New Powdercoated Wheels (1 Viewer)

[gsuit]

Hey,

Check out my "new" wheels! I followed Lugboot's lead, but came up with a great way to get the clear coat off before coating them. Total cost: $200. I've got more pics, if you want to see the the different stages. Is it ok if I run my hubs "naked"? I don't like the look with the caps on - and they didn't paint very well.

Whaddya think?

 

[e9999]

well, are we to guess what this "great way" is?

 

[jamisobe]

Center caps, splinter splaps.

 

[wingman358]

Looks sweet, gsuit. Mind if you let us in on the "great way" to get the clear coating off? I'm looking to do something like this as well.

 

[gsuit]

Woops!!

Holy crap! Sorry about that. I meant to add that part, but got in a hurry at work posting the pics.

I used "Aircraft Stripper" in the aerosol can, you can get from AutoZone. About $6 a can. It took about 1 1/2 cans to do all 4, both sides. Here's some pics of the stuff in action. You just spray it on... leave it for about 25 mins, then pressure wash it off. I took mine to the local car wash. Wear eye protection, and let the washer semi-pressure the big chunks off before you pull the trigger. If that stuff gets on you, it burns! Ask me how I know

Also, it caused my tires to "bump up" a little where it drained off the rim while it sat there. But, once it dried, the bumps went away and you can't tell it even happened. I recommend after you coat the wheels with the stripper, wipe off any excess that might flow down on the tires. The stuff is pretty thick, so you won't have to keep wiping - just the lower stuff on the wheel rim. You can see it pooling in the pics.

Right After Applying Stripper

Close-up of the stuff working

Final Product After Pressure Washing

 

[Trinny]

Also, it caused my tires to "bump up" a little where it drained off the rim while it sat there. But, once it dried, the bumps went away and you can't tell it even happened.

Nice. One question though... you don't think the tires sustained any damage by this stuff? If it caused the tires to "bump up" when in contact with the stuff, I'd be afraid that it may have damaged the integrity of the rubber. But, I'm no rubber expert.

 

[-Spike-]

Excellent choice for removing any paint, and kudos for removing the wheels from the truck to do the work. Aircraft stripper is knarly, it will remove just about anything. I doubt that it will permanently hurt tire rubber, but if someone was concerned about it, you'd be removing the tires at some point to have them powdercoated, just do it before you stripped them. Masking with duct tape works too. Beware of doing it with the wheels on the truck though, even if you managed to keep it from overspraying onto the vehicle, aircraft stripper can damage paint if it splashes onto it when rinsing the part.

-Spike

 

[Lugboot]

Nice! so--are the wheels now powdercoated or did you repaint them? Just asking since I had to dismount the tires for the powdercoating process but you stripped the old finish with the tires still on. And is that another dark grey? What's the color name?

I've been running mine without centercaps since refinishing, mostly because I've had more pressing things to do than refinish centercaps. No harm in leaving them off.

 

[Montana Cruiser]

So is that a "clearcoat" that was removed there and could one just have the wheels recleared? 2 of my wheels have some road crap that looks like the "spitwads" we made as kids on them. It's hard as a rock and nothing have tried that is clearcoat safe will remove it, so I was thinking about taking them all the way down and either going black/grey or just clear again.

 

[gsuit]

you don't think the tires sustained any damage by this stuff? If it caused the tires to "bump up" when in contact with the stuff, I'd be afraid that it may have damaged the integrity of the rubber.

I don't think it caused any damage. The next morning when I took them to the powdercoat place, they were back to looking normal. But I would've worried had I known it was going to do that! It can't be good for the rubber, but in this case I think I'm ok because it was such a small area.

but if someone was concerned about it, you'd be removing the tires at some point to have them powdercoated, just do it before you stripped them. Masking with duct tape works too. Beware of doing it with the wheels on the truck though, even if you managed to keep it from overspraying onto the vehicle, aircraft stripper can damage paint if it splashes onto it when rinsing the part.

All good advice. I didn't remove the tires first because the powdercoat guy said he'd do that, and replace them / balance afterwards. But if you have the tools and time, remove them to be safe. And absolutely DO NOT get this stuff near your rig, or your body for that matter! It got on me when I sprayed it off and it freakin' burns!!! I'm sure even just a micron of this stuff would eat a hole.

Nice! so--are the wheels now powdercoated or did you repaint them? Just asking since I had to dismount the tires for the powdercoating process but you stripped the old finish with the tires still on. And is that another dark grey? What's the color name?

The wheels are powdercoated, Satin Black. It's virtually the same color as an ARB bumper. This is not the norm, even for this guy, but I got them to him at 8am and he pulled the tires off the rims, final cleaned them, powdercoated all 4, replaced the tires and balanced them. I got them back by 6pm that same day! I did the clearcoat removal the evening before.

So is that a "clearcoat" that was removed there and could one just have the wheels recleared? 2 of my wheels have some road crap that looks like the "spitwads" we made as kids on them. It's hard as a rock and nothing have tried that is clearcoat safe will remove it, so I was thinking about taking them all the way down and either going black/grey or just clear again.

When I saw how clean they get without the old clearcoat, I almost didn't do black. You could easily remove the clearcoat and just have aluminum wheels you could polish. But I'd worry about corrosion. There is such a thing as "Clear" powdercoat... or you could just shoot on a new clearcoat. Here's a pic of the aircraft stripper I used. I know another poster, Imagery, tried something called aircraft stripper, but it wasn't the aerosol can type... and it didn't work very well.

 

[-Spike-]

Aluminum does not like paint. Usually a zinc oxide primer is required for adhesion to aluminum, but I don't know how they clearcoat wheels as zinc oxide primer is not clear. You might want to research that before attempting to strip/clearcoat them. Also, you would probably want to have the wheels polished before applying a new clear coat as they will probably be corroded where the old clear failed.

-Spike

 

[dogcatch'n]

I can't believe that I have put off doing this...

this is a good idea....

 

[Lugboot]

When I saw how clean they get without the old clearcoat, I almost didn't do black. You could easily remove the clearcoat and just have aluminum wheels you could polish. But I'd worry about corrosion. There is such a thing as "Clear" powdercoat... or you could just shoot on a new clearcoat.

The clear powdercoat *may* work better on stripped wheels with the factory machined surface still intact. It certainly didn't get me the look I wanted on my sandblasted rims. It would take someone with some time to kill and extra wheels to screw around with that.

That's great your guy had such a fast turnaround time!

 

[Doc]

Wow, the stripped version looks REALLY good. I need to do this too, but I haven't decided on a powder coat color I want to go with.