Powdercoating advice

[mk1nova_rich]

Looking to get a few bits and pieces powdercoated through work on the cheap...couple of questions:

Whats the best thing to use for masking. One of the items is a Mantzel inlet so obviously the mating faces want to be left uncoated.

Also do parts need keying first like when they are painted or just send as they are?

[Benn]

No, dont do anything to the surface, they will do it all.

Most places use rubber bungs to block anything off, then sand a mating surface after... Tape would fall off when baked.

[EwanG]

I used to work on a powder coating line. We used to put masking tape on threads and they were fine. It might be worth covering the faces of the manifold with some thing as sanding it off afterwards might not be the best way?

[mk1nova_rich]

Cheers, yeh I was thinking it might be worth covering the faces as I'd rather leave them with a machined finish than sanded. Also I dont want them to get any coating on the inside of the inlet

[Keif]

I've had an inlet manifold powdercoated before.

Just mask everything up with masking tape, just make sure the machined surfaces are degreased before hand.
If any coating bleeds onto the seating face, just use a scalpel to remove it.

From
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Keif_1974/Cars/Lotus%20Carlton/Engine/DSC01600.jpg

To
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Keif_1974/Cars/Lotus%20Carlton/Engine/DSCF1632.jpg

Keying should be done by sand blasting them before masking.

If any sand get "caught" in the manifold, a rinse out with water will be fine.

[EwanG]

Cheers, yeh I was thinking it might be worth covering the faces as I'd rather leave them with a machined finish than sanded. Also I dont want them to get any coating on the inside of the inlet
It might be worth trying to bolt something on to the face. When I worked on the line we used to bake excess and contaminated (mixed colours of paint) in steel trays lined with thick cardboard and it would not burn. Also the paint we used was magnetiesed so only stuck to ferrous metals.

[Keif]

I used bungs in small holes and masking tape over the machined faces. Job done, nice and simple and works.

[craig green]

I'd bolt a pice of MDF down across the mounting face of a mantzel tbh. It will need carerfully cutting around the powder edge when being removed I expect.