Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[kevin2306]

I have had some steel rims powder coated for my Singer.
Previously, I must have had 5 or 6 sets of rims done this way, However, a comment has raised doubts in my mind regarding the fitting of the rims to the car and the securing of these rims to the hubs with the wheel nuts - essentially, should I remove the coating from the recess where the rim meets the wheel nut.
I must admit ive never done this previously and have had no issues (I always use a torque wrench to tighten the nuts up)
Have I been lucky?

What are your thoughts?

Kevin

[Bitumen Boy]

That's a new one on me. I don't know about powder coat as I've always preferred to paint my rims, but I'd hazard a guess that 8 or so coats brushed on as I usually do is going to be thicker than most powder coat; I've never removed paint around the wheelnuts or had any trouble by not doing so. Generally I find the nuts remove the paint anyway, maybe the same is true of powder coating? Your experience is that it doesn't cause problems, and I would trust that experience - 5 or 6 sets of rims is about as much experience as anyone is likely to have!

[Ellis]

I've thought about this myself in the past and I don't know if there is a solution.

What I do when refitting wheels with newly painted wheel nuts is to use the thin plastic wrapping from individual cheese slices.
Wrap the wheel nut with the plastic and put it inside the wrench and then offer it to the stud and tighten. Thus no damage to the new paint on the 'nut.

I really should get out more..............
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[colwyn500]

I think you're over-thinking this like many of us do Kevin. You don't see new car wheels with the coating scraped off at the wheel nuts. In fact, that would spoil the appearance of most cars now that wheel covers are rarely used.

At the torque level of a wheel nut, I imagine that the tension on the stud would cause the nut to be drawn in the minute distance created should the powder-coat fracture at some point.

Having said that, everyone likes to keep their nuts firmly attached

[Phil - Nottingham]

I agree entirely with the previous poster and the answer was in the 1st post anyway. What problem is there?
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Rover P2
Rover P4
Rover P5 & P5B
Land Rover S2 & S3
Morris Mini Traveller Mk2

[ka]

Do you run hub-caps on the wheels?, On the Morgan I have cleaned all the paint off from around the wheel nut area, and have lacquered them. I have done this to ensure I have at least reasonable sight if they start to fracture, and check them regularly, when dealing with 66 year old wheels, I feel you can never take anything for granted.
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KA

Better three than four.

[stevel98]

Make sure their is no rough areas on the nut and lube the nuts with a bit of copper grease. That should help.