Over on Ferrari Chat there was a powder coating discussion about 15 years ago. Maybe things have changed - I'm neither a materials guy or a powder coater - so updated info would be welcome.
A rep from HRE wheels responded to the question with the text I cut & pasted below. I especially like his closing few sentences. BTW, HRE does make wheels to fit the LC, but at today's starting price of $2200 each I didn't bother to look into their specs any deeper.
With the greatest respect, this is an engineering question. It is not for refinishers or chrome platers to decide. Many forged wheels have been weight optimized for a specific load on a specific vehicle. That is, the weight is reduced to the absolute minimum required by the vehicle load, otherwise why bother? Therefore, any loss of strength compromises the reliability of the part and its load carrying capability as well. And potentially, the safety of the driver.The chroming process reduces the ductility and strength of the forged alloy to varying degrees, depending upon the methods used and the specific plating alloy used. This phenomenon, known as hydrogen embrittlement, is well documented scientifically and carefully tested for in aircraft/aerospace components.Wheels can certainly be designed with chroming in mind. Excess material and mass can be added during manufacturing to compensate for losses in the chroming tank. This thread, however, deals with REFINISHING.It is our opinion that there are simply too many unknowns in these processes to risk weakening the alloy. Therefore, for forged, heat treated alloys, we do not recommend powder coating except by trained expert facilities with quality systems and Brinell hardness testing systems.And we do not recommend chroming forged wheels, unless the wheel was designed for this finish. A cure temp of 375 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes will overage the alloy and begin the annealing process. This is not recommended by us, HRE, OZ, Champion Motorsports (who forbids powder coat entirely), BBS and most other forged wheel companies. This also includes the 50 or so forged wheel companies worldwide for which we supply the blank forgings.Many of these companies will void the warranty for any refinish not done under their control. We don't blame them. As far as the OEs are concerned, if you refinish or plate a factory wheel and ANYTHING goes wrong, you are on your own: ZERO warranty.Safety and liability are the issues. We don't know anything about your company, its processes, quality systems or technology. But if a wheel is refinished and then fails in service, or someone gets hurt, we all know who gets served with a lawsuit. The USA has 4% of the world's population and over 50% of the world's lawyers.
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