Question: Powder Coat vs Clear Coat

[Reed]

I'm buying a polished throttle body soon but I don't really want to maintain the polishing. The first thing that came to my mind was to paint it clear so all I have to do is spray it down with the rest of the engine bay when I clean.

Can you get some powder coated clear?
Will the powder coat dull the shine?
Would it be better to have it clear coated with paint?
And finally, should I just forget paint, stop being a lazy ass and maintain the polish...?

Any help is appreciated, thanks guys!

 

[Mustang5L5]

Clear coat sometimes yellows with heat.

Powdercoat is an insulator and traps heat inside.

I dopn't think i've ever seen clear powdercoat though

 

[Reed]

No clear powdercoat eh? I was worried about that, but thought it must be possible.

I don't really want to trap heat... Even if the clearcoat was a high temp paint would it still yellow or is it hard to say?

Sounds like I'll just have to keep up the polish the good 'ol way...

 

[caseywan]

No clear powdercoat eh? I was worried about that, but thought it must be possible.

I don't really want to trap heat... Even if the clearcoat was a high temp paint would it still yellow or is it hard to say?

Sounds like I'll just have to keep up the polish the good 'ol way...

They do have a clear powdercoat you can get that pretty much looks exactly like a clear coat but much stronger. In fact, most powdercoating shops put a clear powdercoat on after powdercoating with a color because they say it really helps with the strength and longevity of the overall powdercoat.

I personally have never heard of powdercoating yellowing with heat, cause people will get their entire engine blocks powdercoated. Almost all aftermarket intake manifolds are powdercoated with a clear powdercoat overtop and I have never seen or heard of them yellowing. I don't know though, maybe when it's just a clear powdercoat by itself it can yellow.

Probably the best thing to do would be to call a local reputable auto paint supply shop and talk to a guy there that knows his stuff. Usually all the guys really know their stuff and could probably point you in the right direction.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I said clearcoat as in clearcoat paint tends to yellow....not powdercoating.

 

[caseywan]

I said clearcoat as in clearcoat paint tends to yellow....not powdercoating.

Ok gotcha, misread your post.