The Powder Man in Sparks
 

I got a bunch of stuff powder coated at the Powder Man this week. The shop and office are not the cleanest most organized places in the world, but he did a great job and turned the stuff around quickly. Also his price and turn-around time were less than half of the other three places I checked. I doubt you could get a better price anywhere. Phone number is 775-359-2480, and he's on Marietta Way in Sparks just off Glendale.

Here's some more info:

http://www.merchantcircle.com/busine...n.775-359-2480

2nd that, I use him long time a go to powder coated my gokart frame and rims. Good price.

Oh yeah, forgot to thank chrscott_01 for the recommendation.

If anybody needs something in semi-flat black or primer gray (compatible with any top-coat paint) let me know, and I can throw it in with the batches that I will be doing there. The price will be very very cheap. He did a couple of my Hood Vent frames for less than $5 each including prep and masking the studs. I could barely buy the spray paint I'd need for that.

rims
 

Have you gone yet? I'd like to do my rims black if possible.

Mark

+1 id be in if you havent already gone for some primer wheels.

I will be doing another batch in about 2 weeks. I'm not sure how we'd swing getting the wheels in there, but we could try. The black I use is not completely flat - it's 20% gloss.

ok, that would be great. If I know a day or two in advance, I'll arrange to have me wheels ready.

Mark

Any idea of price for 4 16" 98 rs wheels? They are the gold that came on there, but have some chips etc.

Thanks

No idea. I have never painted a wheel in my life. I don't know if they have to be stripped first, sand blasted, filled, or what? If they have to be stripped I can tell you from experience that stripping powder coating sucks, and Powder Man doesn't do it. I doubt it though. Call him and find out what the off-the street price is. I don't know if he'd cut me a deal, since one set of wheels is more powder coating than I will do in months (with the small stuff I do).

I've got a set of FN01RC's that have that stupid "hyper black" finish that's more like a candy coating than paint/powdercoat. When you heat the wheels up to 500 deg, it peels. :(

I was thinking the next time the tires on there are dead I'd strip the coating and get them powdercoated 20% gloss white. :cool: Not sure if that fits in w/ anyone else's plans...

wait now that i think of it i thought you couldnt powdercoat aluminum wheels. how glossy is 20% gloss because i would rather do that if it is noticably shiny instead of primer and then painting them myself.

You can surely powdercoat aluminum wheels. I just don't know what kind of prep they need.

20%gloss would be called a semi-flat (or maybe satin) black - close to the typical black you see on car trim pieces.

Regular powder coating is cured at 400*F, so I do not know if it can withstand 500*F

I made up the 500 deg number. All I know is that my brakes get wicked hot at the track, and my wheels are noticing it.

It's forged/semi-forged wheels you're not supposed topowdercoat. Cast aluminum is fine.

I believe these were powdercoated at 20% gloss (not by the Powder Man though).

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

eh?

Why is that? I'm pretty sure the forged STI wheels are clear powder coated.

It has nothing to do with the surface and everything to do with 500 degree heat ruining the temper fo the metal.

Hmmm... I 'm pretty skeptical about that. The annealing temp. for aluminum is over 600*F and powder coating is </=400*F. The T6 tempering/aging of aluminum is done in the 350-400*F range I think, so one could argue that might help to have an extra hour or so at 400*F.


So how did BBS powder coat my forged wheels?

I do not know that they are powdercoated. I do know that I would not risk weakening wheels I inted to put under significant stress without a materials engineer specifically telling me that it's okay. You may be right about it being okay, and you may not. I err on the side of caution in this case is all.

Hell, I'm just wondering how forged races wheels survive brake temperatures.

Linky no worky for me. :(

Then click it better.

It links to a hand held powder coater for $120.

It's a powdercoating sprayer for about $120. All you need now is a $20,000 industrial sized oven w/ hangers in it for 4 wheels!

I designed that link to not work for Kevin, perfect.

I have improved my clicking techniques apparently. :lol:

if that is what it looks like i would most definatly be interested. i can prep em myself unless it is some ridiculous process. keep me posted man.

Prep for powder is strip/blast to bare metal and mask with high temp tape and plugs.

Mating surface including hub centric relief and lug holes at minimum. Matching the original finish voids would be best. This may include center cap mating area, valve seat, and ????

If forged wheels are failing from being powder coated then I would guess that the blasting is more likely to blame. Any abrasive blasting creates numerous little stress risers on the wheel's surface. This is very different than the nice smooth finish that forging leaves. I wouldn't used anything but mild bead blasting, and even that should be used with caution.

The stripping, blasting, and masking are where the cost is when pc'ing wheels. There would be no big advantage to having these done along with my parts that go straight to degrease and on to paint.

The Powder Man just told me that he will not do aluminum wheels, because people see something on the internet, hit a pothole, and come back saying that the powder coating is to blame. Steel wheels are $35 each including prep.

That's a great way for him to throw away thousands of dollars in business. :rolleyes:

I mean he didn't really say that... word for word, but implied it. I dont think he thinks the 400* temperature would do anything really, but noted that as soon as you powder coat an aluminum wheel it is no longer DOT approved. I dunno if that's true.

By that logic, the 1st time I brake hard in my car and heat up the wheels, they stop being DOT legal?

It would be interesting to take some infrared temp. readings of the wheels sometime. I have one of those thermometers, but I don't think it goes high enough.

I don't think mine reads that high either.

What we need is some of that temp paint, or some max-temp stickers people put on their brakes.

My IR thermometer reads up to 932*F... :D

Oh yeah, but what happens when you point it at the sun? :P

Oh, and you're assuming that the wheels thru-heat to something significant like 400*F. I do not know that's true, because a wheel is a big spinning heat sink, so that's why I think some temp. readings would be informative.

If the air temp in my tire > 200 and brake temp >1000, I bet that wheel is 400 easy... And that is loaded in every direction you can imagine.

400 hanging from a coat hanger can't hurt an aluminum rim IMHO.

my wheels are rattle can spray painted. after smoking brake pads and blue rotors, the cheap spray paint hasn't deformed. so i wouldn't call it super hot. but you might be able to cook part of an egg. btw it stockish setup with stock rotors and calipers.

It tells me to F* off...