Celica Forums General Discussion General Powder Coating or Painting Rims?

Hey guys, just had a quick question for a friend of mine. He is wanting to paint his alloy rims black and was wondering what the best and easiest way is to do so. He doesn't know wether to use spray paint, or what kind of paint would be the best that isn't gonna chip off or fade away in certain weather conditions. Thanks for any feedback given...

my friend just used spray paint, then some kind of wheel clearcoat from autozone, so far so good

powdercoating is the best

Might be a stupid question, but whats the difference between painting and powdercoating a rim?

I think powdercoating is a heated process where all the dry paint sticks to the metal through heat. I could be wrong tho.

^^^ close...powdercoating is baked but the material sprayed on it electronicly held on to the metal

ditto. it will last longer and resist cracking a helluva lot better

yeah its what i want to do too. i just more money

Anyone have pics of painted stock rims? I was kind of curious of what GTS rims would look like gunmetal or black and if there was any room to have a silver lip.. if so it would be pretty slim.

Christian (NorwayGT) has them painted except he has GT rims. Omar (DaBigTicket) has them too

I agree

go powder coating.. bit much as compared to spray paint but worth while

So what's the process of powdercoating. Like step by step how do you do it. And what materials would you need to do so.

ttt...

powder coating is used in a wide variety of applications where one wants the paint to last..

from Intakes like AEM CAI to vending machines you see at the supermarket.. those 25cent machines =)

check the link below for
What is Powder Coating/How it is done? [finishing.com]

and if you want to do it yourself i guess you could buy some kit like this..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=633&item=3816055522&rd=1




Firstly, the surface of the part is suitably prepared, just as you would for any other paint job.

The special gun is attached to an air compressor, and a power unit. The air blows the powder from the gun, and the power unit gives the powder a positive charge. At the same time, the power unit is connected to the piece being coated, and so it has a negative charge.

As the positive paint particles fly through the air, they are attracted to the part and lay in an even layer over the entire area of the part. (This works a little like dust on a TV screen)

The part is then placed in an dedicated electric oven, and baked for a while. This cures the coating to a tough chemical resistant finish.
It is important not to use a gas oven, as the emissions from the coating are flammable.



you may want to check how much it would be if you had someone do it for you

although doing it yourself would give you that martha stwart feeling of making something

^^Thanks Erick, that's exactly the answer I was looking for, thanks bro...

np Jared I didn't exactly know how it worked before either.. but that kit looks nifty least for small things that can fit in an ELECTRIC oven

Yea...powdercoating looks a lot more complicated then I expected though, but it's interesting non the less...

Powder coating: Best decision!

^^werd

powdercoat... it'll last longer than spraypainting