Steel wheel colour change method

[WB72]

I want to paint or powder coat some steel wheels, what is the best way to change the colour?

Open to all great ideas and a few bad ones as well.

[RodnRudy]

Have them sand blasted and powder coated the colour of your choice. Powder coating is tougher than paint.

[Stocker]

^^^ What he said. Paint is easier to touch up if needed, and easier to change color if you decide to. And less expensive. That said, I had mine powder coated.

[rockyrivermark]

I sprayed mine with a pewter Color single stage that I've used before and love it.
Pic attached

Originally Posted by Stocker

^^^ What he said. Paint is easier to touch up if needed, and easier to change color if you decide to. And less expensive. That said, I had mine powder coated.

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[WB72]

Has anyone attempted the powder coat a home kit by Eastwood? How were the results?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by WB72

Has anyone attempted the powder coat a home kit by Eastwood? How were the results?

I used some of their ceramic header paint. I airbrushed it on and then baked both sets [left and right] at 500*F for a couple of hours in a Hotpoint domestic electric 4-burner range/oven my Mom let me have [for doing stuff in] when she got a new one.
The headers came out good in cast iron grey. They were for a 350 SBC
Of course there was no electrical charge going thru the object being painted, like there would be in a true powder-coating process. Just heat curing a ceramic coating on a metal surface. I used 2 pots of the special paint at $ 50 bucks a whack.

Wheels see a lot less heat-and-cool cycles than engine parts but do get a lot more cold wet abrasion, in addition to any thermal environmental peaks like Summer in the desert, and winter treking to the mountains.

Don't know how well a ceramic process would do on wheels. I'm satisfied with it on exhaust parts.

[special-K]

The easiest, best, and most expensive way is sandblast and powder coat. The next step cheaper and just as easy is sandblast and paint. You will find paint is far more durable sprayed onto blasted metal. Must prep well and should use etch-primer. The cheapest, least expensive, and more labor way is cup brush them to bare, sand where brush missed, prep, etch-prime, and paint.

All methods produce great looking results that hold up very well. A wheel done the latter way can hold up better than a poorly prepped powder coat job. I have bought brand new steel wheels that had the powder coat popping off before I ever mounted them. I have had others that rusted at the rim/center seam, probably because of sand packed into the crease.

I have painted over powder coat to touch up or to change color. That holds up great as well. I just painted my new 16 x 8s that came powder coated satin black and I wanted white. The powder coat guy said he just scuffs them up before the new coating. For $260 less I scuffed them up and painted them. They are still powder coated onto the metal, so will perform the same on that side of things