I don't think you seriously want to powdercoat the tire.....that would really stink.

The wheel....well, metal is usually a lot more tolerant of podwer coating procedures than rubber.

 

Bologna!!! Prep is key regardless of finish. If you're powder coating the rims with an opaque color polished or not doesn't matter. All you have to do is scuff the polish, give the paint an edge to grab on to. If you're using an trans. paint then yes it gets trickier but it can be done. No body ever learned how to do anything by taking it to the pros all the time.

 

Now how come I never thought of that? All these years of watching commercials about how well this one or that one breaks down grease.

Boy my wife is gonna be pissed.

 

Right.........my polished aluminum SVT wheels I was gonna scuff them up myself to put a clear powder coat to them........just to see if I learn something.

Scuff the polish.........try removing the polish.

 

Yep, lots of places say you can't powdercoat polished aluminum or chrome.

If the guy is good......he can do both.

I would highly polish things just for my guy to powder since we were using a translucent color.
He would also send parts to get chromed....just so he could do a translucent color on them. Looks good since the color really pops in the sunlight.

 

Come on guy, at least do me the favor of comprehending my post before busting my *****. If you're doing an opaque color (meaning you can't see through it) then what do you care what happens to the finish of your rims. You don't remove polish, polish is simply an extrememly flat and smooth metalic surface. Scuffing it adds scratches which takes away that surface and gives the paint an edge to hold on to. BTW, I have powder coated polished and chromed surfaces both with translucent color (meaning you can see through it) for practice and it can be done, quite easily, as a matter of fact. It's all about metal prep.

 

Don't send her my way. I make sure nobody is home before I clean my tools. It's the only time I use the dishwasher. My mom got a little suspicious when I asked her how to run it.

 

The stock steelies are powder coated form the factory. When I checked in to how much it cost to unmount the tires, strip the powder, recoat and remount it would be more cost effective to buy some cheap black wheels. Wish the factory made em black.

 

The chrome stock wheels are just a chrome cover that it black underneath it.....at least that's how the ones I pulled off my 07 are.

 

Not to discourage the guy from powdercoating on his own, but unless he plans to powder coat lots of other stuff in the future, it may be more trouble (and cost) than it's worth to DIY, rather than to take them down to the local powder coat shop.

Here's what you're gonna need:

- Powder coat gun (Harbor Freight for about $50, Eastwood for about $100, I've used both and they work fine)

- Oven to bake the items in. For small items, I use a little toaster oven from Walmart for about $30. For the bigger items, I picked up a used range for about $50. Of course, for the full-size oven, you'll need 220V wherever you plan to use it.

- Not needed 100% but highly recommended: A media blast cabinet. Metal has to CLEAN before you coat it. And while you could sit there for hours or days with wire wheels, grinders, sandpaper, etc, a media blast cabinet can make life so much easier.

Finally, you'll want to practice before you do your actual item. There's a lot of little "gotchas" that you only learn from experience.

But if you really want to get into it, then you can turn out some great looking items for a fraction of what it will cost you to pay a local shop.

For items larger than will fit in the big oven range (pretty much a tire rim is the max item for that), I've been wanting to build a bigger oven. It's not too difficult to build an oven that will accomodate much larger items. However, here's a trick for all you "old home oven" users: I built a box out of insulated wall board that has one side open. The open side is the same dimensions as the opening to the oven. I just open the oven, leave the door down, and place the insulated box on the door, covering the opening. I can pretty much double my baking area like that. It takes a little longer to get the whole area up to 400 degrees, but it's a much simpler solution than getting or building a bigger oven.

TX

 

If you're referring to me... I'm already knee deep in it. I've been playing with my setup for a year now. I have intentions of doing a lot more powder coating than one or two items and have a small CNC company interested in having me do some small part work for them.

 

No, I meant the guy who started this thread, and it was mentioned to him that he could do it himself. Just wanted him to be informed on what it would minimally take to get started.

TX

 

Got it, and you do have a good point.

 

Hey fivonut, since you're already set up to bake, check out GunKote by KG Coatings. Somewhat similar process, and useful for some things that powder coat isn't. Cheap to get into as well, since all you'll need is a cheap airbrush to spray it on.

Have fun!
TX

 

I'll have to check that out. I recently found a waterborn setup that gives you a chrome finish on any sprayable compound. It was pricey to get into, but in pics I couldn't tell the difference between it and real chrome and it could be sprayed on plastic, fiberglass, etc. The company sprayed a grave digger body for one of the recent anniversaries.