The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painting powder coated wheels

When I purchased my truck the wheels had been sitting in the bed for 24 years without tires. The first thing I had to do was get the rust off the wheels and get some tires so I could move the truck. Wire brushing wasn't going to cut it. After checking around I found out Les Schwab would ship them to their Oregon HQ's and sandblast and powder coat them inside and out for about $30 a wheel. I had to decide on a color then and there. My brain said black but somehow when my lips moved they said red. The wheels came out beautifully and look great. This is a great service I almost didn't find out about.

I may still keep the wheels red but they will not work well with some of the colors I have been thinking about lately. I am still a long, long way from painting the truck but the wheels are off again. If I decide I want a color other than red are there any special steps or precautions I should take that would be different than repainting regular painted wheels?

Chuck

special step: figure out how to get the powder coat off, I don't think paint will stick to it you might be able to rough it up enough with 50 or 80 grit or a grinder, but you'll have red showing in the creases and seams before long - might check w/ Schwab if they can do a different color over it

Bill

..... I have "heard" of powder coating being blasted off. I do know that I sold a guy set of wheels that were powdered coated and his painter blasted them and painted them. I have not seen them yet but this was only about 3 weeks ago. I'm suppose to go see the truck soon as I can get the guy to let me know when we can get together.
I didn't hear anyone close to the project say it was tough to do??

If you're going for a old style Hot Rod look, leave them red. Seen plenty of rods in varying colors with red wheels, tand they look pretty good. Dark blue looks real good with red wheels, as does just about any type of black finish.

I've had it done and done it myself. Not easy as the coating is tough!! But it can be done.

Try scuffing and painting an area on the inside of the wheel where it won't show if it goes badly. If the paint sticks OK you should be good to go in that respect. I did find this in reference to painting over power coat. Only time will tell if you'll get any red showing in the creases. My main concern in that area would be the amount of material build up if you paint over powder coat. PC leaves a lot of material on the wheel and painting will add more. The more material on a surface with differing expansion characteristics, the larger the risk of the paint checking. Probably the safest route would be to do as noted above and have them blasted again.

Thanks for the bad news and good advice. Its not really bad news since I have not ruled out staying with red, just wanted to know what my options were. Sanding will not work for me. Trying to get around the hubcap clips and other crevices is what sent me on the sandblast route when dealing with the rust. As far as I know the wheels were original to the truck and I would like to keep them. Guess I will stay with red or have them sandblasted again if I really have to change the color.

Chuck