OK so I have been looking for a set of wheels for a long time and just can never make up my mind on what I want them to look like for my truck and the rest of the work I have done to it. I have been toying with the idea of a used set of wheels and cleaning them up and then getting them powder coated to the color I want. I found a set of Helo wheels that were not properly maintained and are being sold for $100 for all four. They have a fair amount of pitting on them but since i was thinking of powder coating them didn't think it would matter.

My questions are if I get these and clean them up really well and then lightly sand the rough areas will the powder coating fill in the areas damaged from the pitting? Would I have any issues with the pitting again once the coating is done or will that seal the problem? And is there anything else i would need to do to rep them for the coating?


Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Aluminum? Steel?

 

Aluminum


This is a link to the kind of wheels they are.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...9QEwAQ&dur=703

 

Powder coating will definitely "fill" the pits, but that's not the full issue. What you really have to do is neutralize the cause of the pitting - generally salt or something else. So to be truly successful in using powder coating to prevent future corrosion of those wheels, you'd have to totally remove / neutralize whatever caused the pitting in the first place. If you don't, it will just corrode from underneath the coating. Make sense?

 

Yes that makes sense thanks. I looked at the wheels back in May this year and he wanted to much for them. I checked again and he was willing to sell for the $100. I will see if the pitting has gotten worse or not. They have not been a vehicle for over a year now so hopefully they are the same. Most of the wheel looked to be in good shape so I was thinking about using a heavy cleaner to get them scrubbed up well and hopefully stop the pitting action. Still even if they only last a few years the cost of these wheels will be about the cost of 1 brand new wheel and I will have a truly custom wheel for a time.

 

If you were going to use them as cores for powdercoating, the bead blasting to remove any clear coat left on the wheels would also reduce the pitting to the point the powder would most likely cover up any imperfections.

Pitting is oxidation of untreated aluminum. Either the wheels were not anodized, plated, or cleared.

If you have a lot of time on your hands you can sand out the pitting and re polish the wheels.

I polish my Centerlines once a year to remove any imperfections. Takes me about a half hour a wheel with a die grinder fitted with buffing cones and a crapload of aluminum polish.

There are new powdercoats out there that mimic chrome. you might have seen them on some of the NASCAR Sprint series cars (M Waltrip Racing) because they are not allowed to run chrome wheels, but the PC is a close second. The shop I use is doing it now but I have not seen a sample in person.

 

Oh I don't want them chrome I am going with something like a matte black or charcoal color. But yeah I will spend some time cleaning them before i take them to be coated. I will most likely put an hour into each wheel and see what else is needed after that. Thanks for the help guys I appreciate it.

 

you may not have to do anything to the wheels before sending them out. Ask the shop if they degrease and glass bead the surfaces before they are powder coated.

Most good shops will want to do their own prep work

 

He asked me to get them good and clean before bringing them to him but will ask about the degrease and glass bead next week. Thanks



http://richmond.craigslist.org/pts/2699853998.html


Link to picture of wheels. The tires are shot but I have the same ones on my truck now so that's no big deal plus the next set of tires I get will be Trail Grapplers.