Powder Coating

[will217]

Hello all I was just wondering what your opinions on powder coating alloy wheels are?
I've just bought an 09 S3 in silver so it has the facelifts alloys, and i've been toying with the idea of getting them done in anthracite which is a similar colour to the rs4s on the a3 black edition i think.any suggestions or pics would be helpful.
Thanks

 

[gingers3]

just had mine done , they look awesome , sorry dont know how to get pics on here !

 

[JohnS3]

sorry dont know how to get pics on here !

Open an account on Photobucket, upload your pics there and post links to them here!

 

[paddy]

Its not a good idea to powder coat wheels. Ally castings tend to gas when heated up ( which is how they flow the powder) so you risk A/ bubbles in the paint B/ blow holes /C areas of paint that dosnt adhere to the wheel. this looks ok at first but if it chips you can get areas of paint flaking from the chip.

I had some M/C wheels powder coated. after a while even the pressure of stretching a tire over the rim can flake large areas of paint off.

 

[gingers3]

i ve had powder coated wheels for years with no problems , even a old escort gravel rally car

 

[KRL]

I've been thinking about powder coating my alloys as well but am really not sure if powder coated alloys would suit silver. Does anyone have pics of a silver s3 with powder coated alloys?

 

[paddy]

I dont see the point ? why compromise ? Its probably a bit cheaper but wheels need to be done well IMHO..

 

[Lee_R]

I've been thinking about powder coating my alloys as well but am really not sure if powder coated alloys would suit silver. Does anyone have pics of a silver s3 with powder coated alloys?

What colour do you want the coated?

 

[gingers3]

I dont see the point ? why compromise ? Its probably a bit cheaper but wheels need to be done well IMHO..

cheaper than what ?

 

[paddy]

well i presumed that powder coat was cheaper than spraying other wise why would someone consider it ??

I have powder coating done at work and its seen as a cheap alternative to acrylic or water based spraying. It does tend to go on as a skin that can flake on castings and usually has a orange peel finish
The other problem i had with white was its tendency to stain pinkish with brake dust

If you know better then thats fine, i retract my opinion.

 

[Lee_R]

I'm not saying your wrong paddy but the general opinion is that wheels are much better powder coated than sprayed? Thats what all the wheel refurb places tell you.

I know nothing about it mind, i'm just going on what peeps have told me!

 

[paddy]

No worries Lee, maybe i had a bad job done on my Yam

 

[PaulAr]

Had my old Corrado wheels refurbed a while back and the finish was superb, Im pretty sure they were powder coated.

Also, these guys http://www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk/File/wheel-finishing-process.php did some work for a colleague just recently on his corroded split rims and used powder coating. Excellent results.

No sure what finish they were but it was so good it almost looked like they had been remachined.
Im going to use them myself very soon to freshen up my OEM wheels (because Im too mean to buy new ones)

Paddy - Looks like these guys have overcome the gas problem with pre heating.

cheers
Paul