Hello all. I'm a new member, but not new to the forum. I have read this
forum for a long time. Now that I'm starting get "hands on" my motor
I figure I better become a member to ask a few questions

I wanted to get my Intake powder coated, and the shop guy that does the coating, said the intake needed to be polished so the coating would be smooth . I kinda feel like he's pulling my chain. I have heard of some guys here getting their intakes done, and never mentioning about having their
intake polished. They even talked about how BAD *** it came out.

I did debur my intake from flash. But I still don't think I need it polished first.
So do I need to go somewhere else?? I want it black

1995 LT1 M6 T/A THANKS ALL

 

I've never heard of anyone polishing thier intake before powder coating it. That would be a lot of extra work for nothing.

 

I agree 100%.

 

From what one of my instructors at wyotech says, the surface should be at least roughed up w/180 grit sandpaper to help the coating stick, but this guy knows a lot about bodywork and not too much about paint and powdercoat, but I don't think I would polish it first.

 

you want to prep the metal by sanding it... Sand blasting is pretty cool for this. maybe he ment to say sand.... but the maruijuana he smoked 10 minutes before you arrived made him say polish.

 

When it comes to technical jargon, some people are more **** than others. Technically, when it comes to metals, polishing is the step involving abrasives. Some people make a distinction between polishing (sanding) and buffing. This guy may have been one of them. You were probably thinking he meant you needed to have your intake (buffed) mirror smooth before he could powder coat it, when in reality all he was probably saying was that he wanted to sand out the rough cast to an even surface so the powder coat wouldn't come out having that "oatmeal" look to it. Ask him for a clarification on this.

Now, if it turns out he really DID mean that he needed to polish the intake to a mirror smooth finish before he could powder coat it, then it's time to find another powder coater. He either A: is trying to make the project look like there's ALOT more labor involved than there actually is to get more money out of you, or B: has no idea that a powder coat job won't adhere to a mirror smooth surface for any reasonable length of time.

 

There's a big distinction between sanding and polishing. It's not the type of mistake you would want to make often, although one thing can lead to the other, but I think this guy just got his words mixed up.

 

I have a powdercoating shop and it doesn't need to be polished. It would come out nicer if it were smoothe but on rough cast intakes I put it a little thicker and it comes out nice. It won't be totally smoothe but none are and you only see the top of the intake when it's on the car. I just did my used LT4 intake and it came out awesome (red) with the tops polished and cleared. I have a shop in Lafayette, La so if you are not too far shoot me a PM. Later Clint

 

to give u an idea

heres a shot of my intake my buddy did .. we didnt sand it at all- just baked before to get the oils out of metal. came out pretty smoother than i thought.

its dirty in the pic from polisihing the rails, hence the white **** to right of TB

but that should give u an idea

 

kingman109, when your photo first started loading up I thought you had power coated your intake green. Good job though.

 

Bob Noble at Noble Coatings in Illinois - can't say enough about this guy.

 

If you polish the intake first you'll likely have problems, now or later. Obviously the casting marks should be smoothed first, but as stated above, no polishing is needed. Also, any sharp/rough corners should be smoothed. Sharp edges or corners will look like crap if you don't round off the edges. Powder will smooth out a rough surface, but if it's too rough you'll see it in the finished product. An LT1 intake should only take a few minutes w/ a DA sander or die grinder to prep for coating. (in addition to baking the oil/grease/etc. off of the intake) BTW, gloss black powders will show more flaws than most other colors...just something to keep in mind if you're going for perfection.
When using powder, you can get away w/ a slightly rough surface, but ceramic coatings require the surface to be smooth as possible, but NOT polished.

 

I agree, I've had alot of stuff powder coated by him and it is all very nice.

 

I would think that the smoother it is the better. I have the slp intake and a stb powder coated and I can still see the welds. if it was smoother then it would look better. I'm not saying polish it to a mirror, but sanding the burs off wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

dont know about u but my factory manifold has no burs or welds