Old Paint & Primer
Layered, chipping, factory or rattle-can — taken back to bare metal instead of scuffed and coated over.
The unglamorous stage that decides whether a finish lasts ten years or ten months. Stripping, degreasing, profiling and masking for Alma customers — done properly, on every single part that goes through our shop.
Paint Stripping & Surface Prep
When a coating fails, the coating is almost never the problem. It's what was underneath it — a trace of oil, a patch of rust that got coated over, a slick surface with nothing for the finish to key into, or old paint that let go and took the new layer with it. Prep is where those failures get designed out, and it's the stage most people never see.
We handle stripping and prep as a service in its own right for customers doing their own painting or plating, and as the mandatory first half of every powder coating job that leaves our Carson City shop. Old paint, cured powder, undercoating, rust, scale, weld slag and grease all have to come off before anything new goes on.
That means a part gets stripped, cleaned, degreased, profiled and hand-masked before it ever sees powder. It's slower. It's also the entire reason our finishes hold up to Michigan winters instead of blistering off by the second spring.
Alma is about 20 miles northeast of the shop, roughly 25 to 30 minutes door to door. Alma sits in Gratiot County, home to Alma College and the Alma Highland Festival, with a solid industrial and agricultural base spread out around it. We get a steady stream of layered paint, failed powder coat and rusted hardware from Alma and the surrounding Gratiot County towns, and most of those customers make the drive because there isn't another shop nearby running blasting, prep, coating and curing under one roof. Call ahead on 989-289-2298 and we'll have a quote ready before you load up.
Fingerprints, WD-40, mold release and old wax leave residue that repels coating and shows up as fisheyes and craters after the cure. Once a part is degreased, it gets handled with clean gloves — which sounds fussy until you've seen a whole batch come out of the oven spotted.
Whatever's on there now, coming off cleanly.
Layered, chipping, factory or rattle-can — taken back to bare metal instead of scuffed and coated over.
Cured powder that's peeling, faded or just the wrong color, stripped completely before a fresh coat goes on.
Surface rust, scale and pitting blasted out down to sound metal so corrosion doesn't keep working under the new finish.
Rubberized undercoat, seam sealer and road tar cleaned off frames, pans and underbody parts.
Degreasing and washdown on parts that have spent their life around lubricants — the step that stops fisheyes.
New fabrication cleaned of scale, slag and heat tint so the finish goes on over uniform metal.
Threads, bearing bores, mating faces, hub centers and valve stem holes protected by hand before coating.
Parts stripped and profiled for customers doing their own paint, plating, powder or repair work.
Five steps in a fixed order — skipping one undoes the other four.
We identify what's on the part and remove it — blasting for most coatings, gentler media for delicate substrates, mechanical work where it's needed.
Bare metal gets an even anchor pattern. This is what the coating mechanically grips; a polished surface gives it nothing to hold.
Every part is cleaned to remove blast dust, oil, silicone and residue. Contamination here is invisible until it ruins the cure.
Threads, bores, machined faces and any surface that must stay bare get plugged, taped and capped by hand.
Prepped steel doesn't sit around collecting flash rust — parts move from prep straight to the coating booth.
A coating grabs the microscopic peaks and valleys left by blasting. Take that profile away and you're relying on chemistry alone — which is how coatings peel off in sheets.
Coat over corrosion and it continues underneath, lifting the finish from below. The only fix is removing it first, all of it, including what's down in the pits.
Oil and silicone don't announce themselves on a dirty part. They show up as craters and fisheyes in the finished coat, when the fix is stripping and starting over.
Coating in a threaded hole or a bearing bore means chasing threads and honing bores on reassembly. Masking it properly up front costs minutes and saves hours.
Alma is a fraction of the drive to Grand Rapids or Lansing, and you're dealing with the same veteran-owned, family-run shop from quote to pickup. Blasting through curing all happens in one building — your parts never leave Gratiot County's back yard mid-job.
Recent work out of the Carson City shop — see more on Facebook.
These guys are fantastic! They stripped and powder coated the crash bars for my motorcycle within a couple days and they look great! Very reasonable pricing, very responsive, accommodating, and friendly.
I had four wheels powder coated — excellent work, fast turnaround. Very friendly people to work with. Great price!
Straight answers to what customers ask us most. Anything not covered here, just call the shop.
Yes. Our shop is at 7883 South St. in Carson City, about 20 miles northeast of Alma — roughly 25 to 30 minutes door to door. Customers from Alma and across Gratiot County bring us layered paint, failed powder coat and rusted hardware regularly. Call or text 989-289-2298 and we'll quote the job before you make the drive.
About 20 miles northeast, which is about 25 to 30 minutes of driving depending on where in Alma you start. We're open every day from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM, so a drop-off is easy to fit around work.
It scales with surface area and how stubborn the coating is — a single bracket is quick, a trailer frame with four layers of paint and undercoating is not. Send photos to 989-289-2298 and we'll quote it. If you're having us coat the part afterwards, prep is quoted as part of the job.
Mostly blasting, because it removes the coating and profiles the surface in the same pass. Chemical stripping cleans but leaves a smooth surface with nothing for the new coating to grip, so it's used selectively rather than as the default.
Absolutely. Plenty of customers want bare metal back so they can weld, machine, paint or plate it themselves. Just remember that bare steel flash rusts within hours — have your primer ready for the same day you pick up.
Yes, and there's no judgment involved. Rattle-can, brushed enamel, a bad powder job or a coating that's already lifting — it all comes off the same way, and starting from clean metal is the right call.
Bearings, seals, rubber, plastic, wiring, glass, fasteners you want to keep and anything with fluid in it. The closer to bare metal you get it, the less we have to mask and the less it costs you. Not sure? Call and ask before you tear into it.
Because powder is cured onto the metal, not floated on top of it. Any contamination or rust under that layer becomes permanent and eventually pushes the coating off. Prep is the only stage where those problems can still be fixed.
We're at 7883 South St. in Carson City, about 20 miles northeast of Alma — about 25 to 30 minutes, and an easy run from anywhere in Gratiot County.
Same shop, same standard — pick the town closest to you.
One shop, the whole cycle — so nothing gets handed off halfway through.
Tell us what you're bringing in and we'll get you a quote — no runaround.
Drop us the details on your project and we'll get right back to you. Prefer to talk it through? Give the shop a call.
