powder coating wheels

aftermath · aftermath's Garage

I have some bbs wheels ( gold and chrome ) on my 930. I wanted to powder coat them black. Anyone think this would be a bad idea? Aside from a good cleaning, what sort of prep might the wheels need so the powder coating has the best chance of sticking? If it doesnt turn out I will go buy the 'wider' wheels that Im dreaming about. I would remove the valve stem of course, but would the heat of powder coating do any damage to the wheel?

stormmaster · stormmaster's Garage

wheels would need to be bead blasted....cleaned....pre-heated....coated...baked....installed....the wheel should hold up fine to the heat....if you do the rim....installing tires might remove the coating...thus ruining the finish.

Cory M · 02-24-2006, 02:57 PM

The powder coating shops by me do wheels for $60 each, and usually sand or media blast them for prep. Talk to the shop doing the coating before doing any prep. Powdercoat isn't really a good idea if they are track wheels because the powdercoating hides cracks, but it is fine for street wheels and more durable than paint.

matt911 · 02-24-2006, 03:01 PM

Years ago I had some Panasport wheels refinished with powdercoating. The wheels were not for the Porsche. I had them sandblasted prior to coating to have the original finish removed. The powdercoated finish was very durable and I have no complaints. I had a friend throw them on a brake lathe after coating to remove the coating from the lip to create a brushed finish but that really has nothing to do with your question.

gestalt1 · 02-24-2006, 03:03 PM

it sounds like they are the 3pc bbs wheels, i'm wondering if it is better to dis-assemble the rims from the centers for powdercoating. i also have a set and am thinking of powdercoating them black. i have seen some manufacturers offering teflon coating so cleaning is easier. i am going to look into finding a coating company that can do this.

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

No problem with them being powder coated. I have done it to my 911 and my saab. The saab has over 40,000 miles on them and they still look great. You just need to wax them just like you wax your car. Putting tires on did nothing to the edges as well in the way of scratching. There are a boat load of colors and textures to pick from as well

efhughes3 · efhughes3's Garage

The warning about powdercoating hiding cracks is a real one. I'd paint.

DavidI · 02-24-2006, 04:38 PM

Al Reed powdercoats rims. Black powdercoating looks great, David

87924gt · 87924gt's Garage

We buid these wheels here in Orlando. This is a set of 8 and 10 x 16's with Fuch centers and completely original BBS hardware. I'll have this set on my car that will be in the Porsche Corral at Sebring. We also have a pair of 14" WIDE x 15 wheels that we just made up last week. Gary Stratton of Stratton Motorsports in Winter Park has been building wheels for more that 20 years and his work is top drawer. He's racing at Sebring this weekend (2/25) with one of the drivers that we went to LeMans with. The 911 pix is from the 2004 LeMans Classic where we took 3rd place. Oh, and Gary made those wheels too!

duke3282 · 02-25-2006, 05:19 AM

I powdercoated my wheels at my apartment about a year and a half ago. All I did was strip off all of the old paint, bake in the oven for 20 min to release any gasses in the metal so the powdercoat wont bubble, wipe down with xylene or some other solvent to remove the oil and then powdercoat. I used black and silver to give the traditional fuchs look but it would be even easier to do them just black. I then put a coat of clear on top. They have held up great with no dings or scratches. To clean them all you have to do is wipe them off with a wet rag and they look good as new.