Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Colin916]

I had my alloys powder coated, and when I took the car to get new tyres fitted the guy commented on the excessive thickness of the coating. ( After removing the studs there was obviously cracking of the coating around the holes), my first thought was that this could only be a good thing. But.....after torquing them up and doing about 15 miles I had the left side rear overtake me!!!! The powder coating had crumbled under the studs leaving me with loose wheel nuts. No major damage but very embarrassing.
So, after getting your wheels done, scrape out the holes before using them.
Maybe I should have known this, but I have never heard of it before.

[Keith D]

I powder coated my Austin Seven wheels about twelve or thirteen years ago and have had no problems at all with them. I have not had to touch the coating at all. Also, remember that Austin Sevens have wheels that tend to loosen and have to be regularly checked for tightness. No problems experienced with the powder coating. It has also lasted extremely well against chipping and road damage.

Keith
_________________
1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

[Colin916]

Yes, it's a great protection for wheels. My problem was that it was too thick around the holes. I've sorted it now and have had no further problems. It's just something worth keeping an eye on if anyone else is doing it.

[MikeEdwards]

I considered having the wheels on my modern powder-coated a while back, but opted for paint and lacquer instead. First of all it was a lot cheaper as I did it myself, but the main thing for me is that paint is repairable. When I inevitably scrape one of the wheels on something, I can touch in the paint where the only option is to have the whole thing re-coated.

The trouble with having nice newly-painted wheels, though, is having to keep them clean when otherwise I might not feel like cleaning the car.

You can get the same issue with painted wheels though - I remember when I had my first car, one of the first things I did was dump the hub caps and paint the wheels white. A few weeks later I panicked because there was a noticeable clonk as I went around corners, and stuck it into a local garage as I didn't know anything about cars at the time. They stopped laughing long enough to tell me what I'd done wrong. Since then, I never paint the seats where the nuts or bolts fit.

[Brent29]

[MikeEdwards]

I'd imagine that on the bolt / nut seats, "none" is the correct amount of coating. I can't picture how having a relatively soft layer there would be a good thing.

One other thought on powder coating from a mate of mine, specifically with regard to powder-coating wire wheels - he has seen several cases where spokes have snapped, but been undetectable because the powder coating covers up the damage. So a regular examination for snapped spokes couldn't just be visual.

[Brent29]

[Colin916]

[alastairq]

Does the 'removal' of a powder coating make it prone to allowing moisture underneath?
_________________
Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[MikeEdwards]

I would say it would. One of the reasons that I didn't powder-coat my suspension parts was because, if or when the coating is damaged, there's no way to properly repair it, and that means moisture getting behind it. Once behind it, it doesn't dry out as quickly, so could actually cause more problems than it would otherwise do.

On the other side of the coin, though, when I spoke to the powder coating firm, they did say that the coating shouldn't get damaged in normal use.

[Bitumen Boy]