Powder coating wheels question...

[Davan]

Well, I'm an idiot... misjudged the sidewalk and curbed one of my wheels. It's not really bad, but bad enough to bug me.

So..... I've read in searches that Top Gun Coatings or Alberta Wheel Repair are the places to go....

Would they just want me to bring in the four wheels, with or without tires? I'd have to put the car up on blocks or something?

Or I can just leave the whole car with them?

And anyone know approx pricing that I'll be looking at for four 17 inch wheels?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

[Hakkola]

You can bring them the whole car I believe, since you don't have other wheels, not sure how long it takes though.

I have to bring my wheels in, might do it today, but I'm bringing them with rubber.

[Davan]

Okay, that's cool, so they have the equiptment to unmount then remount and balance your wheels and tires? That would save a lot of hassle. :)

[Davan]

Oh, and they will strip them first too, right? Or am I responsible for that separately?

[Gonthro]

with top gun you'll need to have just the rims, take off the rubber, take out the valve stem and anything else that might melt on the wheel... and also they probably have a minimum order (min $100 or soemthing) just give them a call and they'll tell you everything.

also you may need to have them sandblased previously, but i imagine they will have the facilities to do this.

[sputnik]

i would recommend not getting your rims powdercoated.

the powdercoating finish isnt as flexible as the rim is... as you drive your rims will move slightly which will result in hairline cracks in your finish.

you are better off getting them painted with an epoxy based paint.

[Davan]

How durable is that kind of paint? Meaning, how does it hold up to rock chips and such? These are the only wheels I have, they have to be winter driven as well... And what place could I go to get this done?

[roopi]

Dav just buy new wheels and keep these for winter driving. You already have winter tires on them. Simple solution! :D

[Davan]

Shuddup Roop! I got other stuff to buy!. :P :D

[ChadL]

yo man, i painted mine.. rock chips are horrible.. but soon enough all the streets will be cleared of rocks, and simple paint will do it man. powder coating is a waste of money

[Team_Mclaren]

i got mine done at AB wheel, i just took the wheels in with rubbers, cept for one, then i bronght an extra rubber that i had on another rim later on and they balanced, mounted on for me. all 4 wheels when they were finished were mounted/balanced with inside weights.

1 of my rims was fucked so they had to fixed that, the other 3, 2 of them were leakin madd air so that had to be fix too. charged me 110 for the 3 rims and 170 for the one that needed madd fixing. All of them also painted gunmetal with a silver lip. (see pic)

I highly recommand them, they did a very good job, even tho it did take a while for them to get them done. (almost 3 weeks, i told them not to rush tho). i got them done last summer, then put away for a while. Been driving with them now for 1 month since it got painted and no problem at all. Still looks 99% freshly done.
i recommand u find an extra sets of rims+tires for your car while their gettin fix, what lug pattern is your car, i might be able to lend u my winters for a week or so.

this is a pic of the finish product, dont mind the center cap cuase i didnt put it in fully when i told the pic, hope this helps man! :thumbsup:

[Ducati]

Originally posted by sputnik
i would recommend not getting your rims powdercoated.

the powdercoating finish isnt as flexible as the rim is... as you drive your rims will move slightly which will result in hairline cracks in your finish.

you are better off getting them painted with an epoxy based paint.

Perhaps there is some validity to this. My experience with powdercoated rims has not revealed this weakness.

I have had the Marchecini rims on my Alfa powder coated in 1998 and so far, no cracking or perceptable crazing or discolouration. They look as good as they did five and a half years ago. Granted, this car is a Garage Queen, so it does not see the rigours of the road as much as your car might.

However, last summer I had all four of my "Bundt cake" style Mercedes alloy rims media blasted and powder coated. I did the media blast myself at the BC Railyards shop where a friend works, after hours, and then took them for a silver-grey powdercoating. It was $40. per wheel. So far, a year later to the week, the wheels also look great, with no cracking, despite my laziness all rainy winter in removing an accumulation of mildly corrosive brake dust.

Thats just my experiences with powder coated wheels. I have had quite literally dozens of motorcycle parts powder coated, and have had 100% satisfaction over 15 years. For exhaust systems I have used Plasma Coating, which has proven extremely durable.