powdercoating wheels ... $$?

[ace3]

I called 2 local places.

One place was $100/wheel, but they werent' terribly interested in doing them. I believe they do more 'commercial' items.

The 2nd place is a place that only deals with wheels. They quoted me $130/wheel. I've heard good things about this place. This would be my choice of venues.

People i've talked to in CA & TX say that they get charged ~$50/wheel (including media blasting), which means i'm overpaying quite a bit.

What has everyone else been paying?

[TimMullen]

Not that is necessarily a problem, but one disadvantage of powder coating wheels, is that if they develop a crack, it will not be visible under the powder coat. Just something to think about...

[del105]

I personally would not powder coat a set of wheels. I'm not saying i can prove that powdercoating wheels makes them weaker but it does change the properties of the metal. Paint is just as good, in fact most wheel companies use paint over powder coat.

[sleepless]

I agree on the paint vs. power coating. But, to help answer your question, I see that sector111.com charges $50 per wheel so that seems in line with your initial thinking.

[CHRISN]

I am paying $35.00 per wheel.
Indianapolis

[ace3]

Originally posted by CHRISN
I am paying $35.00 per wheel.
Indianapolis

No kidding? I should just ship mine out to Indy & have them do mine as well. That's nuts.

[CHRISN]

The mgr of Indy tire recomended this guy to me.
I looked at some of the work he had around the shop and it all looked good to me. I will hold up on recomendations until I get mine back. I have posted the info below if you want to contact them.




Gale Enameling CO
10095 Old National Road, Indianapolis, IN 46231
(317) 839-7474

[mact3333]

Originally posted by CHRISN
The mgr of Indy tire recomended this guy to me.
I looked at some of the work he had around the shop and it all looked good to me. I will hold up on recomendations until I get mine back. I have posted the info below if you want to contact them.




Gale Enameling CO
10095 Old National Road, Indianapolis, IN 46231
(317) 839-7474

Chris, how do you like your car?...any probs?...reason I ask is because I was very close to owning that car from autoeurope...had purchase agreement in hand before a dealer opened up in my town...you bought it few days after I declined it I believe.

[CHRISN]

I love the car the only problem is I picked it up on Dec 4th and in the first week I put 1,300 miles on it. I today have 1,500 on it. I hate not driving it! The car is everything that I wanted.
My original car was just invoiced this week and I believe it as at the old MSRP. I am still holding the deposit. I am not sure what I am going to do.

[TripleBlack_NJ]

Originally posted by del105
I personally would not powder coat a set of wheels. I'm not saying i can prove that powdercoating wheels makes them weaker but it does change the properties of the metal. Paint is just as good, in fact most wheel companies use paint over powder coat.

The high-end places around here do UV light powdercoating instead of the old-school heat based powdercoating.

[BrokenR1]

Originally Posted by CHRISN

The mgr of Indy tire recomended this guy to me.
I looked at some of the work he had around the shop and it all looked good to me. I will hold up on recomendations until I get mine back. I have posted the info below if you want to contact them.




Gale Enameling CO
10095 Old National Road, Indianapolis, IN 46231
(317) 839-7474

Let us know soon as you get them back. I want to get the wheels, diffuser, and gas cap done. How do you guys store the car with no wheels? I also gotta figure out how much shipping would be if I shipped them up there.

[BrokenR1]

A place in Cutler Ridge down here said about $70 a wheel for black.

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by del105

I personally would not powder coat a set of wheels. I'm not saying i can prove that powdercoating wheels makes them weaker but it does change the properties of the metal. Paint is just as good, in fact most wheel companies use paint over powder coat.

Isn't the original finish a powdercoating?

[del105]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

Isn't the original finish a powdercoating?

No it just looks like clear coat on metal to me.

[ace3]

Originally Posted by del105

No it just looks like clear coat on metal to me.

i believe it's clear-coated paint, actually.

[truett lawson]

Just finished the black powder coating of wheels and diffuser. Was told that the entire wheel has already been powder coated. The silver is a mist coat over that on only the outside. Actually that silver came off with a good rub with a 3M scuffing pad so there is very little material there. I removed the gray trim on the diffuser and coated it too. Then I replaced the gray trim. It looks great. The gray on black is very finished looking. Total cost for coating wheels and diffuser...180 USD in Minnesota.

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by TripleBlack_NJ

The high-end places around here do UV light powdercoating instead of the old-school heat based powdercoating.

Hmmm...I called the Powder Coating Institute in VA -- believe it or not, it's basically a national organization of powder-coaters. I asked about the UV light powder coating. I was told it really wasn't developed for this type of application. The guy didn't go into details, but he said it's really not for this. Obviously, tho, some companies are using it for this.

He also said that there'd be no issue with heating the wheels, as it's done all the time. Of course, he's undoubtedly biased.

BTW: The Wheel Doctor in Gaithersburg, MD, is charging $120 to $150 per wheel. Ouch. But I don't know of a cheap alternative in the DC area. And as for shipping the wheels out, I don't really want to dismount the wheels myself, and I have no place to store the Elise without wheels. Besides, the shipping would probably eat up much of the savings.

[rob13572468]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

Hmmm...I called the Powder Coating Institute in VA -- believe it or not, it's basically a national organization of powder-coaters. I asked about the UV light powder coating. I was told it really wasn't developed for this type of application. The guy didn't go into details, but he said it's really not for this. Obviously, tho, some companies are using it for this.

He also said that there'd be no issue with heating the wheels, as it's done all the time. Of course, he's undoubtedly biased.

BTW: The Wheel Doctor in Gaithersburg, MD, is charging $120 to $150 per wheel. Ouch. But I don't know of a cheap alternative in the DC area. And as for shipping the wheels out, I don't really want to dismount the wheels myself, and I have no place to store the Elise without wheels. Besides, the shipping would probably eat up much of the savings.

the trick to finding a decent powder coater/ chromer/ anodiser/ etc. is to look for the the general duty shops that tend to do industrial work. when you find one it will typically look like a filthy 50's era factory. when i did my motorcycle, i went on a chroming rampage that including chroming the entire perimeter frame, which was a very difficult thing to get done. the guy that i finally found (and convinced to do it) did excellent work and the cost for all of the parts was rather inexpensive. these guys tend to agree to do the work if you bring them a larger number of parts; they sometimes do not want to deal with just a few parts.

The second issue is that certain coating processes do not work well with particular types of metal or have problems under stress; when i went to have my suzuki rims powdercoated they would not guarantee the job because the wheels had a high magnesium content which would interfere with the chemical bonding process. in other situations plating certain parts does not work well if they are subject to torsional stresses which can cause the plating to crack off...

the ideal situation is to talk with a metallurgist who can give you an idea of what will and will not work well. also if someone who has contacts at lotus could find out the exact metal content of the rims it will help as well.. as far as price, $35-50 sounds about right per rim... these places that charge 150 are way too high but certain areas it may cost more depending on the availability of those types of businesses.

[charliex]

i asked my shop to powder coat the wheels on my elan, he started off saying that powder coating wheels was a myth and its better to paint them, then he got interrupted by a call and i forget to ask again, obviously its not myth but all of their 911's wheels are painted vs powder coated and they look great, i'll have to ask what he meant

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by charliex

i asked my shop to powder coat the wheels on my elan, he started off saying that powder coating wheels was a myth and its better to paint them, then he got interrupted by a call and i forget to ask again, obviously its not myth but all of their 911's wheels are painted vs powder coated and they look great, i'll have to ask what he meant

Please do, and let me know! If painting works just as well, I might go with that.

And thanks for the info, Rob.