Powder coating & water dipping

[H0ndaBr0s]

Bike looking better after some powder coating & water dipped plastics

[ricksax]

Very nice. Was the tank coated inside with one of the tank sealants? Or does the powder coat extend inside? Inquiring minds want to know.

[rpcraft]

You can't really powder coat inside many things like you are thinking. The Faraday effect starts to mess with the electrostatic adhesion. Great looking work if that is powder on the tank though. I've been thinking about doing mine but still trying to figure out if I want to himhaw around with decals on the finish or not.

[Yoshihns]

Parts look great.

[nt650hawk]

looking good

[rpcraft]

I'm just curious on the stickers. Looks like there were all applied over the powder coat, correct?

[H0ndaBr0s]

Very nice. Was the tank coated inside with one of the tank sealants? Or does the powder coat extend inside? Inquiring minds want to know.

Yes. After the tank was acid dipped and vapour blasted, it was power coated 1st as this needs 200c to bake, then immediately after, tank was flushed out and tank sealant applied.

[H0ndaBr0s]

I'm just curious on the stickers. Looks like there were all applied over the powder coat, correct?

Yes. I found an excellent seller of stickers (After a few that were rubbish!) online. Haven't over sealed them with lacquer but they are super sticky so should stay on

[rpcraft]

I have an older Honda sticker I liked on a past Hawk and finding a duplicate of it has been a challenge as well, lol.

[H0ndaBr0s]

I have an older Honda sticker I liked on a past Hawk and finding a duplicate of it has been a challenge as well, lol.

There are a few places i've seen online that will make up vinyl stickers to your spec. Not tried them myself but might help.....

[DrPMC]

Bike looking better after some powder coating & water dipped plastics

Those results look great!

What are the costs for getting the water dipping done?

I'm guessing that the tank has to be structurally sound for the powder coating to work? Like many, my bike's tank has a lot of rust holes at the bottom that have been sealed up with an internal coating (POR-15) - I'm guessing that if this has to be removed by or for the preparation for the coating then the powder won't cover those holes? I suppose it may be practical to braze or solder over the pin holes. For some time, I've been mulling the possibility of making a carbon fibre tank - perhaps I better get on with it!

[H0ndaBr0s]

Those results look great!

What are the costs for getting the water dipping done?

I'm guessing that the tank has to be structurally sound for the powder coating to work? Like many, my bike's tank has a lot of rust holes at the bottom that have been sealed up with an internal coating (POR-15) - I'm guessing that if this has to be removed by or for the preparation for the coating then the powder won't cover those holes? I suppose it may be practical to braze or solder over the pin holes. For some time, I've been mulling the possibility of making a carbon fibre tank - perhaps I better get on with it!

You're half right. The powder coating process requires the object to be submerged in a warm acid tank which will remove any previous paint (and internal rust &/or tank lining) before it is vapor blasted before powder coating. So yes it's all bare metal primed but no, can't fix holes!

The water4 dipping was £75 for all the plastics (Fender, radiator shrouds, rear frame plastics) which is cheaper than painting plus it gets 3 coats of lacquer on top included

[rpcraft]

OK, Sorry for the book but there is some info I want to get out so you can make a better decision in regards to what you should do for a finish on a tank.

Powder related...

Make sure you take your tank to someone that really knows how to deal with a rusty tank I guess is all I am saying. You could go from a functional tank to a holy relic in a real short time.

If you have a terribly rusty tank, do everything to remove and convert the rust in the tank before you take it to a powder coater but do not line it before powder coating it. Some of the strippers powder coaters use have a combination of Nitric and hydroflouric acid in them and if left in too long they will just eat the metal and organic material such as oxides (AKA rust)... They do not convert rust. Powder coating requires heating the tank to around 400 F for about 10 to 15 minutes per layer so your liner will have to go in last.

Holes in your tank can be mended with JB weld, Welding, and lead. Powder coat will not adhere to body filler so there's the crux of bodyworking. Your powder finish will reflect how much effort you put into that tank shape even if you use a matte color. Essentially your tank has to be perfectly prepared in metal before you can apply any color on it, so you better make arrangements with someone who has the level of patience and skill to get that part done because I doubt a powder coater will want to do it, but if they do agree make sure they are planning on fixing the dents and dings. They'll probably revise your price, but it will look like hell if they do not.

The best thing to do is discuss the problems with your tank with the powder coater first, before you remove any paint and come up with a battle plan for each phase of what you need to do. You might even want to pull it off, take it to him, and let him see it. There is a high chance if it is too frail or banged up they will tell you no, so just fair warning. I've turned people away with steel wheels because they were too rusty to a point where I feel I could get involved in a laibility/safety issue if I were to put them back on the road knowing how much material was removed during stripping and sand blasting.

Mostly there won't be a traditional primer on your tank until it is ready to be coated so plan accordingly on how to deal with flash rust if you are doing things on your own at different stages.

Wet blasting/vapor blasting is going to be the best for a non destructive outside finish removal in the long run, so if you take it to someone and all they want to do is strip dip it or sand blast it I would ask more questions.

Water dipping -
again, stateside, it is referred to as Water transfer graphics and Hydro-dipping.

For whatever reason in the US it's a little more expensive as well. Not sure what the conversion rate is but last time I had some parts done it was a headlight bucket and one of Fabi's rear huggers and it cust me 150 USD. Maybe I was just in an area where the guy could charge what he wanted though, lol.

The visual material is essentially a very thin overlay that floats on water, but I think they print it so it is possible to color match your powdered items (I am not 100 % sure on that process though).
I'm hoping so otherwise color matching a powder coated item might not be very easy compared to paint matching. Just food for thought.

In either case, you will probably want to powder your metal parts and then have the hydro-dipper/painter/vinyl color match that powder coated object.

Just including the process descriptions and names so you can search your local area's for their services.

[DrPMC]

OK, Sorry for the book but there is some info I want to get out so you can make a better decision in regards to what you should do for a finish on a tank.

Powder related...

Make sure you take your tank to someone that really knows how to deal with a rusty tank I guess is all I am saying. You could go from a functional tank to a holy relic in a real short time.

If you have a terribly rusty tank, do everything to remove and convert the rust in the tank before you take it to a powder coater but do not line it before powder coating it. Some of the strippers powder coaters use have a combination of Nitric and hydroflouric acid in them and if left in too long they will just eat the metal and organic material such as oxides (AKA rust)... They do not convert rust. Powder coating requires heating the tank to around 400 F for about 10 to 15 minutes per layer so your liner will have to go in last.

Holes in your tank can be mended with JB weld, Welding, and lead. Powder coat will not adhere to body filler so there's the crux of bodyworking. Your powder finish will reflect how much effort you put into that tank shape even if you use a matte color. Essentially your tank has to be perfectly prepared in metal before you can apply any color on it, so you better make arrangements with someone who has the level of patience and skill to get that part done because I doubt a powder coater will want to do it, but if they do agree make sure they are planning on fixing the dents and dings. They'll probably revise your price, but it will look like hell if they do not.

The best thing to do is discuss the problems with your tank with the powder coater first, before you remove any paint and come up with a battle plan for each phase of what you need to do. You might even want to pull it off, take it to him, and let him see it. There is a high chance if it is too frail or banged up they will tell you no, so just fair warning. I've turned people away with steel wheels because they were too rusty to a point where I feel I could get involved in a laibility/safety issue if I were to put them back on the road knowing how much material was removed during stripping and sand blasting.

Mostly there won't be a traditional primer on your tank until it is ready to be coated so plan accordingly on how to deal with flash rust if you are doing things on your own at different stages.

Wet blasting/vapor blasting is going to be the best for a non destructive outside finish removal in the long run, so if you take it to someone and all they want to do is strip dip it or sand blast it I would ask more questions.

Water dipping -
again, stateside, it is referred to as Water transfer graphics and Hydro-dipping.

For whatever reason in the US it's a little more expensive as well. Not sure what the conversion rate is but last time I had some parts done it was a headlight bucket and one of Fabi's rear huggers and it cust me 150 USD. Maybe I was just in an area where the guy could charge what he wanted though, lol.

The visual material is essentially a very thin overlay that floats on water, but I think they print it so it is possible to color match your powdered items (I am not 100 % sure on that process though).
I'm hoping so otherwise color matching a powder coated item might not be very easy compared to paint matching. Just food for thought.

In either case, you will probably want to powder your metal parts and then have the hydro-dipper/painter/vinyl color match that powder coated object.

Just including the process descriptions and names so you can search your local area's for their services.

Thank you for the expert information, which is very helpful.

I do wonder if I should aim to make a carbon fibre tank and then have the fibreglass single seat seat unit (Fabian) and belly pan (similar) water dipped to match. Given that tanks are so fragile by this point in time this may be the best option. I do actually have a new tank in a box - I got it as part of an insurance payout after a no fault smash up years ago - but don’t fancy spoiling it. Mad really, it will probably go onto the pyre with the rest of my stuff in the end…

[rpcraft]

I figure if you have a good tank that can be painted or powder coated that is best. If it gets damaged while powder coating I would hate for that to be the reason you switch to the new one. If you are at the point where it is a goner then I would just switch to the new one and keep the old one for the sake of making a mold perhaps?