A little background ... my tins are not rusty, but the PO repainted them and they look a bit DIY. Thus, I'd like to get them powder coated before reinstalling the rebuilt motor (while I have them out).

Is sandblasting the best way to prep tin for power coating?

Are there other methods that are just as effective that I could do myself to avoid the cost of having them sandblasted?

I did some searching and it looks like others used solvent and then soap and water?

I found that sandblasting with a fine media works very well. My powder coater also offers metal cleaning by dipping and blasting as well. Check with several powder coaters to see what they offer and what they recommend. I blast all of mine unless they are really n bad shape, then I have my powder coater do it.

I called a few power coating shops - the only one that called me back wanted $450 to sandblast and powder coat my 5 tin pieces.

Seemed high. Is that a fair price?

Keep looking that is insane

That seems steep. I used to live in NoVA and would always take my stuff to American Stripping in Manassas. They would blast and coat. Can’t remember what they charged but I feel like I could get ALL the tin done for less than what you quoted here.

That’s really high. My son lives in DC (near Georgetown) If you can get them to him around Christmas time, he’s coming home for a couple days and I can do them. We have a light commercial setup at the shop that does a nice job. Glass bead blast and then powder coat with a good name brand powder. I’d say around $150.

Powder coating is all about finding the right size shop. Too big and they only want big orders. Too small and they only want fancy custom orders. We don’t typically do it individually for customers but I’ll help out any 914 peeps when I can. I have to charge something to pay the guy who does it at our shop. It’s easy but prep takes some time.

So, are you saying you would do mine to if I paid for shipping both ways? peep, peep

Yes, but…
I really don’t want this to become a business but glad to help out. The reason I don’t want it to be a business is because if I do it and there’s a blem, you might not be happy because you paid to get it done. Worse yet, there’s a rust spot and the metal blows out during blasting. It didn’t have a hole when you shipped but now it does and I have to fix it. But I don’t weld so I have to send it out, that costs more money and now you’re not happy. So as long as people understand the caveats, I’m happy to take care of you.

I recently took some parts for powder coating. I had blasted them with 60-120 grit glass bead. Showing the guy the parts, he said they usually use something coarser which makes the powder coat stick better, but he accepted them and they did turn out fine.

No.
My guy does it for $150.

Where did you take them ? Looking for another shop

Wow. Appreciate the offer, Mark. I’m actually in DE mostly these days. So I should be able to drop them off at the shop myself. PM sent.

@mepstein

Eastwood sells the gallon of media and hose with gun. All you need is compressed air. I did a couple of fake fuchs and they cleaned up very nice. Only a little messy, I did mine in a wooded/grass area and all the media just disappeared. Or lay out a large tarp to catch all the media and reuse.

Or just find a car shop that has one (blaster cabinet ) and give them $100.00 for you to do it your self. I've done many, should not take more then an hour.

Now I'm stuck on this. Last, don't powder coat, just clean up, little sanding and spray with Eastwood Chassis Paint. Very hard, resists chemicals.

Don't do anything to them. Let the coaters do it.

I agree. Blasting is included in the powder coat price. I’ve seen guys spend hours and dollars removing paint but get charged the same by the powder coat place.

Listen to the last comments. If you have a reputable powder coater, this isn't an issue. They do the prep. Or they charge extra for it and you can decide to let them do it (which they can do as easily as a dip in a bath), vs bumbling with it ahead of time.

If you have a powder coater who just cakes your shit and gives it back as shit, find a new powdercoater. If they are worth doing business with, they will guide you to a quality result.

It's not rocket science. Our guy used to do all the prep, paint, powder, cerikote, etc for a large shop and he has a car detail business on the side. He's the one who organizes and keeps the shop clean ( not easy in a 150 year old barn) so I'm sure DC will be happy - but again, I'm not looking for customers. Better to find a good place near your location.

@jim_hoyland
I took a bunch of parts to Primo Powder Coating in Huntington Beach. That they are open on Saturday, which with my work is a bonus. Also being able to find a shop that will powder coat if I do the blasting — saves a bunch of $ — a lot of shops won't do it.

I got quite a lot of parts powder coated. The satin black that is what most stuff on our cars is, is quite a bit cheaper than other finishes. I did a grayish color on headlight buckets, didn't even do like a flattener which would have been more, and just those 4 parts were $80. I did like 35 parts of various sizes — A-arms, a steering rack cover, front cross member, some early door panel tops, brake backing plates, gauge cluster, pedal cluster parts, a bunch of misc stuff. The total was about $300.

If I hadn't blasted everything myself, the quote was significantly more.

That is outrageous. Keep looking. Do you have a compressor? If so consider buying a blast cabinet. Harbor freight has them for a reasonable price.

You need a good size compressor to make it work. Blasting is great but I wouldn’t want to do it in my house. The dust gets everywhere. Unless you plan to do a lot of it, I would search around for the right size shop (at the right price) to do it for you.

Sure they did. Christmas is coming! It’s a $100 job. Keep looking. Ask your local car club guys…