what are your prices for 4 super aero wheels?

 

Are you planning to be able to refurb wheels (curb rash, chips, etc) as well as powder coat them? How about straightening?

 

The ability to staighten the wheel depends on how badly it is out of round. We can do some minor work in-house and we have a local firm that can handle larger straightening issues - up to a point. Thereafter, you need a new wheel.

George Kuhn

 

no shit - I really liked the vc on your car and those wheels came out great!

 

Prices do depend a bit on color, different pigments have different costs associated with them. Also, do you want the wheels coated with a clear over-coat. The final result is a double coating of the wheel. That is what I did to the Cirrus White wheels - which are Super Aeros. The double coating gives your wheels a really durable and longer lasting finish.

Another question, is there any curb rash that you would want repaired ? We can also weld in minor repairs, then grind down to finish to the wheel surface. Repair costs dependent on length and number of repairs on each wheel.

While this is not a definate answer and I am not trying to be vague, for accurate costs, we need to have some more information. If you PM with a phone number and time to call, I would be happy to discuss this with you.

George Kuhn

 

Wow those super aeros are hot hot hot !!!!!

 

+1... love it.

 

I even wondered how the center hub caps would look in a black to match the black/white theme...maybe a bit overkill, but I wonder if it would look good.

All in all, great work on all parts!

 

Very good to know, I think I may need some wheel work in the future, I'll be sure to keep you in mind when the time comes. I saw your car at carlisle and really liked the look of the white super aeros, which is weird cause I don't usually like white.

Paul

 

Where in Lancaster are you?

I assume you guys do sandblasting too, right? I've been struggling getting some wheels completely stripped down (those shelbys have some SERIOUS paint on them) and had thought of getting them sandblasted and powder coated. I've since gotten 3 of them painted and nearly done stripping the last one but if the price is right I could definitely spring for some powder coating in the near future. If not the wheels I've got enough valve covers sitting around and an intake manifold that could use some professional help.

 

Where in Lancaster are you?

I assume you guys do sandblasting too, right? I've been struggling getting some wheels completely stripped down (those shelbys have some SERIOUS paint on them) and had thought of getting them sandblasted and powder coated. I've since gotten 3 of them painted and nearly done stripping the last one but if the price is right I could definitely spring for some powder coating in the near future. If not the wheels I've got enough valve covers sitting around and an intake manifold that could use some professional help.

I forget where I saw it, but I saw a person located in VT? on the Subaru boards that does sandblasting and paints the wheels. He does a phenomenal job. I imagine the above vendor does some sandblasting as well, but if not, I can probably track down the person in VT that does it. Would be cheap, but excellent work...I know that much.

 

Can you give a general range of pricing? That's probably the number one thing keeping people from taking preliminary interest and turning it in to serious business. Give us an idea of what it will cost for one wheel, a full set, a valve cover, etc...

 

Yesterday afternoon I was up at the shop. One of our conversation topics concerned some general pricing for basic services. We will be looking at our costs and determining a new set of prices. I suspect that some prices might get adjusted down and some might go up a bit. But we have to be sure that prices are covering our fixed and variable costs.

I will also breakdown prices so you can see the basic charge for a valve cover, a pipe section etc. An additional note to know is that for aluminum wheels, we only glass bead blast them in the prep dept. The reason for this procedure is to avoid pitting the aluminum. When we did my wheels, they were glass beaded and the finish is really excellent. Steel wheels are usually sandblasted, but not always, al lot depends on the condition.

Another note of importance pertains to overall cleanliness of a piece. Items really need to be clean because of placing them in the oven. A valve cover, for example, which is coated in oil deposits can contaminate the color when placed in the oven and heated. The oil residue will actually start to boil and explode. This residue then gets on the finish and is now baked in ! Not a good procedure.

Valve covers should be cleaned by the owner to be as clean as possible. We may need to spend additional cleaning and prep time on a particular cover and would let you know.

I am located in western Lancaster county, in the small town of Marietta. The shop is located up in the Harrisburg area.

Another TSLer asked: Do you do heat barrier ceramic coating ?

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Thinking along of the lines of Jet Coatings.
In the short term , I have a metal intercooler to throttle body pipe I'd like to get heat insulated from engine radiant heat. the surface is chrome.

This is something that I will have to check on for you.

Please remember that while I have invested in this business and certainly now need for it to succede financially. The depth of knowledge and experience with the powder coating processes, is actually with the staff. I am working on developing sales and controlling business costs and expenses. So I might not have an immediate answer for you, but I shall inquire to get the information.

Please note that from the exchange of earlier messages, a fellow SAAB owner has already contacted me regarding a valve cover for his 900. I thank all of you for your interest and questions.

Please be assured that any items you allow us to coat for you, will be treated as if it was a piece that was going to be placed on one of my cars. Very honestly, I am a stickler for the details, a royal pain in the backside that cannot be treated with medicine ! Ask my wife, she knows . . .

George Kuhn

 

very interested. need general idea for price first to see if its worth pursuing this thou.

 

Do you do heat barrier ceramic coating ?

Thinking along of the lines of Jet Coatings.
In the short term , I have a metal intercooler to throttle body pipe I'd like to get heat insulated from engine radiant heat. the surface is chrome.

Good luck with the business!

 

Thinking along of the lines of Jet Coatings.
In the short term , I have a metal intercooler to throttle body pipe I'd like to get heat insulated from engine radiant heat. the surface is chrome.

Good luck with the business!

Sorry for the delay in responding to this particular question. On Monday night, mother nature installed a 24" deep indoor basement pool - funny thing was that I did not even know it was coming ! Have had my hands full with a ton of unexpected issues.

I did speak with Terry, the founder of the business regarding the above question, he wrote back with the following information.

"Yes, I do ceramic coatings as well. There aren't many color choices in ceramics. Black, silver, white, clear, red, and blue. Your turbo heat shield was done in the silver.

The ceramic that I do is the same as what Jet Hot uses. Very good at keeping heat in exhausts. www.techlinecoatings.com is the company that makes the products. Lots of information there."

Hope this provides you with the information you are looking for. If you have other questions or need some other information, just let me know.

George Kuhn

 

In the previous message, I wrote a paragraph regarding the need for a valve cover to be clean. Here is that paragraph:

Another note of importance pertains to overall cleanliness of a piece. Items really need to be clean because of placing them in the oven. A valve cover, for example, which is coated in oil deposits can contaminate the color when placed in the oven and heated. The oil residue will actually start to boil and explode. This residue then gets on the finish and is now baked in ! Not a good procedure.

Today, I took two valve covers that arrived in the past week. The underside of both covers is shown, the first photo shows how a valve cover looks just after being removed from the engine. Cannot be powder coated in this condition !

The following photo show the beginning of the cleaning process. These two covers both have multiple layers of pertroleum deposits, which must be removed down to the bare metal.

The following photo shows at the top right how the oil deposits are slowly being removed from the valve cover. Deposits down in the crevices also needs to be removed.

The balance of the oil deposits will be cleaned off the cover by using a biodegradeable industrial solvent and heavy bristle / brass wire brushes. The cleaning process is totally dependent on how many layers of oil deposits need to be removed. The cover being worked on was the worst of these two. Typically, we will spend about an hour or more, in cleaning each cover, in preparation for glass bead blasting. We do not sand blast the aluminum on the underside of the cover, so not to create any pits on the smooth bare metal surface.

George Kuhn

 

Washing parts by Hand - very slow & tedious

No going to make any money that way - not enough hours in the day.
Here is an example of a parts washer that could save you a lot of time. No I an not connected to the seller in any way.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DECO-68-PARTS-W...-X-36-X-30-/270571166777?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3eff4c5c39

 

Washing parts by hand . . .

No going to make any money that way - not enough hours in the day.
Here is an example of a parts washer that could save you a lot of time. No I an not connected to the seller in any way.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DECO-68-PARTS-W...-X-36-X-30-/270571166777?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3eff4c5c39

You are absolutly correct about that ! Thank you for posting the link.

We have a parts washer up in the shop. I will be looking to get one for down in my business here in Marietta. I have used one at friends' Indy repair shop, but only for getting gross amounts of oil / grease / sludge off some other engine parts. Need to see a demonstration for how well it cleans out the crevices of a valve cover. That will be the test !

George

 

Hello all -

There were a couple of requests for some generalized pricing for some common items. We have spent some time reviewing some of our expenses of operation and determined pricing for some common items. So here is a short listing:

BRAKE SYSTEM:
Disc Caliper - $65.00

MASTER CYLINDERS:
Brake - $40.00
Clutch - $40.00

ENGINE:
Oil Pan - $50.00

SUSPENSION:
Springs - Coil - each - $40.00
Springs - Leaf w/clamp & bolt - $85.00
Sway Bar - $40.00
Pan hard bar - $40.00

VALVE COVERS:
SAAB - DOHC - 1-color - $55.00
6-cylinder - /each - $55.00

WHEELS:
Standard steel - 15" - $40.00
Cast Aluminum - 15"-17" - $68.00
Lug nuts - /each - $3.00

Curb rash repair - $25.00 minimum / wheel - $20.00 / inch
Includes welding in new aluminum bead and grinding down to wheel surface.
Wheel straightening - must see to quote.

MISC:
Windshield Wiper Arms - /pair - $35.00
Fronts & rear arm - $50.00

NOTES:
A. Cast aluminum and magnesium parts may experience out-gasing and/or bubbling in the finished powder coat. We try to take every precaution to avoid out-gasing, however, we cannot be held responsible to bubbling caused by pourous castings.

B. Above pricing include abrasive blasting, masking of all threads, preparation and powder coating using a stock color.

C. For a second color or a clear coat, add 60%. Clear coat is required over all metal and silver powder coating finishes.

Any questions, please let me know.

George Kuhn

 

Oven Cleaner works well to clean off Petroleum Deposits off V/Cs and oil pans. Inside and out.

 

So how does one prep and coat a Saab V/C w/out damaging the PCV system? It does not unbolt easily (riveted) and if debris gets clogged in it, there would be problems. Does just masking/taping it off really do the trick?

 

When my VC was done, I just happened to be up at the shop that day. I vaguely remember seeing that the hole was plugged. I was there the day it was charged and the powder was being sprayed. There are no fluids involved, but I will have to ask Terry for more information on that.

 

I'm glad to see you made nice work of that heat shield I sent you. I don't need it because well I'm going to repaint my headers and well I like to see them lol.

 

Get them Jet Hot coated - they will stay looking nice

Unless there is a Powder Coating svc offered here that can take the heat . . .

 

Use aluminum tape to cover the PCV section.

Also, I'm just curious why you'd want to powder coat the inside of a part, like a valve cover? From a customer standpoint, it is a waste of money as you'll never see it; from a company standpoint, that's extra product and time spent covering a surface that doesn't need to be done.

just my 2¢.

Good luck with it all though. Powder coating really adds a positive dimension to any car.

 

Use aluminum tape to cover the PCV section.

Also, I'm just curious why you'd want to powder coat the inside of a part, like a valve cover? From a customer standpoint, it is a waste of money as you'll never see it; from a company standpoint, that's extra product and time spent covering a surface that doesn't need to be done.

just my 2¢.

Good luck with it all though. Powder coating really adds a positive dimension to any car.

Please note that we have not coated nor would we recommend coating the interior of a valve cover. As was noted above, that would be a waste of time, material and money !

We did coat both sides of my Turbo Heat Shield. This was a ceramic powder coating. While not the same as on the Space Shuttle, the ceramic coating will dissapate the heat and be able to endure the high temps that are generated by the turbo.

Thanks to all who have expressed interest in our services. As of late this afternoon, we have now received two direct inquiries into potential projects. We appreciate your interest.

George Kuhn

 

Great looking valve cover. Might have to do that on the SE Vert. If I squint, it looks close to Platana Gray... :-D

 

Very reasonable prices for your services. Might want some parts done in the near future. Now I know who to give the job to.

 

Great to know - will keep you in mind for future projects.

 

Hi everyone -

I now have officially established the new business named "Central Penn Powder Coating". The phones will be installed next week, the un-official phone number is 717-426-4000. Phone company won't guarantee number until technician actually does the installation on site.

The new email address is gkuhn@centralpennpowdercoating.com and our web-site, informative in nature when it goes up, is currently be worked on. There is nothing posted as of now, if you try the address you will get a page not found error.

Thanks again for your interest and to the person actually placed an order, at least I think he is a member.

George Kuhn