Powdercoating GM Aluminum Valve Covers - Hard-Candy Shell
| candy Powdercoating coated
We're all pretty familiar with the powdercoating, right? It's that bitchin' process where colored powder, which is basically paint in a dry form, is electrically bonded to a truck part and then baked on in an oven. It's a simple, clean, effective, and certainly durable way to coat your custom truck parts without the mess of regular paint or the hassle of chrome-plating. Think of it as a yummy and colorful hard-candy shell for your stuff that is available in nearly any color or finish you can dream up. We were curious how long the process takes and what goes on once our parts are deliverd to a powdercoater, so we hung out at Endless Powdercoating in Corona, California, with the company's owner, Steele, who gave us an in-depth tour and explanation.
We brought a pair of cast-aluminum GM Performance Parts aluminum valve covers along for coating. The parts came from our local Chevy dealer with a black powdercoated wrinkle finish, which looks fine on a race car, but had nowhere near the amount of flash we were after. After consulting Steele's color charts, we picked out a metallic-blue hue and headed into the shop. This color is just one of many multi-coat effects, such as pearls and candy colors, that are available. Because we chose a color that required two separate coatings, the process took a bit longer than normal. Still, the entire coating session lasted just 4 hours, and 2-1/2 of those hours were spent with the parts cooling off afterward. Check it out.
