Powder coating wheels?
10-22-2005, 03:12 AM
#1
Three Wheelin'
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Powder coating wheels?
i was wondering if anyone has powdercoated wheels here before?
how is the durability and around how much does ti cost per wheel?
thanks
how is the durability and around how much does ti cost per wheel?
thanks
10-22-2005, 06:47 AM
#2
GEEZER
Durability far surpasses paint. It's about 125 to 150 a wheel depending on initial condition.
10-22-2005, 08:53 AM
#3
Burning Brakes
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I powdercoat for a living...
Trust me, it's good stuff, but it must be done correctly.
Powder coating of aluminum car wheels is standard equipment from the auto manufacturers and has been for years. If a clear is used, it is almost always an acrylic formulation. If the wheels are colored, the chemistry could be an acrylic or a polyester formulation. The LAST THING YOU WOULD WANT to powdercoat a wheel with would be an epoxy formulation. Although epoxy is the king of powder coatings with regard to corrosion control, epoxy sucks at sunlight resistance. For instance, if you epoxy powder coat a wheel black, don't be suprised if next year they are gray and the year after that white and actually "chalking" (you rub your fingers across the wheel and your fingers turn white.
If the proper chemistry is selected, which is NOT your job, you will have no issues. Let the powder coating job shop do that for you, that's what they are there for.
What you are doing when you powdercoat an object is to encase it in plastic, which as we all know does not rust. The wheel is grounded (hung from a hook), and positively charged plastic particles, up to 100,000 volts (but with very little amperage) is attracted to the oppositely charged wheel. Then the wheel is cured for a certain time and temperature for the powder coating to melt, flow out, crosslink and finally be cured. This is not a do it yourself operation. Let the pros do it.
As in any painting operation, the paint application is the easy part. The hard part is the surface preparation. All soils, organic (dirt, grease, oil, tar) along with inorganic (rust, oxides of aluminum) must be completely gone. The PC job shop should be able to handle that with a wash system for the former, and sandblasting for the latter. However, if your wheels are machined aluminum, blasting will leave a dull appearance that you may not like if reshooting with yet another clear. The blasting, however, leaves a microetched surface, and powder coatings love that-it's great for adhesion.
Do not, under any circumstances, specify that the powder coating you choose be applied over another painted finish. It must be down to the bare metal. Intercoat adhesion failure can, and probably will occur. This happened to NickyPass. There is no exception to this rule.
Also, make sure all of the valve stems and balance weights are gone before coating. They must be.
You can't go wrong with powder coating as long as you pick a competent job shop. The choices of color and special effects are endless. Be picky about what you choose, particurlalry in regards to color, gloss and "orange peel." Very high gloss levels show scratches easier, and orange peel is objectionable. I say this, because once powder coatings are applied and properly cured, they are hell to remove. Killers $100 to $150 is right on the money, but expect that to triple or quadruple if you are not happy with the original selection.
BTW, what you gonna do about the center caps if they are plastic? You can't powder coat those, as the powder won't stick, and even if it did, they would melt at the 400 degree curing temperature. But I have a solution for that. PM me if you want to know more.
My custom powder coated wheels, which I personally did NOT do (special technology, I didn't have some of the equipment needed) can be viewed at www.goodrichtechnology.com
Mine are the black pearl finish with a high gloss clear. $100 per wheel 2.5 years ago, but shipping costs were horrendous. However, this was and is a real world experiment for my company, so I didn't have to pay for it. They have been on the car for 2.5 years 24/7/365 and they still look like the day I took them out of the box.
Also, if you search "powdercoating" in this forum, look for a thread hosted by smitty, who hosted pics for me. There you will see my wheels on my first 03CLS6 in SSM, and my second 03CLS6 anthricite.
Good luck!
Powder coating of aluminum car wheels is standard equipment from the auto manufacturers and has been for years. If a clear is used, it is almost always an acrylic formulation. If the wheels are colored, the chemistry could be an acrylic or a polyester formulation. The LAST THING YOU WOULD WANT to powdercoat a wheel with would be an epoxy formulation. Although epoxy is the king of powder coatings with regard to corrosion control, epoxy sucks at sunlight resistance. For instance, if you epoxy powder coat a wheel black, don't be suprised if next year they are gray and the year after that white and actually "chalking" (you rub your fingers across the wheel and your fingers turn white.
If the proper chemistry is selected, which is NOT your job, you will have no issues. Let the powder coating job shop do that for you, that's what they are there for.
What you are doing when you powdercoat an object is to encase it in plastic, which as we all know does not rust. The wheel is grounded (hung from a hook), and positively charged plastic particles, up to 100,000 volts (but with very little amperage) is attracted to the oppositely charged wheel. Then the wheel is cured for a certain time and temperature for the powder coating to melt, flow out, crosslink and finally be cured. This is not a do it yourself operation. Let the pros do it.
As in any painting operation, the paint application is the easy part. The hard part is the surface preparation. All soils, organic (dirt, grease, oil, tar) along with inorganic (rust, oxides of aluminum) must be completely gone. The PC job shop should be able to handle that with a wash system for the former, and sandblasting for the latter. However, if your wheels are machined aluminum, blasting will leave a dull appearance that you may not like if reshooting with yet another clear. The blasting, however, leaves a microetched surface, and powder coatings love that-it's great for adhesion.
Do not, under any circumstances, specify that the powder coating you choose be applied over another painted finish. It must be down to the bare metal. Intercoat adhesion failure can, and probably will occur. This happened to NickyPass. There is no exception to this rule.
Also, make sure all of the valve stems and balance weights are gone before coating. They must be.
You can't go wrong with powder coating as long as you pick a competent job shop. The choices of color and special effects are endless. Be picky about what you choose, particurlalry in regards to color, gloss and "orange peel." Very high gloss levels show scratches easier, and orange peel is objectionable. I say this, because once powder coatings are applied and properly cured, they are hell to remove. Killers $100 to $150 is right on the money, but expect that to triple or quadruple if you are not happy with the original selection.
BTW, what you gonna do about the center caps if they are plastic? You can't powder coat those, as the powder won't stick, and even if it did, they would melt at the 400 degree curing temperature. But I have a solution for that. PM me if you want to know more.
My custom powder coated wheels, which I personally did NOT do (special technology, I didn't have some of the equipment needed) can be viewed at www.goodrichtechnology.com
Mine are the black pearl finish with a high gloss clear. $100 per wheel 2.5 years ago, but shipping costs were horrendous. However, this was and is a real world experiment for my company, so I didn't have to pay for it. They have been on the car for 2.5 years 24/7/365 and they still look like the day I took them out of the box.
Also, if you search "powdercoating" in this forum, look for a thread hosted by smitty, who hosted pics for me. There you will see my wheels on my first 03CLS6 in SSM, and my second 03CLS6 anthricite.
Good luck!
10-22-2005, 09:16 AM
#5
GEEZER
Dave is the man when it comes to teh powdercoating. 
10-22-2005, 09:57 AM
#6
That was uncalled for...
Holy crap, Im saving that in a word document, some great info there....(Sometime in the future I plan on powder coating a new set of rims)
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