Just remember. If you are doing this to aftermarket multi piece wheels, the wheels have to be disassembled before stripping and powder coating. There will be a fee for that as well. You also want to send the wheels back to the original manufacturer to keep the warranty on the wheels intact.

 

The heat process in powdercoating can affect the tensile strength of some wheels.

You would be well advised to check with the manufacturer if the particular wheel can tolerate the process.

 

+1. Reheating an aluminum wheel to +400 can soften it. Best to ask a professional heat treater or metallurgist.

 

Does powdercoating also hide hairline cracks in the wheels that may occur?

 

We powder coat all of our own wheels here at Forgeline. The time the wheel parts spend in the oven does not reduce the strength of the forged aluminum. I have heard concerns about powder coating hiding hairline cracks, but have never seen this to be true. If there is a crack in a wheel, it will show up. Powder coating is also UV protected so it will not fade like an anodized part.

 

Actually heating to 400 degrees for 30 minutes will reduce the temper of cast aluminum. Actual structural testing shows approximately 10% reduction of tensile strength. Wheels that are manufactured to be powdercoated can take this into consideration. Porsche factory wheels are painted not powdercoated. Sand blasting can remove material. Hollow spoke wheels can be ruined by incorrect stripping.

 

Can wheels be powder coated any color....ie white to match a white car, or is that considered painting the wheels, and how is that best accomplished???

 

i got alittle confused, is it better to powder coat or to paint wheels? especially if you plan on changing colors every here and there?

 

Well, We'll find out soon....with all the different theories, I am going to go ahead and be the ginea pig....I am confident that the wheels will be fine

 

I do not believe that you can color match with powdercoating. We do a lot of custom finishing and it is always paint.

SoCal996 which model Porsche do you have? Which wheels? Before you decide to be a guinea pig I would like go give you some free advice based on experience not theory.

Porsh997TT, I would say that it is better to paint if you plan on changing colors as powdercoating is not easily strippable. You can strip powder with aircraft stripper, however that chemical is not available in many areas. The other methods are much more invasive. Media blasting can remove metal and cause the part to distort, or warp. Hot stripping is the worst. They basically cook the powder off which at the same time changes the material properties of the metal, making the wheels very weak.

 

can a pinstripe be put on with powder coats or only one color?

 

There are a lot of new color options when it comes to powder coating. Alan is correct, it's tough to get an exact color match with powder coat. Color matched paint is nice, but not as durable as powder coat. We offer both powder coat and color match paint. With the color match paint, we can also clear powder over it to add durability. Because of its nature, powder coat can only be applied in one color for a consistant finish, a stripe would have to be added later.

 

Yes you can pin stripe after the powder coat.

 

After much contemplation and research, my wheels are now at the powdercoaters. I will post pics when they are finished. FYI, after many different expert advise, the tensile strength should be fine.

 

Yes you'll be fine. You just don't want to powdercoat the same wheels a bunch of times. The tensile strength will be effected eventually.