Today I've learned: Do not powdercoat your interior metal trim

[SwissArmy]

Photos below

I'm a moron lol

So, long story short, I never really liked the aluminum dash trim in my Z4. It kinda felt out of place. I wrapped all the pieces many times but I was never happy.

I finally got someone to paint all the pieces in piano black. It looked AMAZING!!!!....for a week.

Piano gloss black is super soft and a light swipe with a cloth can leave light scratches. I am currently rebuilding the entire car and I wanted to powdercoat the dash and console trim pieces in satin black. And some other pieces of the car to be powdercoated as well.

I dropped them off at the powdercoaters. Center console trim went well. The small piece on the left hand side came out great. The main dash...ohhhh boy did it not.

It looked all dented and warped. Tons of bubbling and high spots. I assumed (silly me) that it was one solid piece. I do not blame the powdercoater as it does really look like one solid piece. But, nope. It is a thin piece of aluminum that has been glued on top of the main cast aluminum dash panel. Which makes sense now...

During baking, the glue softened, and the top layer started to separate and warped due to the trapped hot air and glue underneath. The result was ABYSMAL!!

So, I decided to peel away the top skin, which reveals a LOT of hard glue similar to PL Premium. Sent it back to the powdercoater who will sandblast all that off and powdercoat the actual base panel (free of charge, only because he is so awesome and he realized how big of a goof I am).

If this fails, I will have to buy a new main dash panel and have it painted to match the rest.

I got lucky that the other two pieces that were powdercoated were not negatively affected.

TLDR; do not powdercoat your interior metal trim pieces unless you remove the top layer.

Here are photos for your viewing horror. I will update this post with the final product when it's ready.

[WickedNy]

[SwissArmy]

Originally Posted by WickedNy

Yep. lol

Good thing these dashes are not that expensive, if it does not work out

[WickedNy]

Out of curiosity… Why not have it painted through body shop, They still have to bake it in a booth but the temperature is not as hot as a powder coating

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by SwissArmy

Yep. lol

Good thing these dashes are not that expensive, if it does not work out

the large dashpiece starts at €350 depending on trim finish (in europe). New at a dealer
I think thats quite expensive for a bit of trim.

2nd hand is the way to go.

[SwissArmy]

Originally Posted by WickedNy

Out of curiosity… Why not have it painted through body shop, They still have to bake it in a booth but the temperature is not as hot as a powder coating

I did have it painted before in gloss. I was going to get it painted again in satin, but since I assumed it was completely metal, and the price of powdercoating was the same as a paint job, I opted to powdercoat. Harder and more durable than paint.

Originally Posted by GuidoK

the large dashpiece starts at €350 depending on trim finish (in europe). New at a dealer
I think thats quite expensive for a bit of trim.

2nd hand is the way to go.

100% I will be going 2nd hand if it does not turn out great

[Steeler]

I have had my aluminum trim powder coated for 3 years now. Looks as good as the day I had it done.
I tend to think the oven was too hot for the glue on the veneer.

[SwissArmy]

Originally Posted by dbarton62

I have had my aluminum trim powder coated for 3 years now. Looks as good as the day I had it done.
I tend to think the oven was too hot for the glue on the veneer.

Agreed. The other panels came out mint. Oh well. Lesson learned

[KevinC]

Find a set of OEM carbon leather trim pieces from a boneyard and be done with it. The stuff looks amazing and is completely bulletproof. Looks brand new a decade later with zero-to-little maintenance, and doesn't show dust like Piano Black does. I have PB in my Golf R and I hate it with a passion.

[rsutoratosu]

holy cow.. any good tips on removing them ? thanks

[ONEZ4]

get it wrapped and ceramic coated. That might be better than powder coating or just wrapping. And there are certain type of vinyl wraps that are stronger than another (scratch wise).