How to: powdercoat your rims

[BlackBalt]

Ok guys so this was my spring break project...had to work this week so I made the best of it and finally powdercoated my wheels!

The first thing you have to do it select a color you want, our company uses only Cardinal Paint products so I browsed the catalog for a color I liked. I settled on 80% Gloss black (PN: P008-BK06) because it is easier to clean than a matte or semi gloss finish.

Cardinal Industrial Finishes: Products

Next go find some tires, I bought 4 BF Goodrich G-Force sport tires in 205/50/15. Good grip, wear, and low price.



After you've got the powder and the new tires, put the car up on jackstands and pull the wheels to get the old tires removed from the wheels.



Now to get the paint off the wheels you will need to blast them in an abrasive cabinet. I used our companies Clemco Industries BNP-65 cabinet and some 80 grit Aluminum Oxide to take the paint off.





You need to use a blast gun with a rubber air jet because a steel one will be destroyed in less than 30 operational hours by the Al Oxide. Something like this is a good setup. We modified the ceramic tip to put out more volume.





I mixed about 50/50 Al Oxide with regular glass bead the first passes. Use smooth even strokes and hold the gun at a 45 degree angle about 8 inches from the wheel. Be careful because the Aluminum Oxide will tear up the wheel fast if you're not careful. Next you want to drain the hopper in the back of the cabinet and blow it out with compressed air to get all the Al Oxide out. I used straight glass bead after that to get a smooth even finish on all of the wheel surfaces.



Next, the wheels were sent out to a coating vendor who did the pre powdercoat prep and applied the powder. They were cleaned with solvent first and then baked to burn off any oil or residue in an oven like this.



After they leave the pre coating oven they are charged negative while the spray gun is positive causing the powder to stick to the wheel and form an even and smooth surface. They were then baked in the same oven for 20 minutes at 450-500 degrees and allowed to cool afterwards.

Take the wheels back to the tire shop and have the new tires mounted and get everything balanced. Bolt them to the car and enjoy your new wheels!







Big thanks to everyone at Proto Paint, Dave at Temple Associates, and Esteban at Tobar.

[blkbalt06]

lookin good bro. i've been considering a powder coat for my wheels, im planning the murdered out look. just short on cash with the pending surgery & all. powder coating is the way to go when it comes to wheels, although i've been considering an oil based coating. i work for a paint manufacturer. im a chemist for them so basically i can design my own paint, down to color, cure, and finish i desire for it. this is probably the route i'll go if i can ever get healthy enough to actually work. but enough of that. good write up, and nice looking wheels

[BlackBaltSS]

Hey man, move outta the way, your getting in the way of your girls GTO! Seriously though, this seems more like a "How To: Spend Money" than it does a "How To: Do It Yourself". Are there any options on how to DIY this?

[IMADreamer]

Your wheels like nice Blackbalt.

This is a good how to for those of us with our own powder coating shop at home but had no idea how to use it. lol just giving you a hard time of course.

As a note you can get started powder coating on your own for a few hundred dollars so if you have several projects you want to do it's something to consider.

IMADreamer added 2 Minutes and 36 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by BlackBaltSS

Hey man, move outta the way, your getting in the way of your girls GTO! Seriously though, this seems more like a "How To: Spend Money" than it does a "How To: Do It Yourself". Are there any options on how to DIY this?

yeah there are actually. Check out Eastwood Company: Auto Tools, Body Repair, Classic Car Restoration, House of Kolor Paint, Powder Coating. All you need is an oven (which you can use a standard electric oven you will just have to do one wheel at time), a compressor, a powder gun, and powder. (thumbs through the catalog) as starter gun will run you about 150$.

[BlackBalt]

Originally Posted by BlackBaltSS

Hey man, move outta the way, your getting in the way of your girls GTO! Seriously though, this seems more like a "How To: Spend Money" than it does a "How To: Do It Yourself". Are there any options on how to DIY this?

I did all the work myself...I don't know if you knew but I work at a manufacturing company so I get all the back door hookups.

That's how I got access to all the machinery and equipment I needed.

Tires dismounted: $12
1 15lb case of powdercoat: $45
New tires mounted and balanced: $50

Total project cost: $107

I needed new tires, bald at 32,000 miles, so that doesn't really count, you could do this and reuse your old tires if they're still good.

There is no other way to do this project right, it takes time and effort to do it professionally.

[BlackBaltSS]

All i was saying though is average joe doesnt have access to some of your equipment without paying for it.

[BlackBalt]

Originally Posted by BlackBaltSS

All i was saying though is average joe doesnt have access to some of your equipment without paying for it.

That's not my problem, quit your job at Carls Jr and get a real one if you can't find the right equipment. I was just showing what I did, how I did it, and how it turned out.

[IMADreamer]

Originally Posted by BlackBalt

That's not my problem, quit your job at Carls Jr and get a real one if you can't find the right equipment. I was just showing what I did, how I did it, and how it turned out.

That's the dumbest damn thing you've ever said. I hope you were joking. Congrats you work at a place where you can powder coat stuff. 99.9% of the population doesn't, nor do they want to.

I'll stick with my nice office job making good money. Thanks.

[nugz]

Originally Posted by BlackBalt

That's not my problem, quit your job at Carls Jr and get a real one if you can't find the right equipment. I was just showing what I did, how I did it, and how it turned out.

Whoa dude....:eek: I used to work at a Burger King....not cool man.

[BlackBaltSS]

Originally Posted by BlackBalt

That's not my problem, quit your job at Carls Jr and get a real one if you can't find the right equipment. I was just showing what I did, how I did it, and how it turned out.

Wtf man, were did that come from? I have no problem with how you decided to do it, other than the fact that this DIY is only really useful to people who have easy access to the equipment. Which, as IMA pointed out, isnt a very large percentage. Congrats for being able to do this for that cheap, but Joe Schmoe cant.