J

John Sweeny

I'm New Here
Has anyone painted over the powder coating on the vans roll bar and canopy frame for the 8...the gray just is not working for me. if i don't paint it, i am considering having them sand blasted and recoated in a different color by a local powder coating company. if I go that route, what should I expectto pay???

I have been lurking in the corners of this site for years waiting for the time i could finally get serious with my build...the time is now. I have really appreciated all the collective knowledge here...i am sure i will have a hiundred questins as i really get into this.

John sweeny
RV8 QB
 
I believe I read that all you have to do is scuff the powder coat finish, prime, and paint. This is what I plan to do unless someone advises otherwise.
 
Done that!

I didn't like the color so I sanded it all and cleaned it with thinner and painted it with PPG Concept. So far, So good! Looks good too :)
 
I've scuffed the powder coat and painted a textured black--Rustoleum--that has held up really well through the build process. By using textured it is very easily touch-up-able in the future. That said, once Rustoleum cures it has proved pretty tough stuff, not only on the roll bar and canopy frame, but also throughout the entire inside fuselage. It's been 3 years since I painted the fuselage and multiple tool drops later, it too still looks great.
 
alpinelakespilot2000 said:
once Rustoleum cures it has proved pretty tough stuff, not only on the roll bar and canopy frame, but also throughout the entire inside fuselage. It's been 3 years since I painted the fuselage and multiple tool drops later, it too still looks great.
Click to expand...
Steve - funny you should mention this because I jsut went to Lowes Aircraft Supply and bought 3 cans of this exaxt paint (textured black, textured bronze, textured grey, and their "clean metal primer).

My thought was to paint the rollbar / canopy frame and the top of the forward skin (about the panel) with the black, and then use one of the other colors for the rest of the interior.

Did you have to prime with this? Some parts of mine are primed with 7220, and some are bare. I was going to try some test pieces. How long does it take to really cure?
 
Paint it is

OK I am painting, i like the idea of the textured paint, there are a couple of other things in the cockpit that will end up black as well, and textured would work great.


thanks

John Sweeny
RV8 QB
 
Dont be afraid to sand it good and check the original prep.

John Sweeny said:
OK I am painting, i like the idea of the textured paint, there are a couple of other things in the cockpit that will end up black as well, and textured would work great.


thanks

John Sweeny
RV8 QB
Click to expand...

Since the paint is cured, I believe the only bonding you will get is mechanical, so sand it well. If you are texturing it will hide your scratches anyway. Now is a good time to make sure the original powder coating is not hiding any adhesion issues. It is very common, although less now than in the past, for the prep to be not so good. Powder coating will flow and bridge over a bad area in the prep job, especially in corners and on welds. You cant see it until it flakes off down the line.
Take an awl and poke and prod in the corners and around the welds to make sure the base powder coat is solid. If anything flakes off, strip it or sand out the bad areas.
 
IowaRV9Dreamer said:
Steve - funny you should mention this because I jsut went to Lowes Aircraft Supply and bought 3 cans of this exaxt paint (textured black, textured bronze, textured grey, and their "clean metal primer).

Did you have to prime with this? Some parts of mine are primed with 7220, and some are bare. I was going to try some test pieces. How long does it take to really cure?
Click to expand...
Dave,
My textuered Rustoleum is black and has the outdoor furniture pictured on the can. I know they also had dark green, but I'm not sure if they had other colors or not.

I believe I primed over the scuffed powdercoat first. I've used both 7220 and also Rustoleum primer under it and haven't noticed any difference with adhesion issues.

Dry to the touch and handling within 24 hours, but I've noticed that a full cure can take up to a couple weeks depending on temperature.

For the interior of the plane I used Rustoleum Professional "Stainless Steel" color--it too has a bit of texture making touch up a breeze.
 
Last edited:
paint over powder coat

I have done this on two RVs and just did it again last weekend on the new RV8. Like PaulK, I used PPG Concepts paint each time. It is as hard as nails and lasts forever.
I just use some 320 grit sand paper to take the shine off of the powder coat and clean it really good with denatured alcohol, then paint over that. I did this to all of the rol bars, canopy frame and brake pedal parts, etc. I also use this paint for the entire interior and it wears really well. I have not had any wear issues with it at all. (The RV6 had 900 hrs and the interior still looked great.)
I wouldn't recommend rattle can paint since I haven't seen any that will hold up as well as a paint with hardener in it. The best rattle can paint would probably be some kind of epoxy paint, which I have used with some success on different things.
If you don't have a spray gun, you can take the pieces to any body shop and they will spray it for you, probably cheaper than you think. Additionally, this paint can be sanded and buffed to a high gloss shine if you do decide to paint it and get some areas that get dust or imperfections in it.
Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.