Powder coating alloy wheels

[MikeO]

Hi folks

Thinking about getting my alloys powder coated (6 year old Ibiza). Not so much curb marks, but paint bubbling and flaking. Also had a bit of a job getting a rear tyre seated due to I assume a bit of corrosion on the lip. Done a search of the forum but still have a couple of questions.

1) I'm assuming that wheels of this age are still "doo'able". And this should sort any sealing problems (like mentioned above).

2) For those of you that have "actually" had this done... What sort of finish do you get? is it as good and durable as the original?

3) As I live in the Scottish Borders (West side Dumfries area) I'm struggling to find anyone remotely local. Question, has anyone used the following company?

Kilmarnock Powder Coating ... http://www.kpcservices.co.uk/

They look to have been in business a while and you can at least leave the car with them and I could pick up some new tyres from the Internet and just leave them in the boot for them. Prices seem reasonable to me.

Thanks

 

[simonthekane]

In theory they should be able to do it as they sandblast it back to the metal then should remove and kerbing by hand, if the wheel was buckled they might not touch it.

The powercoat finish on my old lupo wheels was very good and it was tough never picked up any stone chips on the back wheels and they were used purely for winter wheels

 

[MikeO]

Thanks for the reply.

Anyone else?

 

[chaz44]

hi im in the process of having some 6 yr old tdi sport alloys refurbed ,what i would recommend is ask the company to show you some alloys they have already done to see what there work is like .
mine are costing me £250 approx because mine are badly corroded leaving rim leaks that are unable to seal and they need a complete sandblast ,recoat,paint and laquer coating .(the cost also includes removing tyres and putting them back on )

 

[beezertart]

my ronals on my mk2so 11yrs old were powdercoated last year and all is good,prior to the job they had major lacquer peel and some corrosion under this and some kerbing,were turned around IN 48hrs from collection. more durable than painting i believe

 

[Aimez]

Had my wheels acid dipped then powder coated much better finish that spray paint will last longer but will cost you more to get done.

 

[MikeO]

Thanks for everyone's input.

It's at least given me some confidence that the finish should be reasonable. The place I'm thinking of going to has some comparison photos on their WEB site and they look pretty decent (though I accept that obviously these are "only" photos). The company has been in the business for some 10 years + So think I will give them a phone tomorrow afternoon. Only real hassle is the best part of a 3 hour round trip! At least it's a decent drive up the old A76.

 

[Aimez]

Make sure they give you the paint mix code/print off in case you need repairs or anything.

 

[GlanzaV]

Hey!

I've not had any dealings with Kilmarnock Powder Coatings but I can maybe ask about, but I've used Carrick Engineering in Prestwick who did a great (and very reasonably priced) job on my old Cupra Alloy when I clipped a kerb. The finish from powder coating is always brilliant, and for a long while after they'll clean up brilliantly without much scrubbing!!

Only thing is, they can't powder coat the plastic centre caps, so if you're getting them done a dif colour or they can't match the original colour the centre cap will look odd? I mention this cos the Sport alloys centre cap is huge and would be very noticable - not sure about other wheels though?

 

[MikeO]

GlanzaV

Good thought about the centre cap. Yes it is rather big. So I would be sticking to a silver finish.

 

[aaronbromley]

Had my wheels acid dipped then powder coated much better finish that spray paint will last longer but will cost you more to get done.

Was that costly Aimee?

 

[MikeO]

O'well.... That's the car book in for next Tuesday to get them powder coated. Done a quick shop around, as I now need 2 new tyres to replace the worn Kleber's on the front and have decided on Avon ZZ3's. Wanted something not too expensive but not budget and the ZZ3's seem to get half decent reviews. Have ordered them locally and they are only £3 dearer than buying them over the Internet.

I'll post an update when all's done and dusted.

 

[Aimez]

Was that costly Aimee?

yep and 4 new tyres! about £250 (obv without tyres!)

 

[Aimez]

O'well.... That's the car book in for next Tuesday to get them powder coated. Done a quick shop around, as I now need 2 new tyres to replace the worn Kleber's on the front and have decided on Avon ZZ3's. Wanted something not too expensive but not budget and the ZZ3's seem to get half decent reviews. Have ordered them locally and they are only £3 dearer than buying them over the Internet.

I'll post an update when all's done and dusted.

Make sure the wheel place can fit them for you I don't trust normal tyre fitters!

 

[MikeO]

Make sure the wheel place can fit them for you I don't trust normal tyre fitters!

Yep... They remove and re-fit them themselves.

I tend to agree with you about tyre fitters, though there are probably some good ones around. Mind you ... In more years than I care to remember, only one sticks out as "special". And that was a place up in Perth (Scotland). When the manager saw my car (one of the first Scoobies in Scotland ... so that makes it 1996 I think), he rolled up his sleeves and did the job himself. Thank God, as those gold Speedlines cost an absolute fortune! (should comment that I had a larger disposable income in those days and boy did I dispose of it!).

I seem to remember him commenting that most tyre fitters did not replace the metal "lifters" (or what ever they are called) with plastic ones (like they are supposed to do when removing tyres from alloys). Hence why the rim / edge of the alloy quite often gets damaged when either removing, or replacing the tyre.

 

[Aimez]

Good Good!

 

[MikeO]

Emmm. Only just looked at the wheel centre caps and realised / thought how big they are on these alloys! (as commented above by folks). So I rather hope they can match the colour pretty close.

Though on their WEB site, they do say:

"We can match the original manufacturer's colour code or, if you are feeling adventurous, pick from one of thousands in our charts. Choose one which matches the colour of your car or it's body-kit. The only limit is your imagination!"

Might just send them an Email to warn then about this.

 

[Spellcast]

Im following this with interest as I want to get ours done but dont know anywhere in the highlands that does it.

xx

 

[MikeO]

Dropped the car off yesterday afternoon and picked it up around 4PM today. So that's two 4 hour + round trips to sunny Kilmarnock! Not much fun in a car with no aircon in this hot weather!!! (managed to cadge a lift up to drop it off and then one to pick it up in my sisters 9 year old Skoda felicia).

Had a good look at the alloys when I picked the car up and then when I got back. Overall finish is pretty good. From a distance of 6 inches+ they look like new alloy wheels. I was warned that as three out of four wheels had a fair bit of corrosion in places (fair enough for 6 year old wheels) that I might see some imperfections under the paint and fair enough, if you look hard enough, you can see the ghost outlines of the pit marks where the corrosion was. But to be totally honest, you have to look pretty damn close. The plastic centre caps had been rubbed down, spay painted the same colour and then lacquered (looks perfect at the moment). I did query them doing this but the guy said that the plastic caps were only painted anyway. Tyre fitter looks to have made an A1 job fitting the tyres (IE. no marks) and has used balance weights on the inside of the wheel (IE. invisible). Tyre fitters in general could maybe take some notes from this guy.

Total cost for 4 alloys and removing / fitting / balancing tyres was just short of £200. This appears to be on par with what other companies charge.

So at the moment, I think I could / would recommend this company (WEB site given in original post).

Only other comment that I would make are:

- Print off a decent map if you don't know Kilmarnock, as the one-way system is a bit confusing in the town centre (well it was for me).

- Don't be put off by the fact that the place looks a little "industrial" (IE. don't expect a reception area etc.). They appear to be OK guys and know their business.

- Think hard about doing this. As when you add up the cost of 4 new half decent tyres (say £300) and the cost of the re-furb (say £200). Not to mention the cost of getting there, unless you are local of course. Then you are starting to approach the cost of one of the cheaper new alloy/wheel sets that you can buy off the Internet. Though having said that (at the moment) I don't regret getting the job done.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow when my body temperature has cooled down a bit.

 

[Aimez]

Sounds like a good price to me and yeh I had to save up for 9 months but only cos they are bigger wheels and needed new lower profile tyres to fit on the car some people don't have to worry about this. Sounds similar to where I went a workshop basically and 1980s mangers office that I paid in but looked like they had taken over the unit next door and were doing that up. Look forward to the pics make sure you've put some decent wheel guard on them now so they stay looking the same!