Tech session on powdercoating
King Coatings
940 N 8th St., Allentown, Pa.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005


Our May club meeting was held at King Coatings, a powder coating business in Allentown run by John Karpyn. John and his assistant, Steve Roth, went through the process, showing members of the club how powder coating is applied to metal. There were 17 club members and also some members from the British Car Club of Lehigh Valley in attendance.

The process is to clean the article of any paint or contaminents either by sand blasting or chemical removal. It is then washed with another chemical bath, left to dry and than coated with the powder in any variety of colors. The part is than placed in their large oven and baked at around 400º F. Should the part have been sand blasted, it may require a second coating in order to fill in any small imperfections. The parts that were done for the group as an example came out of the oven looking just great, just like mom’s apple pie!
Steve showed the group all of the colors that were available. If you have a certain color in mind you’ll have no problem, as any shade under the rainbow is available. (Although he did say that if you need something in black or white, the turn-around time would be much quicker due to the other colors having to be shipped.)

He also explained about the hardness factor of powder coating as compared to having something painted. Powder coating is practically invincible – you could strike it with a hammer and not chip it. Many of the parts waiting to be powder coated were frames for motorcycles, which before powder coating may have been worth a few hundred dollars but afterwards were worth several thousands and had to be locked away.

The club adjourned (not really, just left), and a group of us went to the Ritz for ice cream and other goodies. It was a very enjoyable and informative night.

King Coatings is located at 940 N 8th St. in Allentown. For more information, call (610) 435-1212 or go to www.kingcoatings.com.

01- Learning about powdercoating at King Coatings
02- Mike Jones, left, asks a question
03- All colors are available
04- Preparing a wheel for powdercoating
05- John Karpyn, owner of King Coatings
06- The massive oven where things get baked
07- How many British car owners fit in the oven?

The Keystone Region MG Club, Inc., is incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a non-profit organization run solely by volunteers to promote interest in and help foster the preservation of MGs and other British motor cars.

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