Racin96ss

iTrader: (3)

For those of you that have powdercoated you spokes either charcoal or black how much are you spending to have this done? A friend mentioned that they sandblast the center spokes and the PC and then clear coat. Was quoted 400-450 but no sure about the sandblasting part. Looking for a little info on this process.

Looks like I'll be going to painted process. Anyone how has painted spokes please let me know how they are holding up.

DustinZ28

iTrader: (2)

I think different shops will charge different prices. I had a few buddies that get all their 4wheeler stuff powder coated at the same place and the guy said hed do my wheels for 40-50$ a wheel

Racin96ss

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, that's more in line with what I've heard but I am thinking that the sandblasting the centers is what the extra $$ is for?

Anyone know why you would sandblast the spokes since they are just polished alum.?

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

I am getting this done right now. Let me just tell you first, make sure you get a good shop to do it because the guys I'm using are idiots. The color was good (close to black chrome) but the tape job was horrible, they had to redo two rims. And the guy had the nerve to argue with me about it, I wouldh't have even put them on the car! If your in the Chicago area let me know and I'll tell you who not to use.

But anyway, I had the spokes and barrel done. They have to tape the lip, then sand everything by hand to prep for the paint. Then they paint and let dry and finally put a clear powdercoad over the entire rim. You cannot just have the spokes PC becaue they have to heat the rims @ 400* and the tape would burn. I went to two shops and they both said the same thing. So you have to paint first, then clear PC to get the durability your looking for. Look to spend about $500 for all four.

If you get the entire rim PC I was quoted $90 / rim

Racin96ss

iTrader: (3)

Can you PM me the places your talking about. I'm in plainfield and this is guy that works with a buddy of mine. I see what your saying about the tape but they could pull the tape off for baking the paint and then retape for clear. I would not want them to clear over the polished lip on a TT II. I need to get a hold of him and see what this plans are. I know I can paint them for about the same but just not as durable as PC is.

thanks for the input so far.

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

Sand blasting is part of the prep. Would you take your car to be painted and let them just shoot the paint without doing prep to the car to make sure it won't bubble or flake off? Mine were sand blasted and still look as good as the day I brought them home. I knew the person that powder coated my wheels and trusted him. Since the wheels they have powder coated several parts for me and each has turned out great. In fact each part was sand blasted before being coated.

What you were quoted is about inline with what I paid.

Racin96ss

iTrader: (3)

NO I just wanted the option of polishing my rims as needed. My car only see summer weather and I didn't see the need for a PC clear over the whole rim.

Do you have some close up of your rims you could PM me? Please do so!

I just figured that if I went with painted/cleared spokes/centers at 1/2 the price of PC then I could redo them when needed without as much perp.

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

I guess I don't understand what you're asking. I thought you were talking about powder coating the centers like mine and leaving the lip polished? IF SO then that's how mine are. My lips are not cleared, they are still raw polished aluminum. The lips were taped off and just the centers were sand blasted and coated.

You can paint for cheaper BUT it's not going to hold up as well and how many times are you going to have to redo them? Drop a lug nut on them and watch the paint chip or if something else hits it.

Here's the closest I've got, the lip needed to be polished but I had just picked up the wheels that day. I will get a new picture this weekend so you can see the fully polished lip. Plus I want to show off my powder coated calipers

Racin96ss

iTrader: (3)

All the places arouns here have said they can PC the centers but have to clear the whole rim...and I do not want to PC clear the whole rim.

I don't mind painting and even if I have to redo sometime down the road since the car only see's around 3-4K miles a year at most. So I think that the painting will hold up a little better than most.

Nacho SS

iTrader: (4)

^Those look sick 01 Red WS6!

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

Keep looking for a place. I see no reason that they would need to clear the whole wheel. If they are taping off the center to PC them then they should be able to do the same for the clear. You don't drive your car much so I guess you would be fine for a long while with painted centers. I only drove my car around 600 miles last year

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

Every place I went to said they couldn't PC with tape because of the extreme heat. These are guys who do strictly PC'ing and have been around for a long time. What's wrong with putting a PC clear over the whole rim anyways? Everyone told me they would put a lifetime guarantee that they will not yellow. And their not PC'ing the centers, their painting them with a Powder clear.

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

I went to a local shop and taped up my wheels to do this. I've seen some sold in catalogs and such and it was a high temp tape. As for clearing the whole wheel... When you clear over the polished wheel it will make it look dull like it needs to be polished. I'm sure it probably wouldn't yellow but it just won't look as good as a well polished wheel should.

BigKap94z

iTrader: (47)

I powdercoat and there is high temp tape for masking off. I also don't see why you would need to clear the entire rim including the lip. Also I am not sure if there is any real benefit to clearing over the powdercoat anyways, I only do it for my own stuff and a few buddies but I never clear the stuff I powdercoat.

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

I didn't notice any difference between before and after. But maby that's because mine were brand new so were still very shiny. I think the benefit to clearing the lip would be that it will never dull and would actually protect it from dings, scraches, etc.

BigKap...they don't clear over the powdercoat. On mine they PAINT them the color I wanted, then they put a powder clear coat over the paint to get the durability. The way the owner of "Lo-Ko" (local Powdercoat shop) explainted it is...since he doesn't have a square edge to butt the tape up to, when it's heated up to 400* the tape will curl back allowing the color to bleed onto the polished part.

Now I'm no expert so I really don't know if this would actually happen or if there is just a chance it might happen and he was covering his ***. But he obviously didn't want to take the chance on ruining my rims so he turned away my business. There does seem to be some contraversy since at least one other member had it done this way.