Powder Coating

[Howard ochocke]

I am considering the purchase of an Eastwood basic powder coat gun. I primarily want it for painting McCulloch engines. Does anyone have experience they can share? Have you been able to match the color well? Does the dual voltage gun provide better reults?

[ted johnson]

Any good powder source can supply the color. The RAL system is the (choke) European color matching system. The very close Mac match is RAL 1023. Be aware that not all batches from all suppliers are perfect matches for each other. My Mc101 that is cloned to look like a Mc20 has the RAL 1023 powder on it, and it looks very good. It was done by Kaehr Powder Coating in Albuquerque, so I can't tell you which manufacturer actually made the powder. Google on RAL 1023 powder for lots of suppliers. TJ

[Terry Armstrong]

Ted,

Any idea what the RAL color would be for "Bug Blue"? I'm looking to powder our 1963 Bug Wasp and the powder coater nearest me uses RAL powders.

Any idea if the '63 Wasp's ever came in other colors than Blue? Ours is yellow, no idea how old the paint is.

Thanks.

Terry

[ted johnson]

Terry, I'm not sure of the difference between '60-'62 Bug blue and the '63 color. We've decided that the regular Eastwood Hotcoat Powder Metallic Blue is close to what the '60 Wasp was, though it'll be glossier and may have a little more metallic flake in it. Bug paint was a '56 Dodge blue, but I can't remember the actual name. Their paint wasn't very glossy. Russ Smith knows the color name. By '63, we'd stopped being a Bug dealer, so I can't say if they came other than blue. Hanson Duncan's was black, but had been repainted. Sorry for not being much help. TJ

[Terry Sullivan 2]

Howard,

I considered the Eastwood gun and a few other entry level guns. Long story short, I wound up with a Spectracoat ES02 gun from powderbuythepound.com. The main reason I went with that gun is that it has the FARADAY WAVE™ BOARD. The claim is that it helps get the powder into voids and notches. I figured that while coating heads and blocks with fins, this would be a valuable option. I also bought the RAL 1023 yellow that TJ mentioned for a McCulloch match. Unfortunately, I have not done a head or a block yet, so I can't tell you how well it works.
I suggest that you ask Eastwood or Caswell or whoever you consider, how well the gun will work for those parts. If you have a few days to wait, I will give the yellow a try on a head and see what happens.

Terry Sullivan
terryas@att.net
678.617.0730

[Terry Sullivan 2]

Dear Mr. Armstrong,
Oh yeah, Bug Blue, one of my favorite colors!!
I haven't done one in powder yet. If it will help your painter/powdercoater, tell him to find a match for a 1973 Corvette metallic blue - probably not the actual name
I would try the Eastwood Metallic blue, but my next Bug ( copy of a 1958 ) is going to be black.
See you at B'ville!

terry sullivan

[Russ Smith]

Original Bug Blue was 1956 Dodge Royal Blue Metallic.

[ted johnson]

Thanks, Russ! Knew you'd come through. TJ

[Terry Sullivan 2]

I tried to have Autocolor mix 1956 Dodge Royal Blue Metallic, but they could not find a recipe.

[ted johnson]

Hey, Terry 2. Anything "Bug" from '58 and most of '59 SHOULD be black (or unpainted)! The first blue Bug we sold was in late '59. Dad's first Wasp was blue, but my late '59 Custom dual dead axle Bug was still black. I'm not certain who it was who did the color research, maybe Dean Seavers? Anyhow, it's a shame Autocolor can't match.