Black Stock Sport Package Rims
 

I recently got a pearl white 370z with the sport package. I like the warranty I got with the rims and tires on the car, but like everyone else I want black rims. I'm talking to someone that will paint my rims black, but I was wondering if maybe someone had already done this to theirs? I looked through the forums and I saw some threads about it but no actual example. I know for a fact the black will looks hot as hell on the PW.

I have been looking myself and have not come up with anything, I would recommend powdercoating over paint. Wheels need to be durable to sustain the exposure to road debris, brake dust and rock chips. Make sure if you go with powdercoating or painting that the factory coating is removed and the wheel is sandblasted for proper adhesion.

Nick

+1 on powder coating them

Powdercoat them, this is one of my Nismo's that I powdercoated
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/858/finishednismo1.jpg

nismo colors huh , looks good

I have painted wheels before and they held up pretty well for about 2 years. The worst chips they had were from the install. But that was an older car with old wheels. I would powdercoat something nice like these wheels.

Not nismo colors, but I like to be different ;)

Here's the actual example, fresh from the oven with a coat of gloss black powder coat. These wheels are currently at a pinstripe shop getting painted with high temp paint before the clear powder coat goes on. I was going to wait to post, but since you asked, here's the reults:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...t/IMG_0355.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...t/IMG_0356.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...t/IMG_0357.jpg

The wheel caps and badges are getting a little paint treatment too, but I'll wait to post until I get it all done.

PS. I shot a sample aluminum plate with regular pinstripe paint and with high-temp paint. the regular pinstrip paint gives much bolder colors because it has a lot more pigment than normal paint, but it discolored in the powdercoat oven and became quite a bit darker. The high temp paint stayed the same color.

PPS. Wanna throw me a rep point for the pics? I think this is a first. :-)

testors paint pens will hold up, but when I do the lips, I do them in actual powder (when the customer wants to pay what it costs for the labor). I'll give you a rep point though!

Here's my sample metal plate after clear coat. These are not the colors I am using for my wheels, just what my fabricators had on hand. The regular pinstrip paint was a bright orange and heat resist was dark. When it came out of the oven, we couldn't tell which was which! The base metal plate is done in "black chrome" powerder coat, which is a translucent black shot over sand blasted aluminum. You can see aluminum through it, making it a charcoal color with a metal flake appearance. It looks cool, but not what I wanted.

you can't feel the pinstripe paint through the clear coat and this technique allows you to do very fine striping that is incredibly durable, without leaving a "buildup" edge that you get when you mask off an area then shoot two layers of powder coat.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/0013.jpg


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/0023.jpg


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/0072.jpg

I'm having Ron Beam do the striping.

:worship:

Not sure exactly what it is, but I saw this at ZDAYZ.

I think those were helios coating. www.helioscoating.com

whoa where did you get it done and how much i want to get mine done as well

American Powdercoating in Bakersfield. Probably too far away from you. Lots of good quality powdercoat places in LA and Orange County.

Price was $430 including tax for hot tank (chemical stripping), sand blasting, powder coating and clear powdercoat after the pinstripe is done. The pictures are before clear coat. Pin stripe, of course, is priced based on how elaborate you want to get. Mine was $65/ wheel, but it's elaborate.

the only thing that i heard about powder coating was since the rims are forged aluminum that they can crack...Is this true? Because I was down with powdercoating them as well until i heard that

ps
Phimosis those look badass gj

Cant wait to see them on the car with the pinstriping :-) When will they be done?

In socal, check with powdercoater.com, they do good work. Not to be confused with me, thepowdercoater dot com

Unfortunately, the color that my pinstriper mixed up was not to my liking, so he ordered a couple more colors. They should come in today, but then he has to mix it, paint the wheels, overnight to dry, then back to the powdercoaters for the clear coat. I'll shoot some photos before they go back on the car, but I'm doing 15 mm spacers and Bridgestone RE11's with 275 front, 305 rear and it will be another day or two before it's all assembled.

I'll start a new thread next week and post all the pictures from start to finish. For now, I'm not telling the details so there is an element of surprise. I'm sure some will love it and some will hate it....

You are right sir, heating forged wheels to that high a temp weakens them significantly...

Agreed. Make sure not to buy any powder coated wheels as they will be significantly weaker than painted ones or ones that are bare aluminum. I haven't seen any like that, but I'm sure they are around.

>>>Volk Racing Wheel TE37 Spec. List :
>>>Material is 6061 aircraft grade aluminum. This material is hot forged. 1st >>>forging process is done with pressure of 5,000 kilograms per square >>>centimeter. 2nd forging process is a slow process
>>>with 3,500 kilograms per square centimeter. The lip is also forged to 3,500>>> kilograms per square centimeter. This allows the wheel to have less >>>material than other wheels, but have more strength and durability. The >>>excess material is machined off (to tolerance of 1/100 of a millimeter). >>>Powder coating and clear coating is done by a special proprietary process >>>to ensure long lasting quality and durability


Ok. Let me edit this for those that don't see my wry wit. Almost every wheel on the market is powdercoated. If it's not chrome or some type of metal coating, it's a baked on plastic finish. Paint just won't hold up to the abuse of even mounting the tires at the factory. There are some processes that bake plastic sheets onto the wheel, so it's technically not powder coating, but it's still a baked on plastic. The wheels have to be forged first, or it would melt the plastic finish off. So the Volk wheels above are powdercoated and made by Rays. I don't have the exact info on the stock Rays wheels, but based on the durability of the finish and how hard it was to remove, the stock wheels are powder coated, too. I'm not sure where this idea came from that powder coating wheels will weaken them, but it doesn't make sense from a technical standpoint. how hot do the wheels on your car get when racing on a 100 degree day? Air is 100 degrees, pavement is 200 degrees, disk brakes are glowing hot, well over 1500 degrees, transmitting lots of heat to the wheels. If your wheels hit 200 degrees every day doesnt that not effect the strength of the wheel, but heating it to 400 degrees for an hour does?

I think the weakness issue is overstated. If I break or bend a wheel, I will surely let you guys know.

Here is powdercoat curing info:
A convection oven uses a heat source, most commonly a gas burner,
and a fan to heat the interior of an insulated enclosure. Different powder
materials require different cure temperatures, commonly in a range
between 350 °F and 400 °F (177 - 204 °C). The part is heated by the
hot air in the oven and it in turn conducts heat into the coating.
The coating must be held at temperature for a predetermined length of
time to reach full cure. So the cure cycle is so many minutes at so
many degrees of temperature. The time it takes to bring the metal up
to temperature must be added to the cure time requirement to determine the full cycle time in the oven. Convection cure time may be as short as 10 minutes or as long as 30
minutes, depending on the mass of the substrate and the cure requirements of the powder.

:iagree:what he said!

Many OEMs and aftermarket mfgrs powdercoat from the factory. I've seen a few wheels fail at the track, and none of them were powdercoated. Its an old wive's tale.

phimosis, get your wheels finished yet?

+1
Can I has pictures please?! :stirthepot:

In for pictures.

Me as well - looking sick man :)

Only reason I'm holding back on powdercoating my wheels with a gunmetal-esque color is that it'd make my door handles look ridiculous.

They already do. Just get it done.

that high? were talking less than 400 degrees here. i wouldnt doubt the inner wheel gets high 200 very easy from the brake heat dissipation every time you beat it up on a track. i would not worry....

im thinking about powdercoating it to gold or bronze. white with gold or bronze is the best combo imo. anyone got photoshop skills to show gold powdered on white?

Ok, here you go, Rep points please :tup: Did a black and PG too.

Didn't wan't to post yet and say something bad about my pinstriper..... But wheels have been at his shop for 13 days. Delay after delay. He has promised them tomorrow.... Let's see....

btw i decided to go with painting the stock rims black... i get the car back tomorrow so ill post up before and after pics =P

ps
the guy who is doing it for me painted the rims on a versace lambo...so the guy with the lambo walked in and saw my rims painted black and said they looked better than his and offered to buy them!! so apparently they look AMAZING!!:happydance:

Your black wheels on white car are going to really pop! Just gotta get rid of them stupid silver door handles now. Definitely post us from a bunch of angles with them on the car.

pictures first thing tomorrow. they looks RIDICULOUS!! ive gotten so many comments on them so far...ill post before and after pics

ps
while driving around showing them off tonight i rolled over 1337 miles =P

Let's see the pics!

Tease. :tup:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...90627-1549.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...90627-1549.jpg

these are just cell phone pics...ill put up the actual pics tomorrow

this was the before

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...1480_50121.jpg

Damn dude that is SICK...:leghump:
Now i want mine done...

Beautiful!