usual shaking method and it had a life of about 4 hours before hardening.
Powder coating has been the industry for many years and still is for more industrial type applications- it is sprayed on quite thick and then levels out once it goes into the oven- baking it on to the steel. That can't be replicated with a spray can.
I have black powder on my 1300 frame and base coat/ clear coat on the engine. The engine is more shiney than the frame. The frame could have had a clear powder put over top to increase gloss level.
Consider what is inside a spray can - propellant liquid, paint thinner and a small amount of actual solid colour - it's this solid material that is left on the part once all that liquid evaporates off , not leaving much. Then consider powder ( when done properly) is a 100% solid, so what comes out of the spray gun and onto the part is what you get left with after the oven melts the powder into a liquid ,about 4 to 5 mils thick. The powder coating I have on my bike was all sandblasted first to white metal and then black gloss . All the black parts are powder, all the other colours are base/clear. Because powder is applied quite thick, some definition is lost- for e.g. I have metallic silver powder on the alternator cover and some of the wording has lost it's clarity. I have several friends with old british bikes that don't go very far when ridden, never go out in the rain and are stored inside all the time. Spray cans have worked fine for them. I ride my bike a lot, I live on 4 miles of gravel road and use it in all weather - spray cans wouldn't work for me.