Powder coated lowers won't slide in stanchions?

I have a set of Fox fork lowers that I disassembled so that the owner could have it custom powder coated.

When I got the lowers back, while rebuilding the fork, the lowers won't slide smoothly into the uppers.

It's like the clearance is off. It's tight and it gets stuck. The action isn't rough. It's still smooth, no abrasion in feel or on inspection.

WTH?

I checked the insides with a scope, and after cleaning, there is no visible over spray in the lowers?

I checked the teflon bushes inside, they looked a little cooked. A teeny bit of distortion is observable.

Anybody ever experience this? I don't wanna give back this fork and have it get stuck down on a trail.

Good thing the owner had the PC done, or else I'd be in the hook for a whole fork

Advise appreciated.

 

Without seeing it, I'd say the teflon melted/distorted a bit in the curing process.

 

What I was thinking, too.

 

I wonder if the lower warped just a little when it was in the oven.

 

You can bake low temp for longer or high temp for shorter time periods. Hopefully the powder coating guy didn't crank the heat and melt/warp something.

 

If you subjected the lowers to the 400F pc heat w/o removing the bushes then you've screwed the pooch.

 

I'm so glad I didnt accept the PC job. Just the disassembly and rebuild.

I don wanna screw a pooch