I'm in the middle of a project to restore a K75C and have pulled the engine and am considering powder coating the several engine covers. In the past I have powder coated the Valve and Crankcase covers and had reasonable results. But now I'm looking at the timing belt, Hall's effect and oil/water pump covers and wondering if it makes sense to do them. The considerations seem to be that these parts take the most beating in terms of sand, rock and road debris. Powder coating while enhancing protection still is subject to damage. Does it make more sense to leave these parts as painted and be able to simply hit them occasionally with spray paint? If they are powder coated and are damaged that might mean more difficulty in dealing with  cosmetics. Yeah, I suspect it's my feminine side.

thanks
J.

Hi mate
my tuppence worth is just paint it with heat resistant paint every now and again, wash it down every now and again and spare that expense. If your side covers look good anyway no body will notice a few chips on the front. I painted mine 2 years ago and is just now ready for another coat after about 25,000 Kilometers.
Good luck
RT

The thing about powdercoating is that it will work fine but when it gets damaged [as it will from chips etc] moisture and corrosive salts get through and get trapped underneath the coating where they can do damage. Its like paint on wood or varnish on a yacht, unrepaired damage will make it worse. However it does look really good.

If however you are meticulous and can guarantee every damage will be repaired immediately then do it. But for most of us paint application every few years is probably better.

I will not powder coat ant part of an engine and would recommend the same for you.
Powder coating is a plastic and does not conduct heat in any real sense. Much of the cooling of even a water cooled engine comes from the airflow over the engine, if the covers have the plastic coating the heat cant escape well to the airflow.
I have seen several air cooled engines cooked and very well cooked because of powder coating the engine covers.
You may not cook a water cooled K engine but you will give the cooling system a workout that it doesnt need and reduce the cooling capacity of the system.

Paint.

I prefer paint, always and for the reasons stated.

Bloody heck Mike , do you assemble silicon chips in your workshop ?  

JR

Melbourne Australia

Yes, er that's what mine looked like too, but the um camera wasn't working.

Rick G is also entirely correct re the airflow. When we did science and physics we even learnt paint colour makes a difference. The difference is slight compared to wrapping it up in powdercoating.

My castings are a bit off colour and am going to test cleaning them with Milton. It works for cleaning tea cups and tea spoons [a tea drinker would know how tea stains ware].

nothing wrong with a little polishing

pits and lumps present more surface area for the cooling ..so don't go overboard

paint kinda smooths this off a bit ...and powder coating adds another layer that restricts heat transfer as said earlier

Seems like a spray bomb is a hellavalot easier and cheaper...I did mine a couple months ago on the K75s and it looks like crap already..bugs and chips..

Should just paint it bug colour.

Once there is a nice coating of bugs put a coat of clear over it:D

   Good one....

RicK G wrote:Once there is a nice coating of bugs put a coat of clear over it:D