if i were to powder coat... how clean does it need to be

[Guest dutch]

im about to powder coat my intake manifold and my valve cover. its not grimy but its not super clean either. there are some dirt marks on it. is this clean enough to just powder caot as is, or do i need to clean it all up.

[BLUNT]

im not sure how all powdercoaters operate but the guy i use allows you to bead blast your own stuff before bringing it in or he will beadblast it for you. because i just feel better doing it myself and i have the equiptment i always do it myself. im sure its no different than any job you do. your prepwork will determine the quality of job you end up with. the fact youre questioning it should tell you it prolly needs a little more work. take the extra time and do it right so youre satisfied. its not a pleasant job and you dont want to have to do it over

[Guest dutch]

im going to do it all in my shop class, thats why i neded the advise, because im not a professional

[BLUNT]

im going to do it all in my shop class, thats why i neded the advise, because im not a professional

nice, then you have all the right equiptment. heres how some of my stuff looked just before i sent it in.

[Guest dutch]

is that after you sandblasted it , did you do anything else to it?

[BLUNT]

nope, just threw it in my truck and took it to the powdercoaters

[esty]

very clean...like the pic's blunt posted

[Guest dutch]

but instead of cleaning it extensively could i just sand blast it?

[BillWilliams]

bare metal like Blunts. Even oily finger prints may cause flaking in the long term.

I wear latex gloves and clean with Marine clean from POR before I powdercoat anything.

If in doubt I bake the piece first while in bare metal allowing oil to raise out of the metal, clean again with Marine clean cool then powder coat.

Some oily parts, manifolds, valve covers, etc. benefit from this pre bake

[John_in_VA]

after beadblasting the parts. It's ALL about prep!

[slash02]

im about to powder coat my intake manifold and my valve cover. its not grimy but its not super clean either. there are some dirt marks on it. is this clean enough to just powder caot as is, or do i need to clean it all up.

I would have it cleaned and bead blasted or wirebrushed. I did mine in a gloss and it appears the shop re-prepped it anyway. Talk to your powdercoater and see what kind of prep they require. If you prep it (degrease/wirebrush) yourself, you may save money, they may just prep it as part of the initial powdercoating.