Powder coat or Paint?

[Rich916]

My origanal steel wheels need some attention. Estamates for a blast and P/Coat range from $65.00-$85.00 per wheel. I'm still debating. If i were to paint what would be a good durable paint?

Any advice? My truck is a DD / weekend cruiser type build.

[Ends]

I have seen people use appliance paint on wheels that turned out pretty nice but i dont know about the durability compared to powder coated.

[Rigrocker]

I would say it depends on your budget, you can't beat powdercoat but a light sanding and a rattle can is a whole lot cheaper.

[leddzepp]

Paint them. They will inevitably get scratches, etc from daily use. All you have to do is spray to touch up.
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[Rigrocker]

Eastwood has nice wheel paint.

[jocko]

I've done about 20-30 steelies at Pacific Coast Powder Coating in Palmdale for $50/set. That was a bit of a volume discount, I think they are a bit higher than that now, but I was very satisfied. I'm personally a fan of powder coating, but all depends on how nice you want to make it. Good paint coat looks just the same, but for some reason I seem to scratch the painted ones much more, and more often, than pc'ed wheels... This is the latest set, for the 71 C20. Scott - I STILL don't have that door on!! Ha. But that's next after the brakes.

[midniteblues]

I was debateing the same question . but i gotta ask

jocko how does the pc hold up to putting the hub caps on and off?

I've never had hub caps on a vehicle(allways nice wheels)
does the paint hold up too hudcaps being taken off an on? I'll be useing the 67-68 style but they all pop on the same

[slikside]

Originally Posted by midniteblues

I was debateing the same question . but i gotta ask

jocko how does the pc hold up to putting the hub caps on and off?

I've never had hub caps on a vehicle(allways nice wheels)
does the paint hold up too hudcaps being taken off an on? I'll be useing the 67-68 style but they all pop on the same

This was my concern as well, initially. But I went the pc route, and I love it.

Cap wear for on/off really isn't an issue, but I do take care when prying them off. I have a very small pry bar and one of those flexible magnets you stick on a tool box or something....the size of a business card (haven't bothered finding anything else yet). I use the magnet, folded in half as a buffer to avoid scratching/chipping the pc.

[jocko]

In my experience, it does hold up to caps better than paint. However, full wheel covers will destroy pc just as fast as paint. But if you are careful with hubcaps (i.e. what most folks refer to as poverty caps, but the factory term is hub caps for the non-full wheel covers, like mine above) it's possible to get them on/off without too much damage. Managed to pop my 66's off/on without ANY damage, however, the 3/4 caps above are a pretty firm/tight fit and I will probably do a little pc scratchin under the caps.

Paint does not hold up well at all, but it comes down to cost and willingness to accept scratches on pc after you've paid an arm and a leg for it. For me, I'm willing. However, many will say (and rightly so) "if you accept scratches on pc, why not just paint em?" Excellent question, but I find that with care, hubcaps can be take on/off with very minimal damage on pc. If I were installing full wheel covers on a 1/2 ton, for example, I'd consider paint more seriously because they tend to do so much more damage to paint and pc anyway.

[leddzepp]

Man, nothing looks better than bright white steelies and shiny caps!
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[midniteblues]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Man, nothing looks better than bright white steelies and painted caps
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^ I fixed it but i agree

thanks for your input jocko

[jocko]

that's a good point - I have one of the itty bitty blue pry bars and a little block of wood taped to the back of it so as not to scratch the wheels when removing. The wheels will get a little scratched when installing (under the cap near the nubs) but that's to be expected - but it is important to be careful when you pry them off.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by jocko

that's a good point - I have one of the itty bitty blue pry bars and a little block of wood taped to the back of it so as not to scratch the wheels when removing. The wheels will get a little scratched when installing (under the cap near the nubs) but that's to be expected - but it is important to be careful when you pry them off.

That's the one!!

I stick it b/t the folded magnet, and that way the wheel AND the cap edge are protected.

BTW this thread made me think of pics, and my avatar now shows my wheels and caps (where previously nothing at all!). Painting the bowtie and black cog etc. was painstaking, but I'm glad I did it, and pretty satisfied how they turned out.

[jocko]

yes, it is quite the pain in the tookus, I agree. I have 3 more to go...