repainting/powdercoating stock wheels

[Clint Beastwood]

A while back I had to spend a couple months driving through pretty deep gravel/stones every day, and it has thoroughly rashed all 4 of my wheels. The insides have been rashed since new after the intern taking our cars for washing took them to one of those "on a track" car washes instead of the hand wash :| but now the outsides are absolutely jacked. Now that the paving is done and the gravel is gone the rash is driving me nuts. I kinda like the stock wheels, and was thinking about getting them painted or powdercoated in bronze/gold - has anyone had this done? I'm kinda half-assedly looking for a place now, I was just wondering how the process goes.

Do I have to pull the wheels and store the car up on blocks?
Do places let you just drop off the car?
Is this a 1-2 day thing, or a couple weeks thing?
Aaaaaand - anything I should look for/look to avoid when trying to pick a shop?
Paint vs powder coat?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm out of my wheelhouse here. I don't think I've ever bothered messing with wheels other than some old coke bottle cragars on a plymouth duster I had.

 

[jessemon1106]

I'd go the cheapest route as they will get bad once again. I just got some powder coated and they have chipped within a month. I dont drive any dirt roads. So next time I will just do them myself. The place I went too just wants the rims without tires.

 

[RubenZZZ]

Most powder coating shops are going to want the wheels bare - no tires mounted or vehicles attached to them...

If you need rollers, i'll have my orange, beat up wheels for you to borrow. Im getting new tires/ others wheels on Friday.


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[Clint Beastwood]

I'd go the cheapest route as they will get bad once again. I just got some powder coated and they have chipped within a month. I dont drive any dirt roads. So next time I will just do them myself. The place I went too just wants the rims without tires.

Maybe I should just paint them brake-dust colored

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Most powder coating shops are going to want the wheels bare - no tires mounted or vehicles attached to them...

If you need rollers, i'll have my orange, beat up wheels for you to borrow. Im getting new tires/ others wheels on Friday.


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Eh its all still on the drawing board right now, thanks for the offer I'm still kinda up in the air. I might just buy new wheels. I need to get some seat time in a Kona N before I decide if I'm keeping the FiST for another year or not. TBH it looks like the Elantra N/Kona N totally capture what I miss about my Abarth (being a noisy dickhead hooligan masquerading as a respectable adult lol).

What sweet-ass wheels did you decide on?

 

[RubenZZZ]

Eh its all still on the drawing board right now, thanks for the offer I'm still kinda up in the air. I might just buy new wheels. I need to get some seat time in a Kona N before I decide if I'm keeping the FiST for another year or not. TBH it looks like the Elantra N/Kona N totally capture what I miss about my Abarth (being a noisy dickhead hooligan masquerading as a respectable adult lol).

What sweet-ass wheels did you decide on?

Just some OfferUp specials, nothing fancy. But pothole bend-free!


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[rallytaff]

I ordered my matt black wheels from BRAID, but it was a bitch to keep them clean. I got them powder coated high gloss black and they stay much cleaner, longer! I now am careful against kerbing them. They now match my painted wing!

 

[flbchbm]

Powder coating requires a chemical dip to strip old paint or powder coating, then blast any bad areas, then bake for 2-3 hours ~400° to remove oils/gases. Then they get coated and baked for ~20 min @ 400°.

$75-150 each, depending on your region.

Why pay to do anything to the factory boat anchors. Lighten up the unsprung weight and rotational mass ...

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[rallytaff]

Your point being?????????

 

[rallytaff]

I did it because of the look, NOT the unsprung weight and rotational mass! By the way, they're aftermarket wheels, NOT the factory ones!

 

[M-Sport fan]

I did it because of the look, NOT the unsprung weight and rotational mass! By the way, they're aftermarket wheels, NOT the factory ones!

I believe that flbchbm was referring to the original post (by Clint), and not your post/Braids.

 

[Business6]

It's not a bad idea for going back to stock resales. Wheels, especially in good condition, can make a difference in the buyer's confidence.

 

[Mikey456]

I like the look of my stock wheels…guess I’m one of the few. They seem unique to me.It is logical to upgrade to lighter wheels, however some members have found out that light wheels can be also fragile.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Powder coating requires a chemical dip to strip old paint or powder coating, then blast any bad areas, then bake for 2-3 hours ~400° to remove oils/gases. Then they get coated and baked for ~20 min @ 400°.

$75-150 each, depending on your region.

Why pay to do anything to the factory boat anchors. Lighten up the unsprung weight and rotational mass ...

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

At least for me, the FiST is a disposably cheap daily that I don't feel bad about parking outside/on the street/etc. As such, I don't really care if different wheels are lighter, I just want to get rid of the rash - and I kinda sorta liked the look of bronze wheels on the FiST. Difference in use-case, I would guess.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

It's not a bad idea for going back to stock resales. Wheels, especially in good condition, can make a difference in the buyer's confidence.

Yeah, I can sell the car bone stock except for the big intercooler and hand over maintenance records showing oil changes every 3k miles and meticulous notes of any/every thing ever done to and with the car. All stock parts shrinkwrapped in the garage and cleaned up ready for reinstallation should a buyer request that.

 

[Mcsmiff]

A while back I had to spend a couple months driving through pretty deep gravel/stones every day, and it has thoroughly rashed all 4 of my wheels. The insides have been rashed since new after the intern taking our cars for washing took them to one of those "on a track" car washes instead of the hand wash :| but now the outsides are absolutely jacked. Now that the paving is done and the gravel is gone the rash is driving me nuts. I kinda like the stock wheels, and was thinking about getting them painted or powdercoated in bronze/gold - has anyone had this done? I'm kinda half-assedly looking for a place now, I was just wondering how the process goes.

Do I have to pull the wheels and store the car up on blocks?
Do places let you just drop off the car?
Is this a 1-2 day thing, or a couple weeks thing?
Aaaaaand - anything I should look for/look to avoid when trying to pick a shop?
Paint vs powder coat?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm out of my wheelhouse here. I don't think I've ever bothered messing with wheels other than some old coke bottle cragars on a plymouth duster I had.

I painted the stock snowflakes myself using an airbrush setup and my experience from this being my full time job. Generally getting them professionally painted will be cheaper (600$ or so) and powdercoating will cost slightly more (800$ or so)

The difference is getting them professionally painted, they’ll most likely only paint the face of the wheel and leave the barrel unpainted. Whereas a powder coat will paint the entire wheel. You might check to see if the company I work for is local, we offer both options. The name is “WheelsOnsite”

 

[rallytaff]

Mine were completely coated, front and back.

 

[Mcsmiff]

That’s because they were powder coated, they have no option but to do the whole wheel because the whole wheel is treated. I’m strictly speaking painting

Mine were completely coated, front and back.

 

[rallytaff]

My stock wheels were painted matt black using rubberised paint and they looked terrible because the backs weren't touched. I'll pay the extra to make them look great!