Powdercoat and rust...
 

While watching Tv (Musclecar on Power Block) they were powdercoating a frame. It had A LOT of surface rust on it.

The powdercoating place shot right over it and baked it. Is that ok to do?

I had assumed that like paint you would want a CLEAN surface before applying any kind of coating.

Does powdercoating seal it up and keep the rust from spreading or are they going to have troubles down the road with the Impala frame?

I was thinking the exact same thing when I watched the episode this AM!!!

The only thing I could think of was that some of the cleaning solutions they used killed the surface rust and left a "rust protection" coating that gave it that "gold/brown" haze and what we were seeing wasnt actually rust.

I would think if it was rust, there would be issues. I was suprised that they didnt media blast the frame again.

i dont know but i cannot imagine that that would be the best way to do that...... im kinda like you, i would have thought the prep would be close to that of prepping for paint....who knows...

Ned, did you notice the shot of them hooking up the ground lead? There was a TON of rust right there and it looked like it was more than just surface crud from that day.

I don't know much about the whole process but it just didn't look right to me from a common sense point.

I saw that too! Was it funny to you that they were bragging about they're powder coating system after showing that scene? Terrible promotion IMO. They wouldn't get my business.

Not to mention, the finished product looked like crud because of the pitting.

Paint or Powder coating over rust is a NO NO! it will always continue to rust It has to be neutralized in some form The easiest is POR 15 that seals oxygen out to stop the rust (even that uses a neutralizer) or a converter that combines with the rust form a new rust resistant base :thumbsup:

The guys that powdercoated my last frame let me stay throughout the whole process. I asked the same question about the surface rust after they pressure washed it, and he said that was normal.

I would say no rust anywhere. I had a bumper done years ago and it bubbled up in one area, after peeling it back, it was surface rust that caused it to bubble.

How else would you get a frame completely clean without soaking it in a cleaning solution, pressure washing, then baking it. Without the surface rust?

once the area is cleaned in what ever fashion you want you need to protect the surface with a zinc phosphate coating, there are other coatings out there also that do the same thing and many top shops can recommend what they prefer to use, just remember any rust is rust, many try to justify it by saying is only surface rust, the only way it will stop it is not allowing the rust to oxidize (oxygenate) by sealing the rust completely or removing completely, Paint, chrome, vinyl tops, body wraps, all let oxygen in :faint: