# Tired of rock chips: I'm going to powder coat & paint my hood and fenders



## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

When I had the FD I had the fenders powder coated. 

Lucky for me, the black matched very well.

I tried to powder coat the hood, but since it was AL sheetmetal it warped. So I got another hood, painted it and clear bra the entire hood. Cost me $1000 at that time.

The fenders never had a single rock chip after powder coating it. There was no need for clear bra.

Since my GTO is a metallic charcoal black, not a "regular" gloss black I will have to take the fender and hood off to get powder coated (both inside and out for corrosion protection). This will be my base layer or what would normally be the primer.

Then I will have it painted over to match the rest of the car.

My theory is that if the paint is chipped it will not chip to the metal, but instead to the black powder coat, which will be hard to see.

Has anyone done something like this before? Or even just painting over powder?

This will be cheaper than clear bra of the entire hood and fenders. The other anticipated benefit is that paint is harder than clear bra film, so there is less swirl marks from the motion of washing and wiping down the film covered areas.

The bumper cover will get re-painted and clear bra (and Colgan bra for long trips). 

More on this later as things progress.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

bad decision

your chipping problems lay with a bad bodyshop, not your paint. black primer would have done the same thing as powdercoat.....but better


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

from my experience, powder coated finishes are much harder to chip off than any primer and/or paint.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Northeast Rod Run said:


> bad decision
> 
> your chipping problems lay with a bad bodyshop, not your paint. black primer would have done the same thing as powdercoat.....but better


:agree


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

batmans said:


> from my experience, powder coated finishes are much harder to chip off than any primer and/or paint.


I do powdercoating, so I can say with plenty of experience that it is a bad idea in more ways, than I care to take the time to list out here

just a quick thought though........

if powdercoating was such a good idea for bodypanels, don't you think it would be in the mainstream after being available for so many years?

you think there might be a reason it isn't?


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

like heat warpage and bead blasting "dents"?


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Finally got the hood and fender powder coated as the base layer.

Also had the hood vents cut open from underneath to allow more air flow to the blower

Dropping the GTO off tomorrow to get the parts painted.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Just dropped the GTO off with the hood attached, but not aligned since they will be removing it to prep and paint.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

You just made a lot more work for the bodyshop. It takes more effort to prep a powdercoated part, than a painted part. It will be more work for them to make sure the panel is nice enough, so the paint will lay on there evenly. Also if they need to build up any lowspots, they are going to have to grind the powdercoating off the hood in that spot anyway and then they will have to build up the surface with much more filler then they would on a bare metal hood.

To each their own I guess. As long as you're happy that's all that matters


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

10+ years experience with powdercoating here, not a good idea to paint over it.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Northeast Rod Run said:


> You just made a lot more work for the bodyshop. It takes more effort to prep a powdercoated part, than a painted part. It will be more work for them to make sure the panel is nice enough, so the paint will lay on there evenly. Also if they need to build up any lowspots, they are going to have to grind the powdercoating off the hood in that spot anyway and then they will have to build up the surface with much more filler then they would on a bare metal hood.
> 
> To each their own I guess. As long as you're happy that's all that matters


I'd rather deal with the extra work and even orange peel than making yet another insurance claim for rock chips.



ALKYGTO said:


> 10+ years experience with powdercoating here, not a good idea to paint over it.


Why not? Prep work? adhesion?


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

batmans said:


> I'd rather deal with the extra work and even orange peel than making yet another insurance claim for rock chips.


Insurance claim?! For rock chips? How is that happening? According to my Insurance and every other person I have met, it's called normal wear and tear. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if this is the case, everyone would be getting new paint jobs every time a rock chips the paint.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Falco21 said:


> Insurance claim?! For rock chips? How is that happening? According to my Insurance and every other person I have met, it's called normal wear and tear. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if this is the case, everyone would be getting new paint jobs every time a rock chips the paint.


U are partially correct.

However, if a truck, for example was in front of you (or cut you off) and dirt, pebbles, rocks, debris was falling off the truck and you couldn't avoid it since there were cars around u (hitting ur brakes and/or swerving abruptly is dangerous and would be a larger claim for the insurance companies) and your car took a beating then that is considered an "incident" under the comprehensive policy.

I have State Farm and they are very cool and understanding. Off course make sure ur car is detailed prior to presenting the claim since it looks like u actually make an effort to keep the car in the best condition possible. It's like going to a job interview with your "A" game on.

I'm a VERY fussy person and have 2 black cars. I make a claim every other year.

This is not insurance fraud since it's a legit event under the comprehensive policy.

My brother has the Costco insurance (Ameriprise). He bought his RX8 for $11k and made a claim when some 18-wheeler cut him off and chipped up his RX8. he took the truck's license plate and company info down.

He made a claim and was presented a check for $7200. No hassle.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Does this cause your Insurance rate to rise? I have State Farm as well, and making a claim like this, im pretty sure would raise my rate. Also what was your deductible? If I may ask


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Falco21 said:


> Does this cause your Insurance rate to rise? I have State Farm as well, and making a claim like this, im pretty sure would raise my rate. Also what was your deductible? If I may ask


No. I've done 8 claims so far.

It's not a "chargeable" incident. In other words, it's not ur fault that some jerk cuts you off and just pelts you with debris or drive over spilt rocks/pebbles on the freeway and flipping up debris towards you.

But for me, it's just starting to become a hassle to drop the car in the body shop.

I have $0 deductible comp and $250 on collision.

It only costs me less than $10/month from the $500 deductible.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Interesting! I will definitely talk to our agent about this. I have tons of chips that bother the crap out of me.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

If the chips has any rust make sure u use this and then wash and wax over it to keep it from rusting.

this will make the claim look fresh.

Also, make sure all of the chips are under one claim.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

I just always thought rock chips were not covered. So they basically repaint the entire front of the car?


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Rock chips is similar to the other stuff like "Acts of God". 

One of the nice things about having a black car is that you can't just "blend" the paint as if it is a solid white color, for example.

This means that they need to strip and repaint the entire continuous panel.

So if you have a couple of chips in the small corner of ur hood, they will need to pay for the entire hood.

I know people that have chips and either pocketed the $$$ fully or just repainted the parts that's in the worse condition and the rest they pocketed the $$$ difference that they can live with, such as the roof of the GTO.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Ok I'm going to call my agent now and ask about them. So another words, just making sure I'm understanding this, I would not have to pay a deductible since this is considered an "nonchargeable" circumstance? Since it was not my fault that rocks had chipped my paint?


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

If your comp has a deductible then yes they will deduct that amount from the total comprehensive claim.

This is regardless of chargeable or non-chargeable circumstance.

I have ZERO deductible on my coverage.

I have heard that a few people make their deductible $0 and wait a few months to make the claim.

I don't recommend that since that's technically a bit shady if you know what I mean.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

I spoke to my agent and he said that it all depends on my deductible cost and the cost to repaint the part damaged. If say my deductible was $500 and the cost to repaint was $600, it is not worth it to file the claim. Either way though, we would have to pay our deductible which would be $1000. He said this falls under collision not comprehensive.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Did u make a claim already?

Or was this just fact finding?

Ur deductible are a bit high for my flavor.

I would go no higher than $500 deduct.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

No I haven't made a claim. Well my deductible is high because my father raised it in order to save some cash on the lower premium. I'm just going to live with it for now. Although there is a portion near my passenger rear window where the clear coat is fading and turning white, so I spoke to the body shop and they said they will take a look at it and re clear it. Shouldn't be too expensive just to fix that portion. I just don't want it spreading


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Here's a powder coated 911:


















The shop that did my powder coating works with another shop that does all of the painting after the powder coat is applied as a base layer. He was telling me that there was a 993 that was stripped down to the chassis and powder coated black and then painted over. It was used for the track.

It solved his issues with rock chips.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Hood and fenders have been painted over the powder coat.

Looking good so far.

Photos taken with my HTC EVO phone 8MP camera.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

I just got a call that my GTO will be ready this afternoon as early as 2PM pst.

I'll snap pics and then take it directly to the Clear Bra place so they can do just the front bumper and side mirrors.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)




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## ROBSGTO (Jul 6, 2008)

batmans said:


>


Very nice man!


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## Zdeuce4 (Dec 3, 2010)

lol all those people that said its a bad idea and then you get it done. looks really good to me.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Zdeuce4 said:


> lol all those people that said its a bad idea and then you get it done. looks really good to me.


A new paint job is going to look good. The test will be how well it handles stone chips in the future. For that we'll have to wait and see.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

Zdeuce4 said:


> lol all those people that said its a bad idea and then you get it done. looks really good to me.


Yea, I was surprised to see the large amounts of nay-sayers.

As far as expense is concern, it was cheaper as a matter of fact. 

The traditional paint options that my body shop that does ultra high end cars was to spend $200 to have the rock chipped paint chemically stripped from the hood.

Then they would need to primer the hood.

Just to powder coat the hood (both sides and cut away the hood scoop baffles) was only $200.

There was no extra charge from my body shop to run a sander over the powder coated surface so that the finish paint can adhere to it.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

svede1212 said:


> A new paint job is going to look good. The test will be how well it handles stone chips in the future. For that we'll have to wait and see.


So far I've taking the GTO in a freeway drive for about 20 miles.

After hearing a few rocks hit the car I inspected it and no visible chips where the metal is exposed.

If there was any paint that was chipped off from the powder coat it was hard to tell given that both are very close in color.

I can already see where the clear bra saved the front bumper already.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

ROBSGTO said:


> Very nice man!


Thanks.

I like the matte black painted grills.

I should have had the "GTO" painted black too for a more stealth look.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

UPDATE: I'm 100% happy with the results.

I heard the rocks hit, but when I detail the GTO I don't see a single rock chip.


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