Exactly what is E-Coat?

E-Coat is an electrically-applied paint coating. It is also known as electrocoat

ing, electronic coating, electronic painting, and electro photo coating. E-coati
ng was developed originally for the automotive industry because it is economical
and provides superior coverage, adhesion, and corrosion resistance. It coats an
y metal (aluminum, zinc, brass, steel) that conducts electricity.
Here is how E-coat works. The parts to be E-coated are first cleaned and treated
with a zinc phosphates conversion coating. The panels of your Dearborn Deuce Co
nvertible TM are moved to Oakley s assembly area with a thin film of oil remaining
on each panel from the stamping operation. The oil protects the freshly stamped
steel panel from rusting during shipping and assembly.
The parts to be E-coated are then attached to metal racks or placed in a coating
fixture. In our case, both the hemmed components and your Dearborn Deuce Conver
tible TM body each use a special coating fixture that is lifted by crane and put
onto a conveyor carriage system. The bodies are placed on a system designed to
carry truck frames.
The parts are immersed in an E-coat paint tank. A direct negative electrical cha
rge is applied to the carriage and the body and parts are electrically charged.
opposite direct positive electrical charge is applied to the paint bath.

An

For those of you who love the details, this process is known as cationic E-coat
and is used to provide a more corrosion-resistant film than the more common anio
nic E-coat process. The paint bath is filled with Cathodic Epoxy PPG 8000 E-coat
. Epoxy based E-coats are used in environments where corrosion protection is par
amount. Your charged parts attract the oppositely charged paint particles. As the
paint is deposited it begins to act as an insulator and deposition slows, stoppi
ng at a precisely predetermined thickness that is governed by the amount of volt
age applied during the process.
Even though deposition may have slowed or may be complete on one area on the sur
face of the part, deposition will continue on any uncoated or incompletely-coate
d area of the part until complete coverage is achieved.

Other benefits E-Coat offers are:

Cosmetic Appeal.
E-Coat paint applies a super-even
finish, no dripping, no pooling and no gaps.
Corrosion Protection.
All parts are coated evenly insi
de and out. Complex parts can be coated even after assembly.
Unbeatable Durability. Withstands the most rigorous salt
spray, adhesion, dialectric, acid resistance, and U.V. tests.
Super Adhesion.
Because of the very nature of th
e E-Coat process, a thin coat can be complete, uniform, tough, and attractive, w
hile
still maintaining close en
gineered tolerances.
E-coat is standard OEM practi
ce: it is corrosion-resist