Wheel painting/powdercoating

[lamesacarrera]

I was hoping to get some ideas on this topic. Is there a recommeded shop in SD to get this done? Painting or powdercoating? The car is a street car and I want to paint the wheels flat or semi-flat black. I've heard that powdercoating is far more durable but painting is good so one can do touch ups easily.

Thanks! Jason Mills

[Dan Chambers]

Jason:

I've done both: restored my wheels with shaker-cans of paint and had them professionally blasted/powder-coated at R.W. Little on Pacific Hwy in San Diego.

I was pleased with both, and I was able to do touch-ups with both. Bottom line for me is: the bottom line. I've since "restored" 2 sets of wheels using Mother's Wheel polish/steel wool/quality paints (Wurth, Rustoleum, etc. ) with great results. However, I can't tell you the number of hours I spent on them. Porbably too many! Far, far too many!

I really like R.W. Little, and I know Tom Tweed has used someone in downtown San Diego as well. There is also US Wheels in El Cajon. They do a great job and are very competitive cost-wise. Carlos is a good source of info there.

Good luck.

[lamesacarrera]

Thanks Dan for all your input!

[ttweed]

I know Tom Tweed has used someone in downtown San Diego as well.

That would be El Dorado Sandblasting on Commercial St. Phone: 619-696-0700. They are usually a little cheaper and less backlogged than R.W. Little, and have done good work for me.

If you are not racing, it probably doesn't matter, but I avoid powdercoating parts like wheels that are subject to repeated stress cycles due to the fact that the coating can hide cracking and make it less apparent on visual inspections. In street driving, the wheels will probably have plenty of reserve strength and never be stressed often enough to their yield values to make a difference.

YMMV,
TT

[lamesacarrera]

Thanks a lot Tom. I'm realizing I may not be able to do this because I don't have a spare set of wheels to use in the meantime while the wheels are being painted/powdercoated. US wheels won't remove the wheels from the car nor put them back on nor store the car at their shop. So, I'll need to borrow a set of wheels/tires it looks like. This is for my Infiniti G35, not my 911.

Thanks! Jason

[Jad]

Buy 4 concrete blocks and drive the 911...

[Dan Chambers]

Buy 4 concrete blocks and drive the 911...

+1

[lamesacarrera]

My neighbor has some concrete blocks I can borrow, thanks!

[LUCKY DAVE]

A couple of things about powder coating.

I use El Dorado for sea going equipment all the time at work (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) and their work is better, faster, and cheaper than R W Little.
I wouldn't powder coat race car wheels in any case because the coating is a thermal insulator, and the wheels are the major heat sink for the brakes. If you must have colored wheels, apply an epoxy paint (much thinner that powder coat) or, better yet anodize them.
For anodizing, take your parts to Southern California plating, talk to Louie. For epoxy paint coatings, El Dorado, see Kevin.

[Autobahn]

Paint is the way to go. Powder coat just does not hold up like urethane paint. When you goto R.W. or El Dorado ask them to use Endura on your wheels. You will not be disappointed. 45,000 colors to choose from. Brake dust, brake fluid, rocks etc will not harm the finish. My car is painted with it... feel free to come over and throw rocks at it.

[lamesacarrera]

Thanks to all of you for your input! I ended up getting my Infiniti's stock wheels powdercoated in semi-gloss black by Powder One in El Cajon. Powder One was recommended by the mechanic that works on my Infiniti. I'm very happy with the results! In fact, I think it looks much better than I anticipated, much more aggressive and unique. Since it's just a street car I'm not concerned about the heat absorption concern that was raised, especially because the std 03 G35 wheels have a lot of open space for brake cooling. In my research I determined that powdercoating is good overall for the durability of the finish so I'm hopeful that they do hold up well. Most people in my informal survey thought that powdercoating was much more durable than any kind of paint would be. Total cost was $350 including dismount and re-mounting and balancing of the tires. The whole process took one week so my car was idle on stands in my garage during that time. Thanks again for taking time to reply to this thread!

[Dan Chambers]

Thanks to all of you for your input! I ended up getting my Infiniti's stock wheels powdercoated in semi-gloss black by Powder One in El Cajon. Powder One was recommended by the mechanic that works on my Infiniti. I'm very happy with the results! In fact, I think it looks much better than I anticipated, much more aggressive and unique. Since it's just a street car I'm not concerned about the heat absorption concern that was raised, especially because the std 03 G35 wheels have a lot of open space for brake cooling. In my research I determined that powdercoating is good overall for the durability of the finish so I'm hopeful that they do hold up well. Most people in my informal survey thought that powdercoating was much more durable than any kind of paint would be. Total cost was $350 including dismount and re-mounting and balancing of the tires. The whole process took one week so my car was idle on stands in my garage during that time. Thanks again for taking time to reply to this thread!