wheel powder coating?

[slider200]

going to have my centres powder coated on my blitz z1's but i haven't a clue on what colour to have on a red s14?

they say they have 200 colours to choose from! also they charge 25 quid plus vat per wheel is that a reasonable price???

[Si]

Sounds perfectly reasonable :) sweeney sherlock in the centre of Brum did mine for a very similar price - I'm sure some places wouldn't be averse to a cash discount either ;)

I know black looks hard as feck on a black car, but dunno about red - I like the idea of bodycoloured, but the old favourite graphite, gunmetal and blacks all look pretty awesome. I was thinking about trying pearl white on my track set as well :cool:

[slider200]

yeah i was thinking of a gunmetal, white would be an arse to keep clean but would look cool!

[Annalie]

going to have my centres powder coated on my blitz z1's but i haven't a clue on what colour to have on a red s14?

they say they have 200 colours to choose from! also they charge 25 quid plus vat per wheel is that a reasonable price???

That's a good price- are thay 15"? We charge £30 plus VAT for a 15" wheel but we are in Shetland and everything is more expensive up here as we have to factor in shipping etc.
Regarding the colour, get a picture of your car onto a computer and then use paint shop to try different colours on your car. The company may even have that facility.
Some people like white wheels on a red car, i think it's a bit tacky looking. Shadow crome is nice or maybe anthricite or titanium silver (known in the trade as tit silver- ho ho!:)

[George]

Is it a two piece wheel, and are you taking them to bits yourself?

You're supposed to replace the scews when you do this.:)

I think between £20 - £25 for the centres is a fine price and I would be tempted to go for something like shadow chrome for a black car with the polished lip it will look cool.:)

[alexjj]

do it... powder coated wheels are piss easy to keep clean as well - so much more civilised than metal..

[slider200]

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f76/slidder200/mycar2.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f76/slidder200/sig1p6kq.jpg
well they're like this at the mo, oh and its just the centres, wheels are 18" 3 piece, i'm going to try and re use the bolts!

[George]

its just the centres, wheels are 18" 3 piece, i'm going to try and re use the bolts!

Re using bolts is OK as long as they come out nice and easy. If you struggle getting them out and think you may have fatigued the metal, I would recommend changing at least those ones. Stainless is worse than mild steel for reacting with aluminium unfortunately. Use a good thread lock when you put them back in.:thumbs:

[slider200]

well i'm giving them a good spray with penatrating fluid so hopefully they'll come out! were do you get replacments anyway???

[George]

I usually contact the wheel manfacturer, but you may be able to get the correct bolts somewhere else. They are special bolts though.:)

[scott_d]

Where are you getting them powder coated?

[slider200]

glastonbury auto repairs/auto bodies, something like that???

[TomSx]

:eek:

[slider200]

whats up tom you think i should leave them gold?

i was thinkin of gloss black centres with a red flip/sparlkle effect??? but only so you can see small flex of red not over the top!

[tej]

gunmetal centre and a chromesque looking polished lip :)

[scott_d]

Did you get this done??

[slideordie]

I was told by a reputable powder coating place over here not to powder coat wheels as the heating up and cooling down involved is known to degrade the metal and make them prone to failure?

[Si]

I was told by a very reputable powder coating place over here not to powder coat wheels as the heating up and cooling down involved is known to degrade the metal and make them prone to failure?

Urban Myth ;)

[dhracer]

Urban Myth ;)
:no: I don't think it is an urban myth, I'm sure there have been cases of that happening on here :confused: . I think it only happens if the powdercoater doesn't know what they're doing with wheels though (and gets them too hot/heats them too quickly or something - I forget exactly what)

[Si]

:no: I don't think it is an urban myth, I'm sure there have been cases of that happening on here :confused: . I think it only happens if the powdercoater doesn't know what they're doing with wheels though (and gets them too hot/heats them too quickly or something - I forget exactly what)

Sorry, urban myth - propogated due to a few rare cases where the PC has not been correctly done :)
The one i suspect you are thinking of was Midgers' R33 wheels?

I thought long and hard about this when i decided to get my split rim centres PC'd - i spent the best part of a month asking the opinions of various powder coaters, and even wheel manufactureres - and all of them told me that, if done correctly there should be no risk at all.

I can't pretend to understand the ins and outs, or the temperatures involved, but I seem to remember sub 200 degrees C temperatures being talked about, and 'ramp rates' - if you think about it, braking can produce a lot of heat, and most of this is transferred straight to the wheels - For instance if you watch WRC you often see brake discs glowing on night stages - i suspect this transmits more than 200 degrees C to the Hub.

If you can generate enough heat from mountain bike brake discs to burn an accidental Hope brand onto your calves (*cough* Benn *cough* :wack: ) then I'm pretty sure a car disc can create a fair bit of heat.

Where's George when you need him?! :D

[dhracer]

May well have been that case I was thinking of, it was a while back

Anyhow my point was not to blindly take it to some powdercoater who has never done car wheels before that's all :)

[Si]

May well have been that case I was thinking of, it was a while back

Anyhow my point was not to blindly take it to some powdercoater who has never done car wheels before that's all :)

Indeed, sorry - bad week, came across as an arrogant tw@t. For a change. - first day back after the bank hols and all that :wack:

Some useful info here:
http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=235798&highlight=powder+coat
hth :)
Si

[dhracer]

arrogant twat :indiff: :mad:






eh? :confused: :wack: :D not at all, some good info in there

Really liking the gunmetal in that other thread, it's nice to see the spokes which you don't do so much with the black

[Si]

:D
If you get a nice gloss black it really does pick out the spokes nicely:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r30/Simon_r_hill/EnkeisFitted/DSC00240.jpg

[dhracer]

:smitten: they look stunning, are those the ones you refurbed yourself? Just getting round to polishing the lip of my advans, it's a right ballache though due to the spoke design :annoyed: (it all needs to be done by hand almost :cry: )

[George]

Sorry, urban myth - propogated due to a few rare cases where the PC has not been correctly done :)
The one i suspect you are thinking of was Midgers' R33 wheels?

I thought long and hard about this when i decided to get my split rim centres PC'd - i spent the best part of a month asking the opinions of various powder coaters, and even wheel manufactureres - and all of them told me that, if done correctly there should be no risk at all.

I can't pretend to understand the ins and outs, or the temperatures involved, but I seem to remember sub 200 degrees C temperatures being talked about, and 'ramp rates' - if you think about it, braking can produce a lot of heat, and most of this is transferred straight to the wheels - For instance if you watch WRC you often see brake discs glowing on night stages - i suspect this transmits more than 200 degrees C to the Hub.

If you can generate enough heat from mountain bike brake discs to burn an accidental Hope brand onto your calves (*cough* Benn *cough* :wack: ) then I'm pretty sure a car disc can create a fair bit of heat.

Where's George when you need him?! :D

I did some calculations on this a while ago when someone had a problem with fractured spokes and the powder coating process was in question. Basically there is no risk when powder coating a wheel unless something is done seriously wrong.

With regards to uneven heating and internal stresses causing work hardening of the wheel:

Aluminium heats very evenly regardless of the ramp rate because it is so good at conducting heat. Just try welding a wheel with the TIG and you'll see what I'm on about. This means that even with fat and thin bits in the wheel design it all still heats up at around the same rate. (I would be more careful with a cylinder head or something if you're knocking out guides though)

With regards to the tempering issue:

Most high performance wheels are tempered in the factory to give optimum strength. This involves baking them at a pre determined temperature for a set period. If you bake a wheel for too long it can become harder, more brittle and prone to fracture.

The maximum temperature you would put a wheel in at for powder coating is 220 degrees centigrade. At this temperature it would take a wheel 10 hours to loose about 2% of its tensile strength. While powder coating it will only be at this temperature for around 30 minutes.

So, is it a problem? I would have to say no.:)

[slider200]

lots of good info there! i've split the centres and thy're going to be gloss black!

but i need some new bolts as some have snapped:(

[Jolly F]

I liked them gold but everyone will be different. Black does look good but you loose all the detail of the wheel as it really just picks up the polished rim...

[mixmasterspike]

i like em gold too, powder coat your car black:wack:

[Actual_Ben_Taylor]

Black seems to have been done to death, do them red :)

[slider200]

argh so many colours would like to try red as i saw a red porker with red rims tother day!:smitten: