Big 3 automakers to build powder paint testing facility.

Detroit -- The United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) announced that a consortium of Big Three automakers will construct a paint test facility at Ford Motor Co.'s Wixom, Mich., assembly plant to test the use of powder paints that reduce hydrocarbon emissions.

The current pilot facility at the Wixom site will be expanded by 60,000 square feet, and testing is slated for start-up in late 1995. The facility will then begin testing powder clearcoat paint, the final coat in an automotive paint process.

The $20-million facility will be staffed by Big Three engineers and technicians and United Auto Workers employees at the Wixom plant.

USCAR said …