Stripping a powder coated wheel

rching · 02-05-2008, 03:09 PM

I have 4 fuchs, two are painted, black centers. Two look to be powder coated, black centers. Can the powder coating be stripped like paint? I was going to do them myself, but don't want to start if the powder coated wheels need a different process to strip. Thanks.

the · 02-05-2008, 03:13 PM

what makes you think they are powdercoated?

75blkcarrera · 02-05-2008, 04:21 PM

If they are powder coated don't try to media blast them. Way to much work. Eastwoods has a powder coating stripper. Never used it so i can't make an comment on it.

rching · 02-05-2008, 04:56 PM

I just assumed they were powder coated because the finish is so hard and shiney and the way the chips were. I don't know for sure.

rching · 02-05-2008, 04:58 PM

3.2 CAB · 02-06-2008, 10:07 AM

That does appear to be a powder coated finish. The surface, when it is fractured, it chips-off, very similar to how a porcelain finish does. It fractures about the same way, because of the similar heat application process, melts the surface to a smooth coating. I have not ever really tried to completely strip a powder coated finish, but I have had to clean many areas that were coated, that were not supposed to be, ie: threaded parts, glide sleeve type parts, parts that are press fitted, etc. It is a major PITA

. I have media blasted some with good results, then bead blast, then the soda, to be able to get the surface smooth again. I have not really found a chemical type product that has any real effect to use it to remove powder coat. That is one of the powder coaters main selling points, of how well it can hold up. I you do find a stripper that really does work, be sure to let ALL OF US KNOW. Good luck!! Tony.

jonbot · 02-06-2008, 10:24 AM

I used to work at a powder coating shop many years ago. Whenever we would get a part that was powder coated already, nine times out of ten, we would have to send it to a professional stripper to have the coating removed. We would try to put them in the sand blaster cabinet, and sometimes the coating would come off, sometimes it wouldn't. When it did come off, it took an extremely long time to break through the coating. IMO, send it to a stripper, I'm not sure how that would affect the anodizing though...

frankc · 02-06-2008, 08:06 PM

Jonbot,
Do you know if the paint stripping shop you sent the parts to used a chemical process to remove the powder coating?

Frank

kcpaz · 02-06-2008, 08:20 PM

Fuchs wheels aren't powder coated. I'm not even sure they are anodized. My brother owns a wheel remanufacturing buisness and won't even give people quotes on polishing Fuchs wheels because you never know how long it will take to strip the old coating. Media blasting is easy to do (with a good industrial blasting cabinet) but then it takes hours and hours to sand the surface back to something that can be polished. He has tried sending the wheels out to be anodize stripped and they say that they can't get the stuff off. Whatever it is, it's nasty stuff. He's tried aircraft stripper with some luck, but it takes many many treatments. Bottom line.... I would love if someone could give an definitive answer on what the black coating is so I can help him out.

88-diamondblue · 02-06-2008, 08:43 PM

Aircraft stripper will remove powder coat (methylene chloride) when I was powder coating my fan I needed to strip the pc due to out gassing, several times, pita of course. Different types of PC may take more applications of stripper but will remove it.

gshiwota · 02-06-2008, 08:50 PM

+1 Aircraft stripper

I was a powder coater and this is what we used to remove powder coating and regular paint. Do not media blast the wheels since the aluminium may get damaged. Be sure to give it a good and thick coat of aircraft stripper and be patient. Even powder coating will come right off.

Otherwise, you can have the coating burned off in a professional burnoff oven. This process turns the coating to ash but does not affect the underlying metal. This is safe for alloy wheels.

Good luck!

Gabe

kcpaz · 02-06-2008, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gshiwota

+1 Aircraft stripper

I was a powder coater and this is what we used to remove powder coating and regular paint. Do not media blast the wheels since the aluminium may get damaged. Be sure to give it a good and thick coat of aircraft stripper and be patient. Even powder coating will come right off.

Otherwise, you can have the coating burned off in a professional burnoff oven. This process turns the coating to ash but does not affect the underlying metal. This is safe for alloy wheels.

Good luck!

Gabe

yeah, but these wheels aren't powder coated.......

jonbot · 02-06-2008, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankc

Jonbot,
Do you know if the paint stripping shop you sent the parts to used a chemical process to remove the powder coating?

Frank

Frank, it was about 12 years ago, but from what I can remember, I'm pretty sure they used some kind of chemical stripping. Here's the place: http://www.durafinish.com/

88-diamondblue · 02-06-2008, 09:52 PM

Paint or powder coat, the aircraft stripper will remove it. It will not harm the anodizing or the aluminum if the anodizing is gone. If it is PC then it just take longer for it to start bubbling up.

rnln · 02-08-2008, 01:00 AM

guys,
is Aircraft stripper a brand? Do any autopart store carry them?

pantera · 02-08-2008, 04:32 AM

I've stripped a few pieces of powdercoating using paint/varnish remover under advisement from the local powdercoater. I purchased it from Home Depot (paint supplies). Aircraft stripper is the generic name. The brand name I bought was called Rock Miracle. It took two applications. The first removed the bulk of it and the second cleaned up the remainder.

Hope this helps,

Dan

amschnellsten · 02-08-2008, 02:16 PM

you can also go buy easy off oven cleaner and it removes powder coating. You have to let is sit for a bit.

Mitch Leland · Mitch Leland's Garage

FYI,

If it burns the hell out of ya, then it's aircraft stripper... Well that's not quite the case, but I would recommend "Dad's Paint Stripper". It comes with a spray bottle, but I always paint the stripper on with a brush. I just finished stripping my airplane that was painted with a two part enamel. You can get Dads at most hardware stores.

signature65 · 02-08-2008, 03:05 PM

I stripped one of my fuchs. They were black and when I got the paint off the finish under was so rough it was worthless to polish. It looked like 80 grit sandpaper. I ended up repainting them black and then painting the spokes silver. Closest thing I could do without having them professionaly refinished. I think they look great. And super cheap!

rching · 02-08-2008, 03:35 PM

I took my fuchs in on Wednesday, got them back today! I forgot about this polishing place that I use to use before I took stuff to Al Reed. I had these wheels ready to go but after 2 calls unreturned, I decided to try this place again. I wanted to take pics of the process, but he got them done so fast, I didn't have a chance. I also forgot how reasonable they were. They don't paint the webbing but I can do that if that saves me......$300. That's assuming that it cost $125/wheel for strip,polish and paint! 2 of the wheels were powder coated. The place I took it to, stripped the wheels with chemical paint remover , and the anodizing underneath, they said, has to be sent to their anodizer and they chemically strip the anodizing off, send it back to them for polish. The caps are included in the price. Not worth trying to do it myself for what they charge. He said he knows that guys try oven cleaner and the like but for me, $200 and 2 days for everything is a great deal.