more rim painting questions + powdercoating

[02_Legacy]

I was talking to a friend who knows paint and he said that the Aircraft stripper can dammage the alluminium because it is so strong, anyone have this happen to them? and how many of you have used this successfully?
Also I am now considering getting my rims powdercoated, I was qouted $65 per rim to just drop them off, or if I do the prep work my self $50 per rim. If they did it they would sand blast it, if I did it I would use the stripper, is it wouth it to pay $40 extra bucks (the stripper costs $20) to have them sandblast it instead of using the stripper?
Also what do you think of painting rims vs powder coating them? I figured it would cost me about $130 to paint them my self, and as stated above $220 to $260 to have them powercoated. So it is almost double to powder coat them. What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks alot.

[Huffer]

you can safely use aircraft stripper on the wheels, so long as you don't leave it sitting on too long!

If you don't want to spend a bunch of time stripping the wheels, scraping off old paint, sanding, etc then for sure pay someone to sandblast the paint off.

For the money, if they're really nice rims, powdercoating or pro-painting them will give you a really nice finish. None of my rims are that great so I just hand paint with the spray can, and strip them myself whenever I feel like a color change (basically every 6 months or so).

Just understand that wheels are wheels, and if you drive the car expect road chips and whatnot from the very first day you get them back from the painter. You may even get a scratch on them from mounting the tires!

[rougeben83]

And people also say that the heat used to bake the powdercoating can induce fatigue on the metal alloy, making it more brittle and easier to damage.

You can't win either way. :twisted:

[BG5guy]

id go w/ the powder coat, looks nicer, and is stronger and more durable then regular paint from the rattle can. not to mention sanding your own rims can take time and be a pain the the arss. 65 a wheel is pretty steep however. Local shops in my area usually charge anywhere from 125 to 165 for the whole set.

[d1giPhux]

Nah.. thats BS. The chem strip barely eats through the paint enough for you to wipe it off by hand. I doubt it penetrates the metal at all. If you applied it directly to a metal surface and let it sit for days and days and days.. it may. But i seriously doubt it. It barely has enough power to get through the clear, then the base in enough time for you to wipe it off. It starts to harden afterwards, so I think as it goes on it loses its 'potency'.

Powdercoat is a waste of money in my opinion. Here it costs upwards of $100/wheel. So yeah.. not worth it. By the time your done paying for the powdercoating / clear on it.. you could have bought new rims.

[Airgne]

there are enough of these threads. go read and dont make a new one.