dfreder371

I have two lousy digital pictures of my newly processed and powder coated standard double split six spoke rims in a black satin finish that will arrive tomorrow. The maximum file size for the pics are about 200k each, and after I hit the browse button, and send, I get the message that the file size is too large.

I see people post ten, even twenty pictures at a time here, so, what am I missing?

BTW, the wheels came out beautiful!

Nicky Pass: we are one town away from each other. My wheels will be mounted by noon tomorrow. Any chance we can get together for some photos?

And why when you post something, why does it say that the maximum file size is ONE BYTE???????????

Nicky Pass

email me the pictures!

dfreder371

How do I. The only browse (attach button) is when you compose an original message. This board does not work like MS outlook.

Any chance we can hook up (we are nearby), and I am off tomorrow, the wheels should be mounted by noon. Say, Woodfield Acura? When?

Nicky Pass

I don't know if I'm working tomorrow or not

Smitty

Smitty

Nicky Pass

HOLY SHIT!!!!! THEY LOOK AWESOME!!!!!! How much $$$ again...for 19"s?

danny25

wow, I can't wait to see those on your car!

AztecRol

iTrader: (2)

WOW!!!

Are those the ones that got sent here to Nor Cal for the
new process?????

dfreder371

Smitty: THANK YOU BIG TIME! The cost for any of the three finishes is $125 per wheel, (any size, Nicky) and I consider that to be a good deal, as this process is time (notice I did not say labor) intensive. You pay shipping both ways to Pittsburg, California. The process takes three days.

Your contact is Gary Goodrich, and Gary is a real nice guy. Gary also has a wheel repair shop just down the road, so this can be a double opportunity for all of us. I had one wheel with minor damage (from a car wash, never again) that he fixed for free.

Due to lighting conditions, the "black satin pearl" finish is not done justice in these pictures. I promise you, they will look darker than shown in these photos. Here is how the process goes:

1: Your wheels (MAKE SURE ALL THE BALANCE WEIGHTS ARE OFF) get stripped of their present powder coating by sandblasting. Also, make sure there are no valve stems.

2: A primer coating (an anchor coating) is applied to a heated wheel, about 5 or 6 mils thick (.005-.006") and is heated VERY SLOWLY in an electric convection oven. Convection=just like what mom cooks the turkey in. This step is crucial, and in fact, after coat #1, Gary called me and predicted that the wheels would be, quote, "beautiful". The VERY SLOWLY reference is needed so the powder coating can "flow out" to provide a smooth finish, and gives the nice DOI (distinctness of image) for the chrome coat.

3: The primed wheels are put into a vapor deposition chamber. There, first, nickle and chrome are vaporized (don't ask me how that is done) and is deposited on the wheel. After a time, only pure chrome is vaporized and put down. These two layers are only 1,500 angstroms thick. In contrast, a hair on your head is 250,000 angstroms wide! So, the "finish" layer is very thin!

4: A clear, and I assume, acrylic powder coating, about 2 mils thick is applied for corrosion protection purposes. I am unsure weather the "black pearl" component of the finish is incorporated in step 3 or step four. I am guessing that it is in step 4.

Any way you cut it, four step processing comes out to about $30 per step, and I consider this to be very reasonable. Gary will be privvy to this post, so I am being "up front" to all. The wheels will be seen at Dave and Busters on 4/27/2003 at the chicago meet.

I am told the tires can be mounted immediately, even though the final clear coat will be curing for an additional 30 days. I am even told that the one day old wheels will stand up to standard (aluminum or steel) tire mounting equipment, but I am opting for a tire shop that has only nylon mounting equipment, and the first thing I will do today on Good Friday is to give the tire mounting guy $20 up front, and a stern "be careful" look.

Your wheel centers are made of a low temperature melting point plastic, and I have a way around that, but that is a subject for another post. Just suffice it to say that that problem can be sucessfully navigated, the acura emblem included. You will see proof of this when Nicky or Smitty post the next photos.

Here are your links to Gary:

www.goodrichtechnology.com

gary@goodrichtechnology.com

Note: I powder coat every day, in order to pay the bills. I could probably do this myself, but I am not familiar with the technique to apply the stuff, nor do I have a vapor deposition chamber. This technology is common in Europe, whereas Gary is the ONLY source of this technology in the USA.

I think the "anthracite" guys are going to go through the roof when they see this "look". Dave

peiqinglong

Wow...that's how those 03 rims should have came!!!!

Smitty

Before-- my 03 rim


Daves Powercoated rims Installed.. Drop that bitch man..LOL

cmark

Nice SUV!! Oops! Wheels look real good. Time to lower it though!!

dfreder371

Smitty: YOU MAGNIFICENT PAGAN GOD! Thank you again! Probably the only picture that needs to be explained is the seat where my narrow ass usually sits. There is the standard wheel center with the black Acura "A". The shiney disc is a 1 mm thick (boy, was making that a bitch!) coated aluminum disc that I will glue to the OEM center cap. The white strip contains 3 pressure sensitive emblems with the "A" done in metalflake silver to match the body of the car. I had sixteen made, and I am glad I did. In a hurry up attempt to show everybody the "whole package" I found out that the emblem prefers to stay with the release sheet rather than stick to the wheel center, but I will figure that out. I think Nicky Pass will provide the next photos, but yer gonna have to wait till april 27 to see those. I invited Nicky over to where my car will be tomorrow morning, so assuming I solve the center cap problem tonight, you may see them sooner (that, Nicky, is a hint).

Anyway, here is how this went. The wheels arrived with well protected packaging in four individual boxes. So well protected in fact, that I used up half of the available dumpster space at my Condo.

I unpacked one wheel, and took it to Woodfield Acura, and everyone was wowed! All were amazed at the "Class A finish" on the entire wheel (although the machining on non seen surfaces of the wheel are not as precise as on the face of the wheel. Understandable.)

Off to mount the tires. My tire shop understood that these were both my wheels, and an experiment for my company. They used extrodinary care, but it was funny as to why. THEY looked at the wheels as magnificent, and THEY were not going to be the ones to damage them. I used to mount tires, 25 years ago, and it is amazing how gentle the equipment is now. If you go this route, first unpack your rims, and wax them where the bead meets the wheel to reduce mounting friction. Every little bit helps. Not one chip, not one nick, period.

I used my Dads 99 TL (with, get this, 8,000 miles on the odo) while my car was laid up. I took each mounted wheel home (2 miles away) in the trunk to prevent a screw up. When I returned on two of the four trips, I found people next to my wheels asking how this process can be done to their wheels, so I told them.

With all four wheels back in my grasp I mounted them. Thankfully, all went well, the car did not fall off of the jackstands, but still no wheel centers. That is tonights project, over steak and TV to catch up on the war.

I felt the blue "bass boat big metalflake" pinstriping looked out of place, so I had the car re-pinstripped in charcole, and the shop did a small, about .5" high acura emblem, and applied it to an area about 5 inches forward of where the door meets the front fender. Pretty cool, I think. Cost: $40.

While there, I noticed a small nick, and rust was forming behind the passenger rear window, right where the "chrome" trim meets the body. Uh-oh, rust never gets better. So, off to Woodfield Acura for touch up paint.

Once again, the "WOWS" came out. In fact, the "Dealmaker" there Xeroxed the article out of powder coating magazine, and I can see what might cost you guys $500 plus shipping and handeling, is gonna cost some poor sucker probably $1500 to 2000 dollars as a "dealer extra."

The coating is VERY hard. My center discs (the 1 mm thick aluminum discs), look like they were coated on a piece of expanded metal, and overspray exists on the back side. I tried to sand this with new sandpaper, and it barely damaged the stuff.

Give me a while, and I will show you the finished product. I must admit, I am EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results, and this finish (the black satin chrome) would look very good on white, silver, anthricite, and especially BLACK! Don't know about blue, green red, and I think if your car is gold, it would be risky.

If enough are interested, this could be a "group buy" thing, but pease don't involve me, my "plate is full" through mid May, but I would happily advise.

Final line guys: Would I do this again? Yes, and probably if it costs twice as much. Smitty: THANKS AGAIN!

Smitty

Your welcome..

Hey Dave.. 2 quick questions.. did you happen to weigh the rim after you got it back???... Just curious if it added a few pounds?

Did you see if the Center had any fitment issues??


Smitty

dfreder371

smitty: thanks! thanks, thanks! No, they do not coat the "landing area" of the wheel. I asked about this, as I was concerned about an asymetrical coating being applied, therefore implying wheel whobbeling. The back side of the wheel is bare, and therefore grounded, so the process can work. Hpoe this explains things, and I am available for you for any questions. 'The bottom line, in a sentance, is powder coating=good!

dfreder371

Smitty: again: YOU MAGNIFICENT PAGAN GOD! I am good at estimating these things, and, at most, I would estimate I picked up about 15 to 28 grams per wheel, or in english speak, about one ounce per wheel. Get Garys estimate (or Pats, he is the VP there) for a contrast. All I can say is (Iam 51), the wheels were heavy to take off, and they felt no heavier to put on. Did they gain pounds? No way! An ounce? Maybe. Grams? Surely.

I have solved the center cap problem. Assuming Nicky Pass shows today, I will let him post pics. If not, I have one more pic to post. I promise you, the result will be pleasing. Dave, and THANK YOU!

dfreder371

The center problem is SOLVED! Nicky might do the pictures, if not,I ask your help once again. Damn, this is going to look good! Dave.

Smitty

I am right here.. no problem.. just e-mail them

123456SPEED

Your wheels look great, glad you like them. I have a white, would look good on mine! For center caps and emblems you should check out the new TSX accessory wheel cap emblems. THey are a raised chrome or gold emblem that you have to buy separate for any of the 3 TSX 17" accessory wheels.
They mount with 2 holes into the cap. Look very nice, much better than a decal or our recessed black emblems.
You can see them at - acura.com TSX, build your own, exterior accessories. I was looking at one of the TSX wheels for my CL but decided against it. good luck.

Rod

Your wheels look great!

I'd love to see the 2001 CL-S wheels with this finish.

dfreder371

Smitty: No, I did not weigh them when I got them back. But I did weigh them when I sent the out, 24 pounds each. If you ship, figure on 110 pounds total. But I know what you are getting at.

Coats 1 (about 6 mils, .006") and 3 (2 mils, .002) are plastic, and plastics generally are about 1.5 time the density of water. The second coat, metalization by vapor deposition of chrome and nickle, and as the end step, essentially pure chrome is put down at about to a thickness of 1/17th of the diameter of a hair on your head, so that really doesn't count.

So if you can imagine a partial shell about as thick as a very light frost on your windshield, 1.5 times heavier than water, you get the idea. I cannot see this process adding more than one ounce per wheel, maximum. For reference, the plastic bags when you hand choose vegtables are .001" thick. And printer paper of average quality is .005" thick. Unless you drag race, weight is not a matter to fret about. And, you have to remember to subtract the weight of the OEM paint.

I understand your interest, but think about this for a moment: when you bought your beefie, brawny (and I hope 6 speed CL-S), Did you actually say to yourself, "hmmmmmm....I wonder what the paint on those wheels weigh?" I assure you, it will be moot. Furthermore, the tires slid on the rims like a greased pig, so the dimensional "growth factor in diameter) of maybe .016 inches is a non factor.

The initial wheel weight was done on a cheap bathroom scale we use for rounding out pounds for UPS, so I cannot go back (hey! the tires are mounted and balanced) and sat that "Now, they weigh 24.2 pounds (or, whatever). Just trying to cover all the bases. I think there is one last pic for you to post if you got it safe and secure. It is the finished wheels, with the caps. Can't wait to read Niky pass's comments. Thanks again.

Smitty

Smitty

dfreder371

Smitty: yes, only one pic. please post, and thanks. My AOL not working correctly (like that is something new.)

dfreder371

Smitty: No center cap problems, and If I had to overestimate it, I would guess at about 15 to 28 grams tops, that is one ounce maximum, per wheel. Post a pic! Post a pic! Thanks, Dave.

GreenMonster

WOW. That's excellent

dfreder371

Smitty: AOL IM/BS working badly. and yes, the entire wheel is essentially coated. Reply through here for reliable messages.