I explored your PHOENIX SPECIALTY COATINGS site. Very nice work, quality, attention to detail, everything somebody wants and looks for. Have lots of work ahead of me and I will drop you a line. Dumb question...can a powder coated covering on a cast aluminum valve cover be removed without harming the aluminum? I have a pair and the orange powder coating is beat to bullocks.
Thank you!!! I definitely love my job.
There's no such thing as a dumb question; if ya don't know, you don't know.
Straight up, yes. If the finish on yours is already "beat to bullocks," I suspect either it's paint or the prep work under the powder was woefully inefficient, sprayed onto unblasted or dirty/oily metal.
The vast majority of what I work up is used cast aluminum. The processes and techniques have been refined over the last 24 years and, as an artist too who believes custom work should be just that, it's incredibly rare that any two color schemes are the same. This last year has seen a few repeats by customers though who fell in love with an earlier job. Don from FABO wanted his big and small block Weiands to mirror each other.
Kris liked how Stephen's 2022 Weiands turned out too, and picked up a couple dress up packages with intakes and valley pans on his way home from the Moparty with overlapping colors so he and his son could swap them out.
Existing powder coating can be chemically stripped or mechanically removed by blasting. It's typically a tougher finish than any paint job but ONLY if the prep is properly dealt with.
We've all seen "powder coated" welding carts from Harbor Freight where the finish is coming off in sheets revealing shiny, oily and rusted metal underneath which all point to inadequate / no prep at the factory where it was made. The wrong blasting media can also do more damage to aluminum than good so hiring an experienced metal finisher is in your best interests.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional, just wait until you hire an amateur."
I appreciate your kind compliments and spending some time on my website! I look forward to working with you and having the opportunity to earn your business.
