Ok, so the powder coating story continues here. Just to catch you up in case this is the only thread you read
,
I’ve decided to forego spray painting my frame and powder coat it instead, for reasons too numerous to go through again.
After being informed that my VIN sticker would not survive the powder coating process, the first thing I wanted to do was to try and save my original sticker! I could get a duplicate made, but they’re OUCH! Pricey.
So I snuck into the Mrs. beauty supply closet and grabbed her blow drier and headed out to the garage.
It really wasn’t hard at all to heat the decal up and remove it, it came off 100% intact.
I could reattach this to my finished frame if I really want to, I haven’t decided what I’m going to do just yet.
I was trying to figure out if Arizona had some sort of legal requirement to have them on the frame and this led to a
“Who’s on first? “ kind of phone call with a woman who worked for the dept of motor vehicles.
I explained to her what I was doing and then asked,
Me: Is it required to have the VIN sticker as long as I have the original stamped VIN numbers on the frame?
Her: Let me go check ( gone about 10 minutes)
Her: The VIN number has to be visible on the frame
Me: Oh, I know. What I need to know is, am I required to have the sticker also? The VIN is already stamped on the frame.
Her: It has to show, you can’t put a sticker over it.
Me: No, what I’m saying is the number is duplicated. It’s stamped on the frame AND it’s also on the VIN sticker.
Do I have to have both?
Her: It has to show, you can not put a sticker over it. ( Talking to me slow now, like I’m a slow witted child)
Me: Thanks ( Click)
Time to go to the powder coater. This place is in a really dodgy neighborhood, but it gets stellar reviews. The owner was this really nice old guy who promised me no disappointments. He prides himself on his workmanship and prep and said he does not want me cussing him when I go to reassemble my frame. He also surprised me by saying he does all of custom bike builders Paul Yaffe, and Iron Horse Choppers work as well as a number of custom car builders in the valley as well as race car builders and high end exotic sports car dealerships here in Arizona.
He took me in the back and gave me the ten cent tour , which I thought was kinda nice.
Here he is taking a photo of my VIN and also a side photo of it. These were later copied right to my work order.
Here is their curing oven.
I was asking him a little about their process and he told me it would be chemically degreased, then media blasted with iron oxide, then powder coated with a single stage gloss black. With any luck I’ll have it back before Christmas.
Man.....I get that frame back and I’m gonna have to do some
REAL work!
Till next time,
Bob
Get her all new towels! She'll be happy, and you get all the "old" ones for the garage. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
