Are powdercoated enclosures suitable for additional painting/clearcoating?

[80k]

I'm considering getting powdercoated enclosures from PedalPartsPlus, and then doing additional paintwork (with brushes or spraypaint or markers, etc, and ordinary clear coat).

Is this suitable practice? I'd just like to have powdercoated enclosures so that I can avoid having to sand, clean, prime, and initial base coat. It'll save time, and likely be more durable and better quality, and well worth the few extra bucks for me.

Will there be problems with using ordinary paints and clearcoats on a pre-powdercoated enclosure?

[Barcode80]

That depends. If your powder coat is a gloss finish (as most are on ppp) then it will work, but won't be durable. paint just doesn't stick as well to a glossy base. That being said, It's still doable and you can get some great results. Just make sure you clear coat the crap out of it.

[80k]

That depends. If your powder coat is a gloss finish (as most are on ppp) then it will work, but won't be durable. paint just doesn't stick as well to a glossy base. That being said, It's still doable and you can get some great results. Just make sure you clear coat the crap out of it.

Cool, thanks for the info. I know that PPP has some satin white finish, so maybe i'll go for that over the glossy base. I'll give it a try and be sure to be liberal with the clear coat!

[MikeH]

I've never had a problem using testors or sharpie paint markers on top of the powder coat.

[bassmannate]

I know guys who restore vintage bikes who do this all the time. They'll get bikes powder coated and then put decals on. After that, they hit it with a few coats of clear paint to protect the decals. Shouldn't be a problem but the clear will chip more easily than the powder coat underneath.

[Mark Hammer]

Depends where you put the additional paint.  Personally, I would avoid having anything that a) is painted over the edges of the box, and b) is likely to undergo lots of contact.  So, where you step is probably a little riskier than an area adjacent to a knob.  If you reduce the odds of it being accidentally chipped or rubbed with a shoe that has a piece of gravel stuck in it, then it should be fine.

[80k]

great, thanks for the suggestion. I can focus on doing painting in the middle and knob areas, and leave the stomping area and sides alone. That sounds like a good way to go.