Looks great. Is the entire surface coated? Can the polished portion be masked off and the rest coated? I have been contemplating doing the same thing. My FFR Halibrands look OK but the lug covers do not match the wheels. Also, the rear side of the wheels were not coated well at all. Not sure why but the wheels are painted as apposed to powdercoated.
I actually received a call from the wheel manufacturer stating that the wheels were made in China and that because of the coveyor process used at the plant they could not get a good coating on the inside of the wheel. He actually sent a photo of the conveyor. Not exactly what you want to tell a customer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZoaFan08
Can't wait till I'm done grinding so I can get the suspension done and get these mounted!
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Location: Somewhere between Arkansas and Colorado....
Posts: 1,992
Looks great, but I would be very WEARY of powdercoating any aluminum wheel, esp from china. Unless the coater knows exactly whay they are doing, and has the specialized equipment to do wheels I would not put them on my car.
Looks great. Is the entire surface coated? Can the polished portion be masked off and the rest coated? I have been contemplating doing the same thing. My FFR Halibrands look OK but the lug covers do not match the wheels. Also, the rear side of the wheels were not coated well at all. Not sure why but the wheels are painted as apposed to powdercoated.
I actually received a call from the wheel manufacturer stating that the wheels were made in China and that because of the coveyor process used at the plant they could not get a good coating on the inside of the wheel. He actually sent a photo of the conveyor. Not exactly what you want to tell a customer.
Yes, the entire surface is coated. The place I took them to told me they could do the lip a different color but when I am all done I am just going to call a pin strip guy to a small line on the lip to match the paint.
I also had them do my lug covers at the same time so they would match perfectly.
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MKII non donor
347 stroker with stacks
3 link, Koni front & rear, 4 wheel disc brakes
Operation Chrome Elimination Underway
Looks great, but I would be very WEARY of powdercoating any aluminum wheel, esp from china. Unless the coater knows exactly whay they are doing, and has the specialized equipment to do wheels I would not put them on my car.
It's all about the temp that they bake them at, the place I took them to is a race shop and they know not to bake them higher than 500*. These are Team III rims which I believe are made in the US and are 1 piece so they can handle a little more heat.
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MKII non donor
347 stroker with stacks
3 link, Koni front & rear, 4 wheel disc brakes
Operation Chrome Elimination Underway
Location: Somewhere between Arkansas and Colorado....
Posts: 1,992
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZoaFan08
It's all about the temp that they bake them at, the place I took them to is a race shop and they know not to bake them higher than 500*. These are Team III rims which I believe are made in the US and are 1 piece so they can handle a little more heat.
as long as the powder they use fully cures at a low temp SHOULD be ok. Conventional powder, conventional methods are risky.
as long as the powder they use fully cures at a low temp SHOULD be ok. Conventional powder, conventional methods are risky.
Google it, you will see examples of failures.
I use to race motorcycles and know bad things can happen if the coater cooks the wheels too hot and too long. I always suggest you ask your coater what temps and methods he uses and then make your decision. I found this out the hard way, had a front rim break on the track.
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MKII non donor
347 stroker with stacks
3 link, Koni front & rear, 4 wheel disc brakes
Operation Chrome Elimination Underway
I talked to my local powder coater that does most of Boeings work and lots of stuff for hot rods and sports cars. He has the best reputation and is a real smart guy. He had several points.
1. The normal temp for powder coating is 400F and a normal cycle is 45 minutes. There are lower temperature powders (220-240F) but they do not give a good finish and are available in limited colors.
2. He is aware that 400F is close to the annealing point of most aluminum alloys and methods of making the wheel. ie. cast, centrifugal cast, billet CNC, forged, etc.
3. He does't like to do cast wheels unless he knows the type of aluminum, but he has never had a wheel come back that he could attribute to a heat related powder coating problem. He has done lots of aluminum wheels for a big manufacturer of off road wheels and he also does wheels for several sports car racing preparation shops in the Northwest including the biggest Porsche shop that preps a lot of race cars.
4. He does a lot of work for Boeing and Boeing does not do powder coating on ANY aluminum part by policy, nor does any other aerospace vendor that he is aware of in the Seattle area because of the heat issure.
I think the jury is still out on whether or not to PC aluminum wheels, but a lot of the wheels on factory produced cars are powder coated like on my tow truck. I wonder if some of the PC shops are really heating the aluminum a lot hotter than they think they are because their process control is not the best or they are not heating and cooling them as gradually as they should.
Ron
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Location: Somewhere between Arkansas and Colorado....
Posts: 1,992
Quote:
Originally Posted by ROADRACER83
All:
I talked to my local powder coater that does most of Boeings work and lots of stuff for hot rods and sports cars. He has the best reputation and is a real smart guy. He had several points.
1. The normal temp for powder coating is 400F and a normal cycle is 45 minutes. There are lower temperature powders (220-240F) but they do not give a good finish and are available in limited colors.
2. He is aware that 400F is close to the annealing point of most aluminum alloys and methods of making the wheel. ie. cast, centrifugal cast, billet CNC, forged, etc.
3. He does't like to do cast wheels unless he knows the type of aluminum, but he has never had a wheel come back that he could attribute to a heat related powder coating problem. He has done lots of aluminum wheels for a big manufacturer of off road wheels and he also does wheels for several sports car racing preparation shops in the Northwest including the biggest Porsche shop that preps a lot of race cars.
4. He does a lot of work for Boeing and Boeing does not do powder coating on ANY aluminum part by policy, nor does any other aerospace vendor that he is aware of in the Seattle area because of the heat issure.
I think the jury is still out on whether or not to PC aluminum wheels, but a lot of the wheels on factory produced cars are powder coated like on my tow truck. I wonder if some of the PC shops are really heating the aluminum a lot hotter than they think they are because their process control is not the best or they are not heating and cooling them as gradually as they should.
Ron
I agree on all aspects
I operate a powdercoating line as part of my business. All of my training and suppliers do not recommend doing it without the specialized powders and process controls (temp monitoring, destructive testing etc). Shops that do this exsist, but are rare.
Someone may say they have done hundreds or have driven thousands of miles, but it only takes one small failure to be disastrous.
People a lot smarter than me have warned against this, and examples of failures are plentiful. People just need to be informed that something as benign sounding as "painting" some wheels (or a scuba tank) could be deadly.
I know there have been SCUBA tank explosions, with fatalities, involving aluminum tanks weakened during powder coating.
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I saw that picture and in one they looked black and another they looked gray. That is what gave me the idea.
Yea I think it was the paint I used, if light hits them directly they look a dark black, if not they look grey. In this picture you can see how black they look.
I should have done two coats
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MKII non donor
347 stroker with stacks
3 link, Koni front & rear, 4 wheel disc brakes
Operation Chrome Elimination Underway
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