Powder Coat Quote

[Greg Spreeman]

Was just quoted $750 to media blast and powder coat my engine tin! Any cheaper sources?

[Jim Liberty]

That is close to what I pay here in So. Cal. Just like chrome plating things have more than tripled in the past few years. ...............Jim.

[David Jones]

Maybe time to buy a used oven and do your own powder coating.

[John Brooks]

It’s a good full day to DYI a set of tins. The cost to set up to do powder is about half that, but you need the space and motivation to do it. It actually easy and fun to do.

[Greg Spreeman]

FWIW, that was just the tin around the cylinders. No shroud or the piece behind the engine.

[Dave Whittick]

FWIW, that was just the tin around the cylinders. No shroud or the piece behind the engine.

That’s a crazy price!! Complete VW or Porsche motor tins and shroud are $300 CAD with my local guy. I’ve built 8 or 9 motors with him from stock to full show.

[Dan Macdonald]

Do these prices include stripping of paint/rust and (some) straightening of the sheet metal pieces?

[John Brooks]

Greg

that's allot for just a couple tins. I started with a old double wall oven, free from the local appliance dealer, after an remodel up grade. Built a stand with casters so I could move it around. It plugs in to one of the 220v welder plugs in the shop. Rolls out of the way when not used. Eastwood gun and powder to start with was about 150.00. Blast cabinet from HF needs to be modified, but will fit anything up to a wheel. The improvement mods are less than 20.00 of 3/4" plumbing fittings and again casters so you move it also. For most stuff you need to do on a 356 is easy. You don't need a huge oven to start, I have a larger counter top toaster oven, a pair of wall ovens and finally built a 4x4x6 for wheel sets and engine blocks. Powder Coating easy, it allot of fun to work on your own stuff and not all that expensive. Better than spray cans and available in RAL color matches.

I am into it of about $500.00.

Example builds are in the 'tools section" of abcgt.com scroll through this link for details, https://forum.abcgt.com/forum/main-foru ... storations "Latest Activity Tab"

[Patrick Ertel]

I paid close to that for a crappy job in a place in NW Ohio that claims to be "Awesome." (He isn't.) However, that was for all the engine tins, including the pulley and oil filter can.
I don't know what you mean by "tin around the cylinder." Can you be more specific? $750 seems very excessive for less than a complete job.

[Sebastian Gaeta]

One thing to consider is that many powder coaters do not like catering to hobbyists because they make their money with production line items - 200, 300, 400 items in a batch - and when they have to stop all of that and do our little onesies and twosies they charge accordingly.

Greg, see if there is a powder coater nearby that caters to hobbyists and see what their quality and prices are like. Hint: Google VW & powder coating, you might find a shop run by another hobbyist that does good work, the VW guys use powder coating too and they don't spend much money on their cars so there might be a VW guy nearby that does it for he and his buddies.

[Jim Morris]

A significant part of the cost when properly done is media blasting (with a sharp tooth medium, not glass beads) to remove all existing paint and rust. Getting your own oven, powder, and gun without this blasting capability will produce a nice looking result that will not last. As an aside, this is why certain things should not be powder coated, such as the oil filler canister. If you have done this job, you will know it is impossible to keep media out of some things that should not have abrasive in them, no matter how much you mask. I expect to hear from some do it yourselfers that they did this without harm and I am sounding a false alarm. Surely there are other powder coaters in or near South Orange, NJ from whom you can get quotes.

[Jim Clement]

And / or ask the VW guys in the area who they use..
I got to know my local powder coat guy.. so I get the "good guy" pricing.. some others do not..

[Greg Spreeman]

These parts.

[Chuck Allard]

I use a relatively local guy (45 minute drive) and give him 2-4 engines worth of sheet metal at a time. That only fills 1/2 half of his rack for the oven. Price is less than what you've been quoted.

[Dave Erickson]

I pay around $350 for a complete 356 engine, including heater boxes, fan shroud, generator tin, and all the rest. I will generally take in 2 or 3 sets of tin at once. A used muffler adds about $50. That is for sand blasting and powder coating. It might be up to $400 by now, the last engine I had done was 6 months ago and everything is up up up. The thing I like about having my powder coater do it instead of me is that he has all the colors including Porsche silver, and the grey for SC fan housings, and he will reliably do a 60% gloss when requested.