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Powdercoating process

M

makman10

Be Gentle I'm New Here
Joined
Jul 16, 2002
Messages
2
Location
AZ
I need to change my car in some way because it feels stale since its been the same for years now. I'm going to take the ding strips off, and get my rims powdercoated flat black. The few people ive told about the flat black have been really negative about it, but im sure when it gets done people will see it and like it.

Anyway, I know theres a bunch of powder coaters in my area but I wonder about the procedure. Has anyone ever gotten their rims powdercoated? Some things im wondering about are, how long it will take, what I should expect for cost, and if id have to just take the bare rims there without the car and tires. Itd be 100 times easier if I could just drop the car off and have a place that could take the rims and tires off but I dont know if they exist.

Pic of car for reference

tour.jpg
 
You can expect to pay at least $250 prob closer to $300 to have your rims powdercoated. You will need to have the tires removed from the wheels so the wheels can be sandblasted to bare aluminum before they are coated. DO NOT DO FLAT, standard black powdercoat without a clear on top will look matte black. Flat powdercoat will look like black wheels with brake dust all over them.

When I had the wheels on my Stang coated it took just over a week. They will sandblast the wheel, coat it, the bake it. Looks really nice until the first chip, yes powdercoat chips just not quite as easily as paint. Also make sure they mask off the taper where the lugs contact and the flange where the wheel meets the hub.
 
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Definetely sounds more complicated than I had anticipated. Thanks for the advice, especially about the flat black. Obviously I havent really done any research but I had assumed it would be a little more simple. The price was about what I had expected though. It would certainly be painful to spend 300$ and then have it get chipped too.
 
As long as you go to a very good tire installer, not Big O, Sears, etc...you shouldn't have a prob with chipping on the edge of the wheel. Go to a place that can handle 20"+ wheels and you shouldn't have a prob as they have the right equipment for installing low pro tires on coated wheels.

I have one wheel that a tire store f***ed up because they didn't have the right equipment and I was stuck having my tire fixed by them. (no spare) The only other chip came from a lug nut that came flying out of the impact wrench at another tire shop. (lucky it was on the same wheel as above) So it won't chip nearly as easy as painted wheels from road debris but it can still chip.
 
yeah I was going to do but then I just painted my wheels. It does chip easier then powdercoat. But a car spray panel enamel and so clear coat, sanding and it looks perfect. But if you have the money go powdercoating. In my area they have a do it yourself powdercoat place. Not to hard either
 
Im in the process of getting my e1's refinished and i dont know if i want to go with owdercoating cause they look to glassy. i think im going to ge them painted at a body shop with ford oem silver exact match. Duplicolor SP comes out too grey and fugly imo. m2pennies
 
Loco4G63 said:
Don't know.....I have heard the process weakens aluminum wheels.
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TourEnvy said:
I also was told that they could sandblast aluminum wheels cause it was pourous and they wouldnt come out?
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"I assume you meant could not"

Well I have the wheels on my Stang powdercoated and they are cast aluminum, I have the intake on the Tour powdercoated and its aluminum, and everything was bead blasted before being coated.
 
Alright after going throught the right channels, I just got off the phone with a guy. and he said that he could media blast and powder coat my wheels for $250. I was curious to see what you guys think.
 
this moring i got the tires taken off, valves and weights..... Im getting there. i think next week im going to stop in to check out finish selection. most likely going with silver, going for something a bit brighter. Unless you guys can think of anything else. There E1's on Trop Green...
 
The Five-Oh! said:
you'd be suprised at how nice white wheels look on a t-green svt.
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UGH my .02. A nice bright silver would look sharp, or if you were going for a more aggressive look, a nice gunmetal.

I just switched out my black wheels on my SilFro CSVT for the same wheel in silver, and the result, blah. Sending them to the powdercoater when there is some extra cash.
 
The Five-Oh! said:
you'd be suprised at how nice white wheels look on a t-green svt.
Click to expand...

I threw some take offs on my saturn beater, they were white and it looked good but im positive i dont want to go this route with the tour. thanks for the suggestion though. Gun metal would be nice if i came across a cf hood for cheap, but at that point it would be time for some after market wheels.

Im leaning towards a nice silver almost for sure. I think im going to check out the selection tomorrow on lunch.
 
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Alright I went there today to check it out, My buddy gets work there warned me it looked like a hole, and it did. but i saw some of their work and looked good. There going to have to order me in the powder i think i want but, There swatches were all cruded up from handling them. I want to be absolutely sure before i have them do it. So I contacted the powder provider and they are sending my swatches by friday. five different ones. If you would like to check out there site go to www.PrismaticPowders.com and click prismatic powders. I got some metalics: Class A silver, shredded silver, silver thaw, silver metalic 2, and silver glaze.
 
Im going to try yo keep this thread going for future reference. I recieved my swatches and im going to go with the Silver Metallic II. Ill be going to the shop this week to drop off the wheels. This is one they have in stock so I should have them back pretty quick. Ill update.
 
I am interested as well i am wanting to powdercoat my Roush wheels for my cougar but my rims have a polished lip and i am unsure if the shop can just powdercoat the spokes and not the polished lip...

here is a pic of the rims
p10103561ui8.jpg

roushrims18wg.jpg
 
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