Went to the powdercoater's today to get the webbed R98's powdercoated black. Arrived at the shop and was recommended satin black. I took a look at the owner's vehicle(which had satin black) and it made the rims look plastic. Ugh, no. Wanted to do glossy black but was told that they will leave scratches easily. Oh joy, and they don't know if the scratches can be buffed out. Called another powdercoater and he recommended clear coating the glossy black. That made the project cost almost double(clear coat is charged the same as a coat of color). Initially I thought that all powdercoated wheels are clear coated, guess not.

My question is, should I bother with going high gloss black? I've never really seen high gloss black on wheels but the satin black just looks plastic(albeit the ones they had weren't clearcoated). What should I do?

 

Clearcoat is probably a good idea for wheels because they take a lot of abuse. My GP wheels have a satin black powercoat and I have a few chips that clearcoat probably would have prevented.

I do agree that satin does look like plastic. I used a satin clearcoat over the satin black and it gave it a little more shine but not too much. I powdercoated my lug bolts satin black then added a satin clear coat to help prevent chipping. The clearcoat added a little shine but was not glossly. I do not know what would happen with glossly clear over satin black.

If you go glossly black, I suggest a clearcoat.

 

My Again4 are gloss black. They look just fine IMHO, but I'm sure they are clear coated.

Why would you think the powdercoater would not charge you for two coats (color and clear) when it requires 2 applications and 2 trips to the oven? Sounds like double the work to me (I used to do powder coating back in Australia.)

 

Do nothing. This saves 100%.

Pay the piper. This costs a lot.

Do the rattle can thing. It will look better than you think, and is easy to re-apply.

Matt

 

DrPhil: The estimate they had initially given me did not include the clear coat. As I had initially believed that all powdercoated wheels are clear coated, the double charge came as a surprise(even now I don't understand why you would not clear coat wheels since they take alot of abuse). I called other powdercoaters after the fact and they were also surprised that the initial powdercoater would not include clear coating as part of their basic wheel powdercoating. This raised a red flag and is making me wary that the place I went to isn't very experienced with wheel powdercoating. The other powdercoaters all gave similar estimates and included the clear coat(and it was close to the initial powdercoater without the clear coat). Needless to say, I'm going to one of the other guys. I wanted to confirm details with anyone with experience powdercoating wheels without clear coats(and be able to explain why-maybe satin black not needing the protection?) before I trudge to another shop.

Matt: Obviously if I choose not to powdercoat, it will save me any cost, but that isn't what I'm asking. I've plasti dipped my winter wheels via spray can and they hold up fine and looks ok. However, these will be my nicer summer wheels and I'd like them to look professionally done. I had laid out a budget for mods and already been interrupted by a few unplanned issues. However, that's life. So I am still paying the piper but I'm not going to a bad piper who can't hold the right tune but is asking for twice the fee.

Furthermore, modifications and NOT splurging does not need to be mutually exclusive.

 

IzzyG, I understand your modding pain...

I say... suck it up and get it done right. Glossy black wheels look awesome when taken care of, and if you skip the clearcoat, you might laugh now.... but you will cry about it later. It just won't hold up. Why do you think they clearcoat modern vehicles now? It isn't for looks...

Don't use your initial powdercoater... he really doesn't sound too experienced, at least in that department. Other than my two cents, I give you a thumbs up and good luck!

 

I took in a set of wheels today to have powder coated satin black and never even thought about a clear coat or that it will look like plastic. Oh well, guess will see how they turn out.

I did however take them to a very respected wheel refurbisher.

 

DO, you're the ultimate pragmatist!

xnotfunkylex, let us know how they turn out!

 

I powder coated my R98's centers with gloss black and clear. They do scratch but with clear it isn't as bad. Beware, if you are taking the wheels apart the build up of powder/clear coats makes it hard to re-assemble. At least it was in my case. If I had to do it over I think I would rattle can!

 

I was going to mention the same thing....double the paint is also double the hassle for build up on the wheel. Plan on running a reamer through holes and such when you're done before you assemble things.

Having done many racing wheels I always paid more for the 'option' to clear over a color. Maybe not a full double price but it was certainly not included with the color. I'd agree it will be more durable but also more costly, heavier and of no real value if you race the car where dusting and potential scratches are just the norm.

 

Well, the wheels need to be blasted at the very least. There was peeling in the clear coat of the stock finish so that needs to get remedied. Once blasted, can I still rattle can? I'm not sure if I can go the painted wheels route after blasting though. The thought of increased weight(and reassembly difficulty) did cross my mind but since I'll track the car maybe once or twice in a year(if even), it doesn't really bother me. The reassembly though, is going to be a PITA. Even disassembling it was a pain. Gah.

 

I did some wheels once, but overall I find that painting wheels isn't really a good long term solution. Between the dust and rocks and the like, wheels get pretty abused.

But to each their own!

Matt