Just pulled my buggy from the hauler to get an early start on some pre season prep, and WHAT THE !!!!!!!
looks like a clear over the powder coat is starting to bubble up all over the frame. There was some flaking and bubbles last season but know it just looks like crap on my bad ass buggy. How long is the clear suppose to last over powder anyways. Last thing I want to do before the season is break down my buggy to fix all this. Ya I'm anal about my toys.

if it was done at a good shop they will warranty their work

That is not suppose to happen. I've had my powder coat on my rhino for almost 4 years now, and it has not bubbled like that. Now chips are another issue, LOL. But seriously Tom, take that back to the powder coater, you should only get some chips or scratches from use, not bubbling like that.

I don't think it should be doing that. Good luck though. My friend is going through this same issue right now. The powder coater agreed to repowder the frame but wanted to charge him to burn off the old stuff to the tune of several hundred bucks.
Hope the powder coater takes care of you.

Do you mind me asking who did the powder coat? I have a friend who had the same thing happen to his buggy a few years back. I suggested a shop, but he found a cheaper place and went with his choice. I assembled the car for him and I was not impressed with the quality when he first brought it home. But it was his car and he seemed to be happy with it. Within a year his cars paint was showing foggy spots and flaking like the car pictured above.

First thing the Powder Coat shop said was that they could tell he stored the car outside and it was the elements that caused the flaking. When he told them he has a whole garage behind his house where all his toys are kept and he could prove it, they came up with another possible reason it happened. The guy told him that some of the newer colors like metallic's dont hold up and this sometimes happens. Not buying into there excuses he requested the owner come out and take a look. The owner came out and looked at the car and then told him they might have had a bad batch of powder or the prep on the frame might not have been done right. At this point he offered to re-powder coat the car, but same as Throttle Junkies friend they wanted my friend to cover the stripping costs.

My friend agreed that it was no problem to pay for the stripping costs, but they were going to cover 75% of the cost to tear his car down and to re-assemble it, as he had paid me to assemble and prep his car for him. He asked me to give him a quote. Well after my several thousand dollar quote to tear down and reassemble (I was not inflating the price either!) the owner of the powder coat shop wanted nothing to do with my friend and quit retuning his phone calls and was never at the shop when asked if he was there.

So off to small claims court he went. Before court he went to two other reputable shops that have been in business a long time. He got quotes and there expert advise as how long the paint should have lasted and what might have happened. He ended up winning his court case the was able to re-coop about 85% of what it cost him disassemble, strip, re-paint and re-assemble the car. I believe he had Powder 1 or redo the powder coat and the quality was 10X better then the first job.

BTW the powder coat only had the foggy and flaking issues on the frame. The suspension parts and body panels were totally fine and did not need to be redone. And to this day they have the same powder coat on them with no issues.

I will get with SCU and ask Don who does there work. If the powder coat CO has as much integrity and great customer service as Don at SCU, I dont think they will have a problem helping me out. Fingers crossed anyways. I bought this SCU from OB. Powder was fine then, buggy was almost new and hardly used. I guess my full season in the sun and sand got the ball rolling.

That's not clear tape over the PC?

If not I'd get with the original owner and chew him a new ass

Mike I was thinking the same thing

looks like the protective tape i have used on my bars as well - we call it body panel protection tape - you get it from speedway and places like that
it looked way to thick for clear
if its tape its easy to tell, grab a corner and pull up it will be stretch and tapelike
if it just flakes a piece off and cracks between your fingers, its probably clear...

this is 100% ob's fault......... i would call him and make him pull the car apart and pay to have in redone.
























j/k. seriously if the car was built buy scu they should make the powder coater redo the car and take care of the labor too.

if you dont have no luck with that there is a guy who is a very good painter that touches up alot of cars when changes are made or accidents happen. his name is chris 909-821-3856. supposed to be the best around.
scu and the powder coater should stand behind there product (like many of us do in our profesions) but worst case give him a call and let him do his magic, then put some clear vinyl over it to protect it. it will be alot better route then paiying to have your car taken apart, paying for sandblast and bake,paying for powder coat, paying for assembly.

imho the best powder coater is inland powdercoat in ontario ca

x2 looks like clear protective tape.

Mine was put on by don't klnow who but I think they tried to save $$ and went with that heavy clear packaging tape the shiat won't come off I tried heat, sand paper, rubbing compound and a high speed buffer then I applied MEK and that stuff is nasty and nothing phases this crap. Guy before me put it on my bars so you don't scuff the PC with ur shoes

That looks like the clear coat coming off to me. Since it is peeling and bubbling , the clear coat was probably applied incorrectly and the heat in your trailer made it worse. I am having my chassis re-powder coated and just picked it up today. I told them about your rail and asked them what would cause this to happen. They said it was due to the clear coat not being baked long enough or the oven being not hot enough or both. Tearing down your rail to re-powder is one option, but if the defects are only in a few areas that are accessible, a good painter can match the color and its alot cheaper. I would definitely confront the powder coating shop. It doesn't sound like its your fault. Let us know how it turns out.

Is powder coating a life time warranty? Especially if he is the 2nd owner? Good luck Id ask OB to take it back to the powder coater shop.

Far from owning it a lifetime and lets get real here. Who in there right mind would expect that kind of warranty. Its not tape. Its the clear coat and it shoud not be peeling off after a year and a half. OB has nothing to do with it. Its my buggy. I think OB drove it twice and both times he got it stuck in the sand. When your spending this kind of money on your toys you can rightfully hold your investment to the highest standards. Why do you think I bought and SCU to begin with.

Thats my point you are the 2nd owner. You didnt pay for the powder coat nor the buggy new . Dont get me wrong Im just saying what do you expect a warranty? Sucks but its tough because of the cost of tearing it down. Im sure you bought it as is right? Good luck you probly have to touch it up. Let us know what they say . I hope they offer to re do it.

I think one of the Powder Coaters is ICON in Santa Ana.My car has HEAVY metal flake and it looks great...besides the sandblasting from the KILLIN IT KREW on the front end.

Update. This is why I continue to enjoy this sport. Embee Powdercoating admitted that they had a terrible time with this color. Problems forwarded from the manufacture of the powder coat. Clears are not sticking. Any ways, Jeff at Embee will strip and repowder coat the frame. I have to break the buggy down. Maybe I will let Don handle that at the end of the season.

Good news!
I could strip it down if Don is busy

We can talk about that.

that color is called anthrisite ... we all had that exact same issue with that color during that time frame, luckily we caught most of them during assembly.

It sucks for everyone involved , but I am glad Embee is taking care of it for you , very stand uo for sure

Its great you got an answer on this - it sure was a strange unusual problem.

I always use Embee just for the reason of support - Jeff is fair guy all around - they do all my powder coating, hard anodizing, and header coating.

I am glad to hear they are supporting you on this.

Anthrisite is the color. What in the hell was OB thinking. He should of known about this problem. I want my money back.

That's why he dumped the car on you.

Wow thats great! What kind of money you think the put back will cost? This guy seem stand up . Id like to take some work to him. Where is he at?

Embee performance is in Santa Ana. Jeff is super cool as well as the owner Dave. Stand up dudes for sure!

I moved all their equipment into their new shop. It was a pretty big project and wild too. The big oven's hot box goes about 6' into the ceiling. Had to lift the hot box into the roof and then roll the oven underneath it. 1/4 tolerance's all around on a oven that weighs 30,000lbs or so and 25'ish in the air.

Was pretty wild. Alot of very nice and large equipment.

1st class place. Nicest powder coat shop in Cali....by far

tom strip it your self u can do my friend u can do you better be ready cuzz i am

Were ready. Leaving Oct 24th back home on the 31st.

It was the quietest color of them all!