Alaskossie Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 My Caterham 15-inch spoked wheels were (I thought) too dark in color, so I sent them to Wheel Enhancement (the Porsche wheel specialists) to be painted a lighter stock Audi color (seal grey metallic, I recall). Their price was $225 per wheel -- an extravagance, as I look back on it. I asked WE to powder-coat the wheels, but they said, "We do not powder coat as baking the powder coat onto a wheel that has already been heat treated during the initial manufacturing process can weaken the wheel." So now, several low-mileage years later, the WE paint is flaking off all of the rim edges, the bolt-hole edges, etc. The paint just did not adhere well at any stress point, and removing tires and replacing them with new ones just leads to further flaking and paint loss. So, what's the story? Is it possible to safely powder-coat aluminum wheels? If so, what shops know how to do it right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceral Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Depends on the type of wheel, cast aluminum will cure at a lower temperature than forged aluminum, depending on the type of aluminum will depend on the length of the treatment. The cheap wheel might do 325* for an hour, the other might need 450* for 3 hours, which could be a risk to the rims safety. Old rims, new rims? As you mentioned you need to research a number of shops to get a feel on what you can do with yours. Who knows, you might even be able to find a replacement set cost effectively after selling your old ones, perhaps another option to consider, I will say though as you noted $225 each isn't chump change, there's got to be a better way. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Bogart Racing offers powder coating on their wheels. They offered to powder coat mine when I had them built. I remember asking if powder coating was a decision that had to be made up front and the answer was no. I was told the decision could be made toward the end of the build process. While I elected not to have powder coating done, the conversation I had with with Bogart leads me to believe that powder coating could/would have taken place well after the wheels had been heat treated. I'll give Rich Bogart a call tomorrow and pick his brain about this. FWIW, the wheels that are currently on my Stalker (street wheels) are powder coated black; had the powder coating done long after I bought the wheels and no issues thus far. Here's a couple of before/after shots. Edited April 11, 2014 by xcarguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 What about plasticoating as an alternative to powder coating? I've been thinking about it for my orange track wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskossie Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Skip, If I could get a plastic color very close to my present wheel color, I would consider it. Where does one get this done? How durable is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 I had my cast aluminum 5Zigen wheels powder coated to match my chassis.... 9,000 miles & several track days. , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskossie Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Did your powder-coater specialize in doing wheels? Did he take any special precautions to keep bad things from happening to alloy wheels that have already been heat-treated originally? Or is this an old-wives' tale, even coming from a respected supplier like Wheel Enhancement?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Skip, If I could get a plastic color very close to my present wheel color, I would consider it. Where does one get this done? How durable is it? Most people do it themselves. It comes in rattle cans from your favorite auto parts stores. No personal experience but I've heard good things about it. If it goes bad you just peel it off and re-spray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Skip, If I could get a plastic color very close to my present wheel color, I would consider it. Where does one get this done? How durable is it? Lots of vid's on 'dipping' rims: You can order product here: https://www.dipyourcar.com/home.php?gclid=CK7F8uaN270CFVFp7Aodfn8AKw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGTorque Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 i recommend all plasti-type products. WORST case you will peal it off. if its to thin you can spay wd-40 or pb-blaster and it will wipe right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 They were done by the same guy that did the chassis (they came in black instead of silver and it would of been a long wait time)... so I doubt anything different was done. I imagine these rims were designed for cars weighing 3 times ours so don't know how much strength loss were talking about losing is relevant. We don't have the greatest roads here and have hit my share of holes, lips, metal plates... So far, so good. That's all I'm saying. , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subtlez28 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm no engineer, or lawyer either... Common sense is telling me the wheel refurbisher is latching on to a one in a million shot at potential liability. I also think the idea of the "heat treating" damaging the wheel has a lot more old wives tale than actual happenings to it. When they bake powder coat, the temperature is not that extreme. If aluminum wheels where that touchy, consider how hot your brake rotors can get... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I spoke with Rich Bogart (Bogart Racing) today about the issue of powder coating aluminum wheels. without going into any great detail, he basically explained to me that there is the possibility of weakening the structural integrity of a wheel to some degree depending on what temperature was originally used during the heat treating process and that used for powder coating. Time exposed to temperature is also a factor. He said, for example, if a wheel is heat treated using 350 degrees and then exposed to a higher temperature (say, 425 degrees) during the baking process for the powder coat, there is the possibility of annealing the aluminum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskossie Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 xcarguy, great information. That is what I think Wheel Enhancement Co. was trying to tell me. Does your friend Rich Bogart have any estimation of how low a temp (and for how short a time) a powder-coat could be applied to a wheel and still be effective? I will ask around locally to see if any powder-coaters know how to do aluminum wheels. It would be nice to find a powder-coater (locally or otherwise) who is aware of the special care that should be taken with aluminum wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 xcarguy, great information. That is what I think Wheel Enhancement Co. was trying to tell me. Does your friend Rich Bogart have any estimation of how low a temp (and for how short a time) a powder-coat could be applied to a wheel and still be effective? I will ask around locally to see if any powder-coaters know how to do aluminum wheels. It would be nice to find a powder-coater (locally or otherwise) who is aware of the special care that should be taken with aluminum wheels. Alaskossie, I'm certain Rich is very accurate regarding his own products as Bogart does offer powder coating as an option for their wheels. As for product Bogart didn't produce, I don't know if Rich could give an accurate estimation. You may very well end up running into the same issue you ran into with Wheel Enhancement Co. However, if it were me, I would do further research before I concluded that my wheels could not be powder coated. I would suggest speaking with some non-local powder coating companies. Even if you found a reputable company that could do this and it required shipping your wheels to get it done, in the long run, it might be worth it to you. Start with these guys and see if they can shed some light: http://www.armortechpowdercoating.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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