Powder coating wheels black questions

[thildwrx]

Hey guys I have a question I'm going to powder coat my 2012 WRX wheels black ( no offense but if you don't like black wheels don't tell me cause I don't care it's what I like). What do you guys like for a finish gloss, semi gloss or flat. I'm leaning towards semi gloss. What do you guys think?

Also I'm being quoted about $250 for all 4 wheels is that good?

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[07wrx84]

Paint or PC?

[thildwrx]

Oops I ment powder coat. Just changed the post.

[07wrx84]

$250 with gettin them sandblasted too?

[thildwrx]

Yes for everything just take the wheels down and he said he could do it in a day and have them back that evening

[cannondalemtb]

That's what I pay. I vote gloss black. And that turnaround time it's crazy. My guy takes a few days.

[ctzn]

I had the wheels on my 370 done in gloss, which I thought came out quite nicely, and I paid more than $250.

[thildwrx]

^looks great!

What did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

So $250 seems pretty fair.

[ctzn]

Thanks, here's the whole car...



You can see the gloss leaves some contrast of the shape of the wheel, rather than total black out.

I pad just under $400 as a matter of fact. If you've seen their work and know it's quality, I'd say $250 is fair.

[dangerousatom]

$250 is a very fair price for 17x8 or 18x8 size wheels with prep, on a single stage powder coat.

Id go gloss then you can wax them and not get hazy differences in reflection. Flat will definitely show haze Semi may show some. If you truly want Flat or Semi look and want the ability to wax them then you'll have to clear them with a semi or flat clear coat.

[thildwrx]

Thanks. Ok sounds like gloss is the winner!

[tersplat]

My Starlet's are flat black, and to my surprise, they are pretty difficult to clean in comparison with the gloss white hoops on the same wheels(2-piece). If I had to do it again, I'd go gloss. I paid 160 for all 4 to be mediablasted, powdercoated, all 29 bolts holding the 2 pieces together polished, and then I helped him with reassembly.

[synolimit]

Flat black, $35 a wheel with sand blasting and all. never need cleaned!!

[kleinkid]

90% will look better than full gloss. Full reflects way too much and looks like the finish is marred.

[thildwrx]

Not to familiar with powder coat what does that mean?

[thildwrx]

Originally Posted by synolimit

Flat black, $35 a wheel with sand blasting and all. never need cleaned!!

Need to sell either of those sets of wheels?

[synolimit]

Originally Posted by thildwrx

Need to sell either of those sets of wheels?

All sold

[thildwrx]

Haha no problem I think the stocks will look good black for now

[GMR54]

I had my winter set of 2005 WRX wheels powder coated semi flat black, and they came out really well. They have a bit of shine to them but not too much, which is perfect for me because I'm not a huge fan of gloss black.
Sorry it's not a great picture.

[I'mFineW/Slow]

I think the best way to go is satin/semi-gloss. Full gloss can look odd on the wrong wheels and flat black, when dirty, looks like a rattle can job and hides the shape/design the wheel in pictures (again, depending on the wheel).

I think what keeps black wheels looking the best is when the tire is nice and black with some not overly shiney tire shine. A brown-ish grayish black tire can ruin how good the black wheels may look.

[Subby2.5i]

I used to work at a powdercoating shop for years, and being very familiar with the types of finishes, I would recommend a 80-90% gloss (Just your standard gloss black) Going with anything higher such a mirror black (92-97% gloss rate) will show every spec of dirt imaginable. Another thing with high gloss blacks is that unless your using a microfiber rag every time you wipe them down, your going to get fine line scratches everywhere.

$250 is cheap for a set of 4 wheels. The shop I used to work at we charged $75-$80 a wheel. Now although is does sound a bit more pricey there were specific reasons and just like anything else in this world, you get what you pay for. We would first sandblast each wheel COMPLETELY down to bare metal. One thing with these newer wheels is that they're getting epoxy based primers which does slightly affect the durability of the powder over time. We would sandblast the entire wheel as well. After sandblasting was completed, we would give the wheels a 3 stage rinse. First was a hot steam rinse, then a phosphate rinse (which would clean the metal of any dirt, grease, and help the powder really adhere to the metal) followed by another hot steam rinse to rinse the phosphate off. They would then enter the oven for 35 minutes to pre cook. Anything aluminum has to be pre baked for atleast 20 minutes do to the density of the metal. If you dont, you get little air bubbles that rise to the powder and will screw the whole finish up! We tend to shoot our wheels warm, at about 100-105* Our wheels would ALWAYS get a primer base powder coat, which seals, and lays a good foundation for the finish coat. After that the wheel would get whatever color was desired by the customer.
Ask questions to whom ever is powdercoating your wheels! What type of powder is he using? What type of finish is it? What company is he ordering it from as some companies powders flow/adhere/ and have better durability as others. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a PM about coating! Ill be more than happy to give a hand where needed!

[thildwrx]

Awesome man thanks a lot for the help I'm going to go talk to him Monday. Ill hit you up after with questions.

So if I understand correct the wheel gloss is passed on a percentage?

[Subby2.5i]

Originally Posted by thildwrx

Awesome man thanks a lot for the help I'm going to go talk to him Monday. Ill hit you up after with questions.

So if I understand correct the wheel gloss is passed on a percentage?

No problem brotha!
That is correct! The lower the percentage, the flatter the color. The higher the percentage, the glossier the color!

[thildwrx]

So what have you seen and what would you recommend if you where doing your wheels

[tdidieselbobny]

That seems like a fair price-I myself would prefer a glossier finish-seems like it would be easier to clean in future.My son likes flat,so the old legacy alloy rims we bought for winter tires were rattle-canned that,along w/ some clearcoat.They didn't turn out too bad.