Painting wheels . . .
- Thread starter HowardB
- Start date
Gordon Attar
New member
A wheel refurbisher such as BJV engineering in Bucks would charge around £200 to do them properly and powder coated them.
924Srr27l
New member
Gordon Attar said:
£50 each including 20%vat ? that's like a man in a van mobile, putting "new paint" on top of the old price, I bet they coat the back of the hub and don't flat the primer to erradicate
the corrosion pitting for this?
You get what you pay for Howard B, Hard wearing and the best finish and longevity will be £100 a wheel, but if you only want a £50 job each or a £15 each Halfords special buying rattle cans you'll be doing them
again in a year's time or before...
R
924Srr27l said:
I'll second that Roger. I tried to get some wheels done 'on the cheap' and it cost me much more in the long run to get them done correctly.
If you want to move the car on then a quick fix may be worthwhile, but to do them properly they need to be stripped of all paint etc. and then start again.
vitesse
Active member
I've used an outfit in Widnes many times now -they carefully fine shot blast -if necessary repair any kerbing damage then prime & top coat to a colour of choice & stove using a wet process
Usually costs me around £ 35 a wheel.It's not rocket science & no reason to pay a fortune .
Usually costs me around £ 35 a wheel.It's not rocket science & no reason to pay a fortune .
924Srr27l
New member
vitesse said:
If your happy with this finish each to there own, but many wouldn't be and would want more.
There is a Science and a lot of skill for creating high quality paintwork, there are thousands of places in the UK that Paint automotive metal (Wheels / car Body panels etc..) and many people have many horror stories of poor work often from a cheap cost.
The difference is Quality and service is very wide as are in general people's perceptions on whats
a high quality or a good enough job for them.
The cheap outfits churn out lots of volume they have to, it's how there business works.
Hence they cannot match the smaller portion of higher quality companies that take much longer and offer a better finish, personal service and guarantee etc..
For some reason Wheels seem to be put in a different catorgary as body paintwork which also has a Smart repair industry for
doing bumper and panel cosmetic local touch up under a Gazebo on the side of a Van !
There is a very high amount of Porsche Sportscar owners that are quite particular and would not entertain a cheap job because
they are well aware (Often from poor experiences like Peter) they will get what you pay for.
I've personally spent the last 12 years trying out all the options:
- Sand paper and Aerosols DIY garage job!
- Bodyshop Spray gun front face only
- Cheap Industrial (gates, brackets etc..) Powder coaters
- Specific high quantity fast turnaround (1 day) Wheel outfits
- Low volume, high (Show) quality longer duration (4 days) Wheels Restorers
You take your choice and pick which one / quality you want......
R
I took my car in to Classic Coatings at Grantham, Lincolnshire
Left them the car for the day, picked it up at evening.
They removed the wheels from the car, removed the tyres, pressure washed the wheels, media blasted them, repaired one small area of kerbing (done by previous owner), then powder coated a base coat, then a top coat, and a hard wearing crystal lacquer finish. Then balance and re-fit tyres and wheels back on the car.
Price for the 17" wheels on the other car was £320 inc VAT.
Beautiful job, absolutely stunning, and were colour changed from silver to black gloss.
The inside barrels are lovely and glossy too, and they clean up the inside face of the wheel that mates to the hub so you don't get any problems with wheel wobble that you might get if it was just painted over.
Then again, last year a mate of mine (professional wheel refurber and sprayer) refurbed the kerbed alloys on a Civic Type R that I had just bought, and he did a cracking job, front faces only, not the barrels or the insides, and he charged me £40 a wheel. (done in a morning)
Would use either of these boys if the Porsche ever needs a wheel refurb.
Left them the car for the day, picked it up at evening.
They removed the wheels from the car, removed the tyres, pressure washed the wheels, media blasted them, repaired one small area of kerbing (done by previous owner), then powder coated a base coat, then a top coat, and a hard wearing crystal lacquer finish. Then balance and re-fit tyres and wheels back on the car.
Price for the 17" wheels on the other car was £320 inc VAT.
Beautiful job, absolutely stunning, and were colour changed from silver to black gloss.
The inside barrels are lovely and glossy too, and they clean up the inside face of the wheel that mates to the hub so you don't get any problems with wheel wobble that you might get if it was just painted over.
Then again, last year a mate of mine (professional wheel refurber and sprayer) refurbed the kerbed alloys on a Civic Type R that I had just bought, and he did a cracking job, front faces only, not the barrels or the insides, and he charged me £40 a wheel. (done in a morning)
Would use either of these boys if the Porsche ever needs a wheel refurb.
vitesse
Active member
Howard,HowardB said:
National Alloys,Warrington Rd,Widnes WA8 0ST--0151 495 1880
Omitted to say that they finally apply a clear lacquer coat.I have only ever dropped off wheels & collected 2/3 days later but I am sure you can arrange to leave the car,go off somewhere for a few hours & collect the car with finished wheels later.Have always been cars outside on axle stands having that type of service-would obviously cost more.
Gordon Attar
New member
Process should take a couple of days.
Acid bath over night at least
Sand blasting
Rub down of any kerbing, straightening etc
Powder coating
Cooking of power coating
When cool apply lacquering
You can't do the above and powder coated in 6 to 8 hours.
Acid bath over night at least
Sand blasting
Rub down of any kerbing, straightening etc
Powder coating
Cooking of power coating
When cool apply lacquering
You can't do the above and powder coated in 6 to 8 hours.
vitesse
Active member
Roger,924Srr27l said:
Your responses are always so interesting but flawed-the cheapest 1/2p plastic injection moulded component can be of extremely high quality-I remember carefully examining an injection moulded plastic model of a Vulcan bomber as it came out of the press with wings tapering to almost razor sharp edges-the item was to be included within the pages of a boys comic-this was well over 50 yrs ago in Southport in what seemed to be a 2 bit toolroom with a moulding shop down a back entry between housing.
Over more than 50 years ,I have experience covering all the "science " & skills involved from painting plants ,wet,electrostatic,powder,plastic.nylon ,PTFE,diecast non ferrous foundries making everything from cylinder heads to wheels,shotblast plants,polishing machinery & paint manufacturers.
Painting is basically a cheap protective treatment even on a small scale -powder coating carries with it the problems of minimum charges for a tub of powder,whereas wet paint doesn't thus allowing choice of colour easily.
The problem here is one of cost versus what the punter will pay given a bit of spiel coupled with peoples gullibility that dearest must be best quality
924Srr27l
New member
vitesse said:
There's a lot of flaws on this thread from many other members, which to the trained professional doesn't make sense
I'll explain later.
All Wheels from new OE or aftermarket are Powdercoated for many reasons, Wet paint is used for body panels it's only the Smart repair man in a van industry and bodyshops that use Solvent or Water based Wet paint and 2 pack Lacquer, and most of the time
only stick a coat of New on top of the old & Original.
Restoration is just that and offers a back to bare metal process far superior and longer lasting than what the above can provide
And then you can buy cheap Paint and Powder or Higher quality, it really does what it says on the tin and your receipt higher cost
Paint dry and wet is better quality, cheaper does not go on as well, cover as well, and look as good.
There is no problem with the dry (paint) powder process in regard to as you put it "charges for a tub of powder" !
Powder coating in KG are cheaper than Paint in Litres to buy!
The real problem here is people's perception and standards are very wide and what some may regard as good is tosh
compared to other people who have a higher eye for whats a quality finish and whats a dogs dinner!
There are a few companies that give out "Spiel" on there website etc...but this is no different to some of the comments on here
from other members which sound like they know what they are on about, but they don't!
R
HowardB
New member
Well, I went with CAS Coatings in Bradford (£1 per inch of wheel!).
They look brilliant, but of course time will tell how long they remain so, but for £70 all in, including doing the centre caps it's not a big risk.
Purists should look away now, as I'm posting a few photos of the work we've done on the car over the last year . . . .
http://i64.tinypic.com/2hed6pv.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/6jk589.jpg
http://i63.tinypic.com/2d6veba.jpg
http://i63.tinypic.com/ofai36.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/t51tev.jpg
They look brilliant, but of course time will tell how long they remain so, but for £70 all in, including doing the centre caps it's not a big risk.
Purists should look away now, as I'm posting a few photos of the work we've done on the car over the last year . . . .
http://i68.tinypic.com/6jk589.jpg
http://i63.tinypic.com/2d6veba.jpg
http://i63.tinypic.com/ofai36.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/t51tev.jpg
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