Can you paint over powder coating?

[The Ghoul]

ok time for a   topic.
Can you paint over powder coating? If so any special type of paint?
I want to powder coat my shell and my doors on every surface except for the painted exterrior surfaces. Now here is where it gets tricky. I want to paint the door jambs and the engine compartment to match the body color but its not totaly nessessary that the paint be completly smooth.
The reason I am considering this is because I love my charger and I want to drive it as much as possible when its done, I also wish to hold on to it as long as possible.
or maby its my michigan rust paranoia
So I have this idea stuck in my head and I want to know how to make it work.  

[Daytona R/T SE]

You are going to need a BIG oven to powder coat the shell of your car. The heat involved may cause problems with the thin sheetmetal of your roof and quarters.  We powder coat alot of stuff where I work and as a test we put some powdered parts out on the back dock to see how they would be affected by the weather....not good! in a few weeks rust was evident on the parts and the sun badly faded it...not impressed...to the point that even though I can get most of my parts powder coated for FREE, I'll be painting them...

[Troy]

Powder Coating is essentially powdered paint. It's usually already a top coat so I'm not sure what the point of painting over it would be. Also, you have to bake it so did you find an oven big enough to stick your whole car in? There are lights (heat lamps?) that you can use to cure the powder as well but they are expensive. Powder coating works pretty well on suspension pieces and parts that usually take abuse but I don't know if I'd try to do the whole shell. Epoxy primer is pretty strong stuff and it's simpler to apply to large areas. If the idea is to avoid rust then there are better ways to accomplish your goal.

As for your question, I imagine that you can scuff powder coating enough to paint it - I just don't know why. Of course, I'm not an expert so maybe it's a great idea and I just haven't heard it yet.

Troy

[Rolling_Thunder]

why not have it powder coated to match the bodycolor ?    i doubt u can powder coat an entire car shell though

[Silver R/T]

its almost impossible. your body panels will warp when you will have to bake powder coat

[Drop Top]

In answer to your question. Yes you can paint over Powder Coating. You can do anyting to Powder Coating that you can do to paint. Even color sand and buff it. Its just a little tuffer to sand then regular paint. I had a frame Powder Coated. It didn't cdome out very smooth. We color sanded and buffed and it looke great. On the same truck we had the runnung boards powder coated. They didn't turn out very nice. I sanded and painted over them with no problems. After 5 years they still look good. As far as having powder coating matched to paint. Its easier to match paint to the powder coating. As far as the heat worping the panels. I have never seen a body panel done so I can't give you my opion on that. I agree your going to have to find a big oven and if you can find one your panels better be very clean. If there is any under coating or oily surface on any of it. Your going to have one big mess.

[daytonalo]

I HAVE A POWDER COATING BUSINESS AND I WOULDN'T TAKE YOUR MONEY. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE AREAS OF METAL OVERLAP , POWDER IS NOT GOING TO GET IN THERE. AND AS MENTIONED EARLIER THAT THIN METAL MIGHT TWIST AND WARP . I WOULD BLAST WHOLE CAR AND AREAS LIKE INSIDE QTS AND DOORS I HAVE USED COLD GALVANIZING SPRAY THEN UNDERCOATED IT . IF YOU LIKE YOUR RIDE THAT MUCH WHY WOULD YOU DRIVE IN SALT COND ANYWAY. IF YOU NEED A DRIVER I'LL BUY YOU ONE

[dodgecharger-fan]

Are you maybe thinking of e-coating and not powder coating?

Certainly, that is something more in line with what you want to do - preserve the metal in your car.

Painting over it is no problem at all - it is required, I think.

Not sure if that's what you meant. I just tend to look at things sideways for alternate meanings and that's what popped into my head.

[mridolfo]

On Rides, Rad Rides by troy had the guy from fear factors cuda powder primered.

[The Ghoul]

Ok, I think some of you guys might be getting off track a bit so Ill clarify.
- There is no way I would drive the car in winter, but the first nice day of spring it's on! So yes it will see a small amount of salt water.

-I was lead to believe that since powder coating flexes with the metal and is very chip resilient it forms a tightly sealed layer over every thing which would prevent the rust.. I am shocked that it doesn't protect like I thought!!

-the reason I want to paint it is because I want the interior, and roll cage to be gunmetal and I want the engine compartment, and door jambs to be body color (sublime green). I figured the best way to achieve this and the corrosion protection I wanted (see above misconception) it would be easiest to get the shell and doors powder coated then paint the jambs and engine compartment to match the body color. That way they would have the same protection (again above) but the same color as the body.

- I would not even begin to think of doing this my self; I found a shop that will for about 1/3 the price of e-coating.

- Of coarse I know that powder coating wont cover the over lap but the only system that seems to do that is e-coating but the only way I could justify spending that much on a car is if its rare and all the good stuff that makes it a +$50K car. I was just going to break out a paint brush and rustolium on that stuff. I am most concerned with floor boards (outside and in), bottom of the doors, bottom of rear 1/4's and wheel wells.

-The reason I want to have it selectively coated is I don't want the  "body" sheet metal media blasted. I keep hearing that it will leave a wavy look to the metal.

I never considered that it might warp the metal.

I am crushed that it doesn't hold ageist rust like I thought it would.
My plans were to have almost all of the suspension, brackets, braces, and all the other little bits coated to keep them from rusting.

I guess the real question now is what is it good for other than stuff that flexes too much or gets bombarded with rocks too much to paint, if it doesn't protect ageist rust and will fade on you quick?

[The Ghoul]

seems like there is a little conflicting info here....
maby its all the process?
I think im going to do this the scientific way before I risk my shell. take extra panels to diffrent shops and have them done up and see what ones come out the best.