I had a conversation with a powder coater a couple of months ago. He said the coating is pretty much paint with out the thinners/reducers.
I questioned whether on nice tubing, no rust, do you bead blast to give a tooth?
He said no, just a scuff pad. He pre-bakes bare parts and chassis at 400* to clean and degrease. Then applies the material to the cool part and goes into the oven again to melt the material.
So what you get is a plastic like coating that is made from the basic componants as paint.
I also asked why a primer is not needed and he had no good answer for that, just that it's not necessary.
We did find out that brake cleaner dissolves the coating. And that if scuffed, you can compound and get the shine back.
I wouldn't powder coat a chassis that was gonna get altered and updated every year.