Paint or powder coat
 

Some of the pulleys on my engine are getting rusty and I think they are cutting into my belts. I talked to some people and they say to have them bead blasted. One person said to paint the pulleys because powdercoat will be too slick and cause the belt to slip. The other said to powdercoat because it will fill in the voids in the pully. Which is correct? I was thinking I like the powdercoat idea better. Or would it be cheaper and easier to buy new pulleys?

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

if they are alum, have them anodized

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Not aluminum but thanks anyway. Did you buy Ike's boat yet?

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Just get these...forget the hassle of dealing with the paint/powdercoat. When it's time for mine, this is the way I'll go...

http://www.eddiemarine.com/cart/cata...ryName=Pulleys

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

My engine in a 5.8L Volvo. I have tried to locate billet pulleys without any success but I did email eddiemarine with hopes they have them. Thanks for the link.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Aluminum doesn't rust. :)

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

ttt

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Rob, I believe that most of the colored billet aluminum pulleys are powdercoated rather than anodized. I don't see any risk to it. If they do slip, RAddiction can strip it right off. Let me know if you want me to do them over the winter, and what color you want.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

jeez...chuck i didn't realize you got into the powdercoating business....lol :p

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

I'd prefer painting over powder coating. Much easier and less expensive to refinish. Especially if your running salt water eventually the powder coating will fail. As with powder coating you'll need to media blast for prep. Epoxy primer & top coated in Imron.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

if prepped right powder coat will not fail

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it s on i10 should be here in 3/4 hours :D

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All it takes is a scratch or nick & corrodes from the inside out.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

There are several types of powder coating - UV cured and thermally cured. The difference is the catalyst used in the material.
As a very general statement, the "grippability" (actually induced friction) of the pulley to belt can probably be characterized best by referring to the P hardness factor - ASTM03363 or such - its been a while so dont hold me to that. The normal hardness factor would be about 2-4 for something such as a chrome plating. The numbers for powder and paint are very similar and a magnitude of 2 or 3 diff from chrome (which I would expect would be one of the less desireable choices).
I know the UV tends to have higher friction numbers than the thermally cured but still in the same ballparkof each other as well as paint.

Obviously, the condition of your pulleys come into play - powder usually fills more voids than paint but I doubt you could tell much difference between paint and powder given a good initial surface.
Why not try one pulley each way and see the results. Also would allow you to test for corrossion to salt as mentioned above or any other anomolies.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

thats why you use a primer.......last time i checked if you nick paint it rusts too? :evilb:

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:D
USE ZINC PRIMER AND YOU WILL BE FINE

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Thanks to everyone for the help. Chuck I forgot you have the powdercoat shop in the garage. I think it would be great if you could do that for me. At the end of the season I'll get everything up to you and maybe later we could sit around and get $hitty on Dianne's wine!!!

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So in a nut shell you are saying not much defference in grippage between paint and powder?

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

agreed...

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Many years ago I did salt spray corrosion testing with steel in a controlled laboratory situation. The power coating did not hold up as well as paint, and I recall it was due to the porosity of the power coating being greater than paint. Perhaps powder coating procedures have changed, and this is no longer true (but worth checking into).

Michael

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

correct - of course YMMV

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Rust no, corrosion=yes.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Absolutely it will. BUT if you use zinc chromate first it will prevent the rust from spreading. Nothing will last forever. It's just easier to refinish when it does fail.

Re: Paint or powder coat
 

Call march hi-performance, I did that and they set me rite up. I needed over sized pulleys to slow everything down. Brian

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I do know that if the pc does chip, it starts coming off in rather large chunks. At least it did on my swim platform, which I'm sure was pc'd at the factory. I paint it where it comes off, and you really can't tell the difference.

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Hey Rob.....Just buy my boat..... :D

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I'll trade you straight up :D

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Not sure if that will fly.........gotta ask the wife. :rolleyes: