I'm thinking about painting the inside of my wheels a dark grey or black. Is this an expensive process? Who can do it? Will it negatively affect the wheels in any way?

Any insight would be great. THANKS!

 

inside.. you mean the spokes?

you can get wheel paint, mask off and spray...or have it professionally
powder coated.

 

I would go with powdercoating.

You can go ghetto and paint them yourself but professional painting will cost just as much as powdercoat and not be as durable.

 

+1

 

actually if you know what you're doing painting wheels
yourself will not have to look ghetto.

ive seen some wheels painted locally and they
looked well done. and it was generic wheel paint
they got off-the-shelf...and clearcoated.

 

I know, the lip on my wheels are painted and it looks great.

 

I want to paint the sides of the spokes and then everything BEHIND the spokes. I certainly would not do it myself. What would the price difference be between powdercoating and painting?

Man, maybe I should ake sure this would look good!

 

your brakes will 'paint' behind your spokes over time.

 

ive seen a set of powdercoated S-lites! They looked great! The guy said he got them done for $200 bucks. Only problem the place that did them is located in Compton, CA. Idk about you I wouldnt wanna drive a mini there.

 

quoted for truth!


What kind of wheels are they? If you only want part of them done, it would almost certainly have to be painted. It's reeeeally hard if not impossible to find a place that will/can partially powdercoat. I tried.

 

You can partially powdercoat. All the shop needs is a high temp tape that is readily available for powder coat use. The issue is that the labor involved with masking off the spokes is going to cost you. Even with a liquid paint solution, you will have to mask off the spokes. Depending on what your wheels look like, it could be very time consuming and expensive.

Another issue with powdercoating is getting the wheel to the right temp to have the powder liquify. If not done properly, you can weaken the structure of the wheel by heating and cooling. Most powders require 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. If you do the powdercoat route, find a shop that uses UV cure powder, the heat cycle is greatly reduced.

I refinished wheels using Dupont Imron, and it is very durable if prepped and sprayed properly.

 

well I have a 10 spoke wheel, so there are quite a few spokes that would need the sides painted. This sounds like it could be pretty expensive.

 

Isn't there an issue with powdercoating where it might damage the integrity of certain wheels? When you're powdercoating wheels they're subjected to high heat and I know some rims don't react well to heat like that. The stock rims on my previous car (they were BBS's) had that problem. Not sure what kind of rims you're looking to paint/powdercoat but if you're leaning towards powdercoating it'd be good to research that a little.

 

I dropped off a new set of Enkei OR-52s last Saturday to be powder coated. I believe they were using a combination of a long bake at low heat (< 300F) and UV to cure the coating. They asked if I wanted to leave any part of the wheel uncoated after they had given me a price, so it may just depend on which shop you go to.

If they turn out half as good as the samples they had in the shop, I'll post pics when I get them back

 

Hi Terry,
Do you have any picture of your MINI with the OR-52, doesn't matter about the color. I'm planning to get a set of OR-52 Anthracite myself but couldn't find any picture on the site.
Cheers
Stephen

 

I just had 2 sets of wheels painted locally, one set cost 250, and the 325 at the local body shop, and it only took a couple of days.

 

Sorry, but they were still new in the box when I dropped them off, so I haven't seen them on a MINI yet either

 

I got my wheels power-coated. If your wheels are used, you might need to get them chemically cleaned or sand blasted to clean off the old paint.

I didn't get a clear / gloss coat and regret it. I also learned that a colour may look good on a sample card, but it often takes on a different hue on a bigger object like a wheel (just like painting walls!)

 

Why? Is it more difficult to clean or something. I've always liked a flat or semi-gloss finish or rims, but if there's a good reason to clear coat them then maybe I'll have to sacrifice if I ever get mine powdercoated.

edit:
and your wheels look great

 

No...I'm only not sure about the overall look of the colour...other than that, everything's perfect!

 

Something to think about: I purchased my MINI with wheels that had been powdercoated, and a year later the powdercoating is flaking off a bit. It isn't too noticeable but the tires are not getting a perfect seal and slowly lose air because of it. I recently had a bent rim repaired and they stripped the powdercoating off the inside to solve the problem, so I guess when I get new tires soon I will have to have the others stripped as well. Just a thought.

 

i got my s-lites powdercoated gloss black for $200 and a friend of mine got the centers of his web spokes powdercoated matte black for about the same. different shops, same area. call around, powdercoating wheels isnt something new. either they do it or they dont.

 

go ghetto. Powder coat from $200... spray cans from $3.49. Both look good, both will chip over time, one costs a wee bit less than the other. No one has to know how they were painted anyway, not that there is a difference to be seen (the trained eye can tell, but whose the a-hole to point it out?)

Heck, if you don't want to do it yourself, pick the paint and ship the wheels/paint to me, you'll only pay shiping both ways and paint.