Hey, It turns out I will be driving the Mini this saturday. One of the first things i am looking into doing is powder coating the stock rims. I hear lots of people suggesting the "s light" rims. Are these just the lightest stock rims? This is not my mini but it has these rims http://www.upmot.com/1899/05cooper.jpg .... are these much different from the s lights (aside from the looks)

my next question is if anyone has ever owned a powder coated set of wheels? I am getting them done for $75 a wheel ( much cheaper than a whole new set of wheels) and i believe taking the money i will save and putting it under the hood will compensate for the little weight.

 

75$ a rim is crazy cheap for powder coating. and yes powder coating will hold up to almost everything you throw at it. If you want to see what the R84 ( x-lites ) look like, view my gallery.

 

$75 per rim is an OK price. Those that you linked to are not S-lites and the S-lites name is deceiving. They are heavy as hell.

Powdercoated rims last great. The only downside is touch-up if you scuff a rim, you can't just paint them to match.

 

X lites look really nice dude

thanks for the responses too...soo i assume mini just like putting letter in front of the word lites to name there rims

I never thought of touchups Sander, hopefully i will not need....can i strip it and recoat the whole thing?

 

I know I'm going for a self painting try just to keep the mod cheap and to allow for any self touchups that may arise. I think high heat engine paint should hold up quite nice on the rims. But your way will definitely be the more professionally done way since they will be removing the tire and baking the paint on

 

yea but props for doing it yourself...always more rewarding

 

Thanks yeah thats what I have found out after money being so tight, but dying to mod haha...it is rewarding, it just takes up time...but luckily school is out in a few weeks and I'm getting all my materials ready my car will be up on jacks for 2-3 days...i have to prep wheels and paint and then re-balanced, paint calipers, do an oil change, and paint door handles while on the car its gunna be a fun few days

What color are you going for on the rims?

 

There is wheel paint out there for the same price as engine paint. Use the wheel paint, it's designed to flex with the wheel. The engine paint will crack over time.

 

Awww man I just bought all my paint today I looked at the wheel paint, but they only have metalic colors and nothing matched what I was looking for...I'll just use the engine paint for now, and if it cracks later I can come up with a new design for the rims

 

What color were your going to paint your wheels? Duplicolor makes a non-metallic black wheel paint.

 

I'm actually going 2 toned...mainly black with orange stripes jutting out on each spoke

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=130841

Just did mine. I hate the car with Black. White roof and BSs. I am doing them again but in stock silver. I paid $50 a rim for strip and coat. I am going to get them clear coated also.

TIP. don't let them powdercoat the inside part of the center hole, the one the center cap goes in. It's a tight fit...and a few I have don't even fit. Tire shop told the wheels are "hub centric"(sp) so I would not want to sand off the coating...it might make the wheels roll unbalanced.

 

I understand that! It's all about having fun.

 

What does hub centric mean?

Also I have the rotator spokes, which have hub caps, but once I paint I plan on keeping the hub caps off...can the center "MINI" cap be taken off and placed on the open circle of the rims, or do I just need to paint that section as well?

 

I didn't think anyone made rims like that anymore but the guy at Discount Tire told me the S-lites were "hub centric".

I define "hub centric" as wheel that use the hub to center the wheel. The lugs just hold the wheel on, they do nothing to center the wheel with the axle.

If Mini wheels are NOT "hub centric" someone please correct the Discount Tire guy I was talking to.

 

they are hub centric i was reading about it in that mini magazine...the name currently escapes me

 

So, is it not recommended to powdercoat the wheels then? According to what you guys are saying, do I understand that it it bad for the car if you remove the coating on the wheels?

I'm confused.

 

Yes, you can do it, just not get the inside of the wheel's hub. Have them tape it off. A center cap would cover that area anyway, so no one would see that its not coated.

 

If I were to spray them myself for now, I could always get them powderocated later, correct? I am also on a budget and am going to paint my s-lites black to match the roof.

 

Stick with your rims. They are WAY better than S-Lites!

 

I agree those look better than s-lites! I got s-lites on a great deal and that is why I have them. Plus I have two sets of rubber for them already, which made them an easy rim to settle for.

 

I had my aftermarket wheels powder coated and when I tried to remove them to install autocross wheels I couldn't get them off. Long story short: the powder coating inside the lug holes kept the wheels sticking and I had to Dremel grind the powder coating off.