Powder Coating Issue

[Railroad]

I am getting close to putting the interior sheet metal in and was removing the painters tape. My helper, commented the tape pulled up some powder coating and the metal was rusty beneath it. I did find mild rust on the square tubing in the ds door opening. Not real happy, since my frame is the anniversary edition, powder coated from FF. I consoled myself, by the fact it will be covered and not in sight. As we continued to remove the tape, I had a second occurrence of the coating coming off on the top tubing around the engine bay. This was on the ps, just ahead of the foot box. Not good, this might show. Naturally I am wondering, how poorly the metal was prepped before coating. Second, I am seeking a paint to match the gray used on the anniversary frame. Thanks for listening and any suggestions on finding the right color.

[JohnK]

Sorry to hear about your PC issues. I think Edwardb had found a matching color for the 20th anniversary PC. If you look in his build thread, I think it's mentioned in there.

[Jacob McCrea]

"Naturally I am wondering, how poorly the metal was prepped before coating."

For what it's worth: I degreased my frame and wire-wheeled the mild surface rust myself before taking it to the powder coater. It took a lot of wax and grease remover, a lot of rags, and a lot of time and effort to truly remove the oil/grease from the steel. At the end of my toiling, I didn't see any reality where a powder coater, other than one paying third world child labor rates, could (1) charge $400-$500, (2) do a thorough job of getting all the surface rust, oil, wax, grease, etc. off of the bare metal; and (3) make a profit.

[cv2065]

Sounds like those areas were not prepped correctly. There should be no rust under the coating...obviously. Hopefully those areas are isolated. I might do spot adhesion tests around the frame to see if there are any other areas. Might be easier to address now versus later.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Sorry to hear this and hopefully you are able to get a reasonable match.

I have to play devil's advocate here...although this may not be a popular opinion I will say that the problem may not be strictly a powder coating issue. When I see chassis covered up in painter's tape I often cringe---the stuff is for short term use, usually no more than 14-21 days and even less when exposed to high heat or sunlight. After having dealt with it in the construction industry for many years I know when left on much longer than that the adhesives go through changes that can make it very difficult to remove from surfaces without causing damage. I fear that other guys who have left their chassis taped up for months may run into the same problem when they go to remove it and caution against leaving it on for an extended period of time.

Good luck,
Jeff

[edwardb]

I agree with Jeff that painter's tape left for a long period can be difficult to remove. I've experienced that. But it doesn't make sense to me that it would remove powder coat. Especially if you're finding rust where the coating is coming off. That's really not right. Really sorry to hear about this. I had a welding issue on my Anniversary build and had to have some welding done during the build, after the powder coat was done obviously. Details are in my build thread, so won't repeat here plus it's off topic. The point though is I found a company, as mentioned, that makes spray touch-up for powder coat colors. I was very happy with the results and challenge anyone to find it on my frame. The color on the 20th Anniversary Roadster frame is Tiger Drylac DB 703 Glimmer, 49/84340. The company is https://www.lvppaints.com/. Good luck.

[Railroad]

Sorry to hear this and hopefully you are able to get a reasonable match.

I have to play devil's advocate here...although this may not be a popular opinion I will say that the problem may not be strictly a powder coating issue. When I see chassis covered up in painter's tape I often cringe---the stuff is for short term use, usually no more than 14-21 days and even less when exposed to high heat or sunlight. After having dealt with it in the construction industry for many years I know when left on much longer than that the adhesives go through changes that can make it very difficult to remove from surfaces without causing damage. I fear that other guys who have left their chassis taped up for months may run into the same problem when they go to remove it and caution against leaving it on for an extended period of time.

Good luck,
Jeff

The tape had been on for a while, always indoors, no weather, high heat etc. I was well familiar with this, when the old tan masking tape was common. Extended time on the powder coating might account for it under poorer conditions, but would not create rust under the coating. I will clean it up, paint and go on. I am not doing any testing or searches for other similar areas. Maybe this post will help those that might leave the tape on too long and/or get back to FF they need to monitor the quality control.
Thanks for the tips and advise. I bought a can of smoke gray paint today. I have not had time to compare, but it looked good in the store,,,,famous last works.

[michael everson]

I had a customer drop off an unfinished kit that had painters tape covering the whole chassis for several years. It took the 2 of us 2 full days to get it all off.
Mike

[rich grsc]

Every time I see pictures with painters tape all over the place, I just shake my head.

[Furrystump]

So I’m new to this board, but have restored a number of cars and while I have also fought with painters tape, undef NO circumstance should ANY tape pull off powered coat! So if I understand it correctly FF powered coated the frame and you are the original purchaser of the frame? They should either strip the frame and repowder coat it or should offer some compensation for the poor quality. This issue will continue to rear iits ugly head for the life of the car.

[Railroad]

I am the original owner, frame powder coated by FF. The frame has never sat outside since delivery to me. In prepping the areas for paint, I could feel some some raised powder coating adjacent to the affected area. I sanded the frame back, about 2 inches, back to well bonded coating.
I am hoping this is a localized issue and not whole frame related. The kit is an Anniversary edition, which included the gray powder coated frame. The frame was probably powder coated about 2015. I suppose it sat at FF until I purchased it, late 2017. Whether my frame is typical or one that was not properly prepped, I do not know. I am approaching the go cart stage, so I will be paying close attention to possible issues, before it gets covered completely. I would welcome some touch up paint, but hopefully will not have problems to the extent, I feel I need to contact FF.

[Furrystump]

I understand the difficulty of “solving” the issue, but you paid to have it powder coated. The steel was obviously not clean. How many areas are like that, who knows. At the least I would take pictures and send them to FF for an explanation. They may do nothing, they may send some swag or upgraded part. The least that will happen is FF will know they either have a vendor/contractor quality issue or need to look at thier QC if done in house. Powder coat is practically indestructable! I just spent an hour trying to sandblast a powder coated wheel. All I succeeded in doing was giving the surface a bit of tooth. I finally gave up and just sprayed over it!

[BadAsp427]

The frame was probably powder coated about 2015. I suppose it sat at FF until I purchased it, late 2017.

Hey Railroad, I thought that all of the 20th Anniversary cars were sold in Aug 2015. How was it that you ended up purchasing it in 2017 from FFR?

[Railroad]

Hey Railroad, I thought that all of the 20th Anniversary cars were sold in Aug 2015. How was it that you ended up purchasing it in 2017 from FFR?

As I understand it, someone canceled their order, so one kit did not move. FF must have sat on it for a while. I started my research on the kits and discovered the Anniversary Kit for sale. I called Tony, confirmed what came in the kit and took the leap.