power coating forged wheels, big no no

[nick@nite]

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996-tur...re-wheel-2.html

[bryancohnracing]

I've seen this now on several sites/forums I follow. Frankly, I do not get it.

I have powder coated several different brands of racing wheels without any issue. I've done Technomagnisio (Italian made, magnesium wheels on my Swift Formula Ford), Revolutions (Ally wheels on my 84 Reynard Formula Ford) and a set of Compomotives on one of my Van Diemans (3 piece, cast Ally center, spun ally halves). No problems of any kind.

In reading the thread, the wheels were repaired, then powder coated to refinish them. I gotta think the repair was the problem, not the powder coating.

I am planning to sandblast and powder coat 8 of the wheels for my 505 track car. Can't decide between black or grey metallic...

[Bean]

I ran this by my buddy with the wheel shop and he backed it up... (I called BS and was wrong!)

Turns out forged T6061 is affected by heat just like they mentioned, so Gord will only paint such wheels rather than powdercoat. Other wheel materials are fine - but I don't know which ones in particular you should be wary of.

Rabin

[bryancohnracing]

The wheels I did were cast magnesium. The only machining done was the centers where the hole was bored for the center lock nut and on the back side for the 4 drive pins (8 holes for 4 pins, go figure).

Since this was a T6061 billett piece I guess we have all learned something. Maybe I won't be so eager to powdercoat my aluminum 505 wheels after all.....black paint here we come!

[Guest EUROTRASH]

I'm planning to resurface the wheels on my 505 as part of the whole restoration process.

I have the same wheels as the car on the left.

Can anyone tell me what these wheels are made out of and what the risks are? If any. The plan is to restore them back to original.

[Bean]

I'm planning to resurface the wheels on my 505 as part of the whole restoration process.

I have the same wheels as the car on the left.

Can anyone tell me what these wheels are made out of and what the risks are? If any. The plan is to restore them back to original.

They're cast aluminum, but the center cap is plastic. So to refinish properly, the wheels should be professionally stripped and painted, including the center cap so that it all matches.

If you strip by hand - it'll take forever to do. If you must do it yourself, get them sandblasted, then repaint yourself. I recommend a wheel shop do it though for best results.

Rabin

[Guest EUROTRASH]

They're cast aluminum, but the center cap is plastic. So to refinish properly, the wheels should be professionally stripped and painted, including the center cap so that it all matches.

If you strip by hand - it'll take forever to do. If you must do it yourself, get them sandblasted, then repaint yourself. I recommend a wheel shop do it though for best results.

Rabin

Agreed, no way I would do it myself. I checked with a really good shop here in Salt Lake City, Wheelworks, it's a wheel restoration shop. As I understand it they would sand-blast the wheels and use some kind of heated metal powder coating, something like that.

You're right about the center caps, they need to match the wheels perfectly. I know a little about plastic and heat as I spent 8 years working as a technician in an injection molding plant. Certain types of plastic will handle excessive heat levels, some won't even bend until they reach 500 degrees... depending on the time they're subjected to. I have a set of new caps I'm not touching, and 5 additional caps I can play around with, we'll see what happens.

Thanks Rabin