Nightmare Before Thanksgiving

[Orange Crate]

I spent a couple of years looking at wheels to try to decide which direction to go on my 72 build. I decided after all that to go with steel Accuride wheels from a F(T)urd van. First pic as unloaded in the garage. Second pic is the first attempt to have them powder coated. I dropped these off for powder coat in July and I still don't have them back. I went to look at them in Sept and if you zoom in on the second pic you can see the crap job at the joints. All five wheels looked the same so I asked the powder coater to redo them AND they looked exactly the same last month after "burning" them and chemical dipping them (not sure what chemical). I think it is November now.....what a nightmare. I told the guy I would pay for the sand blasting but not for anything else if he burned them again and sand blasted them and he agreed, but he hasn't called to say they are ready....... I guess I'll have to have them painted. Anyone else have steel wheels powder coated?

[54blackhornet]

I know exactly what you are going through, I had mine bead blasted and the place left metal particles embedded in the rim/center seam. Not knowing much at that time I failed to notice. Shortly afterwards the particles started to rust and ruined the look of the wheel completely ....went to another shop who did a fantastic job both blasting and powder coating...

[68JOHNDEERE]

Had a set of rims powder coated also, was told the powder doesn't flow into that seam like paint does. I ran a little seam sealer over the area and mounted the tires for a daily driver.

[Rfisher]

Wow, that’s absolutely crazy. I had my wheels powder coated last month. Shop quoted that the turn around was 2 weeks. Ending up getting a call a week after dropping them off that they were done. Very happy with the results. Reminds me of the stories I hear about chrome shops.

[BLT gmc]

my brother-in-law was the owner and operator of a powder coating business in Northern California. He stated that this was a very common problem, particularly with steel wheels. There is fine particles, iron oxide included, in these mating surfaces that cannot be gotten to easily. Multiple sandblasting attempts is helpful, air blowing out these joints as much as possible and getting the rim absolutely as hot as possible when powder coating are about all you can do.
After multiple attempts if the wheel was still causing problems he would put a thin bead of chaulking or seam sealer as 68JOHNDEERE has mentioned.

[Orange Crate]

Originally Posted by 54blackhornet

I know exactly what you are going through, I had mine bead blasted and the place left metal particles embedded in the rim/center seam. Not knowing much at that time I failed to notice. Shortly afterwards the particles started to rust and ruined the look of the wheel completely ....went to another shop who did a fantastic job both blasting and powder coating...

It would be nice to know what the difference was between your two shops. My guy didn't mention that this could be a possibility until AFTER it happened, then it was "oh, yeah this is really common" Why the "F" didn't he say that to begin with. When I get the blasted rims back (no pun intended) I'll take them to one more powder coater and specifically ask if they can ovoid this condition. I'm not the expert here I'm relying on them to let me know what the possibilities are for a really good finish. Buyer beware I guess. On a better note I have my tire size picked as 255/85-16 for about 33 dia. Probably go with Cooper Maxx.

[Joesjunk]

Same experience here, I have had 5 sets of wheels done and they all have some of that. They say it's almost impossible to get them prefect. Honestly though once they are on the truck you don't really notice it unless you are down really looking at the wheels.
Good luck on yours

[harpo231]

When dealing with charged parts it is hard to get the metal off , For a seam like that we used a two-part epoxy touch-up that we color matched

[jocko]

ditto, I'd say more than half of mine have turned out with some of that. It's annoying, yes. I think it's luck of the draw when it doesn't do it - not necessarily an indicator of a bad pc'er - but it absolutely shouldn't be taking as long as you've mentioned.

[Tiger Joe]

I’m not a professional coater but I’ve been doing it in my shop for years and like everyone said already that does happen. Just too tight of an area. That actually looked like a really nice job looking at the rest of the wheel

[special-K]

Nature of the beast. If it doesn't happen, consider yourself lucky.

[Orange Crate]

Thanks for the comments. With all of this input I think I will skip the PC and go right to a paint shop. I want these as flawless as possible as I spent A LOT of money on the paint job so no need to go less than excellent at this stage. Thanks guys that's why I love this board.

[70STOVEBOLT]

Let's see that expensive paint job!

[Orange Crate]

Originally Posted by 70STOVEBOLT

Let's see that expensive paint job!

OK, a recent pic at post 93 here:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=698198&page=4


and....tape is to fit molding without scratches (hopefully).

[special-K]

You will be fine. I have painted and powder coated pretty equal amounts of wheels and paint can hold up very well, if not as well. Especially fresh metal and high quality paint. It's not like your wheels are going to have any harder a life than the rest of the truck at this point.

[nds1968]

Mine look the same way, I even made sure I told the guy. He assured me they would look nice. I'm just gonna paint them now.

[vics stuff]

Before you are to powder coat your wheels and if you think that the seems could turn out bad. Apply a thin coat of 24 hour JB Weld to those seems. The 24 hour stuff is rated for 500 degrees and will not burn off during the baking process. Have done this to several metal parts as body filler and have turned out fantastic.
Vic

[Warrens69GMC]

Couldn't that area be finished welded and ground down?

[special-K]

Yes

[nds1968]

You could do all those things mentioned, but it won't look stock then...

[Orange Crate]

Yes, it won't look stock. I was attempting to stay in that category for looks. Under the hood and the drive train are definitely not stock but I was going for that tall skinny tire, tough work truck on the outside look. Sort of like this one (thanks to who ever's truck this is). Mine has a white roof though. I have used a clear coat called "Nyalic" it was developed for aerospace (read expensive). I used it on some polished forged wheels and it has help up really well for the last 6 years, so I think I'll paint my steel rims and use that as the top coat again.

[67ctener]

Beautiful truck