Has Anyone Powdercoated or painted thier stock rims

[Audia483]

I have stock rims on my 06 a4 base. My car is white and I want to do the wheels in gloss black. I am looking to either have it done by a powder coating shop or painting myself with the proper prep and hvlp setup. Has anyone gotten good results out of refinishing stock wheels?

[fR3ZNO]

Depends on your budget and time. Sure, doing it yourself will be cheaper and can look good. But handing it off for powdercoating is so much easier, and the coating is very durable. But it's pretty expensive. Most places around me charge $100-150 per wheel...

[MacFady]

I've painted numerous sets, both refinishing with OEM paint and clear but also with other colors. I'm talking rattle can and even with that I've been happy enough to continue to do it. If the wheels are in otherwise good shape cosmetically then it isn't that time consuming and you can do all 4 for less than someone else will charge you for one wheel. If you don't like the outcome then take them somewhere, not really much of a loss. Definitely more durable to have it done professionally.

[EvolutionArmory]

Home spray jobs can come out half decent if your prep is up to snuff. The downside from doing it at home is you’ll likely get debris in your paint without good filtration.

If you have to ruin your wheels by making them black, best to powder coat them by a professional. 😀😀

[A4B7Avant]

Plasticoat or similar with glossifier.

[Flygman]

Plasticoat or similar with glossifier.

Plastidip looks really bad once the stonechips starts coming.. I feel like you really need to redo them quite often to have them looking good.

[Audia483]

I've painted numerous sets, both refinishing with OEM paint and clear but also with other colors. I'm talking rattle can and even with that I've been happy enough to continue to do it. If the wheels are in otherwise good shape cosmetically then it isn't that time consuming and you can do all 4 for less than someone else will charge you for one wheel. If you don't like the outcome then take them somewhere, not really much of a loss. Definitely more durable to have it done professionally.

I did porsche wheels with rattlecans and they werent half bad. I was going to rattle can these but I am buying an air comprssor anyway so might as well use quality paint. I am trying to get quotes on powdercoating because I think it looks nicer

[Audia483]

Home spray jobs can come out half decent if your prep is up to snuff. The downside from doing it at home is you’ll likely get debis in your paint without good filtration.

If you have to ruin your wheels by making them black, best to powder coat them by a professional. 😀😀

Its black or Anthricite. I am doing the calipers in red so I want a wheel color the contrasts the red well

[CaptDS007]

Been plasti-dipped for 3 years now (was for 2 years before that with zero issues, but got new tires and had to redo them because most tire mounting machines with peel off the edges). If you do it right (wait until it is dry and above 70F outside, 5+ thorough, liberal coats per wheel, and use the glossifier carefully according to DipYourCar's tutorials) you will have a consistent, glossy, durable finish. And you have the peace of mind that if you ever scrape a curb it will cost <$10 to refinish that wheel instead of >$100 and you won't have to remove it from the car. I couldn't recommend it more as a reversible budget alternative to powder coating.

[canadianA4B7]

Complete mint condition set no rash, no marks no damage bends, set of 5 rims done in santex black was $250 cdn to coat. This complete sets up for grabs too.

Powdercoat over paint and plastidip. And there’s zero issues when your fully capable of driving your car without needing to touch curbs or other items in order to stay on the road. If you plan to have nice things like rims on your car first thing you’ll all need to do is learn to properly navigate your auto. Those who seem to worry about nicking a rim should be selling the Audi and buying a Prius.

[CaptDS007]

Hahahahahaha ^ fair point. I think our pride/opinions aside though my rationale still stands right? I in no way mean to belittle or criticize people who choose to spend the money to powdercoat their wheels. It is obviously the longest lasting and highest quality result. However if done right plasti-dip looks (dare I say) just as good and is a tiny fraction of the cost and requires essentially none of the downtime required during a powdercoat job. I know plasti-dip carries quite a stigma in the car enthusiast community but if we're being objective its hard to deny the upside. Unless I'm missing something crucial here? Maybe I'm not worthy of owning an Audi after all...

[wjg22]

Recent photo I saw on here, RickB_7 used rustoleum peel coat followed by duplicolor matte clear plastidip. Looks awesome. Image1524078368.340104.jpg

[EvolutionArmory]

Hahahahahaha ^ fair point. I think our pride/opinions aside though my rationale still stands right? I in no way mean to belittle or criticize people who choose to spend the money to powdercoat their wheels. It is obviously the longest lasting and highest quality result. However if done right plasti-dip looks (dare I say) just as good and is a tiny fraction of the cost and requires essentially none of the downtime required during a powdercoat job. I know plasti-dip carries quite a stigma in the car enthusiast community but if we're being objective its hard to deny the upside. Unless I'm missing something crucial here? Maybe I'm not worthy of owning an Audi after all...

Plastidip is for 17 year olds who found the money for their paint between the seats of their car. It’s sucks. Why do something if you aren’t going to do it right?

I really wish people would stop ruining their OEM wheels with spray paint or Plastidip. OEM wheels in decent shape are always worth money to someone. Every decent set of OEM 18’s I’ve looked at in my area were ruined by some punk with a rattle can.

[CaptDS007]

Plastidip is for 17 year olds who found the money for their paint between the seats of their car. It’s sucks. Why do something if you aren’t going to do it right?

I really wish people would stop ruining their OEM wheels with spray paint or Plastidip. OEM wheels in decent shape are always worth money to someone. Every decent set of OEM 18’s I’ve looked at in my area were ruined by some punk with a rattle can.

As I'm sure you know, this is exactly the stigma I was referring to previously. With all due respect, just because something is readily available in Walmart and therefore commonly used by 17 year olds doesn't make it inherently bad. And additionally, a bad powdercoat job CAN ruin a set of stock wheels. Whereas a bad plasti-dip job can be easily peeled off, or if sprayed on too thin, can be easily wiped off with solvent. I dont mean to beat a dead horse here or start an argument, as this topic is likely going to be fervently debated until the end of time, but it does bother me when people immediately dismiss plasti-dip when in reality it is an excellent option for people who don't want to spend more than the value of a set of wheels to change their color. (And its removable, something people seem to overlook when criticizing it).

Also I will add that most plasti-dip jobs ARE done by 17 year olds with no attention to detail that didn't do any previous research about best practices when using plasti-dip. Therefore im sure most of the pictures that you see of plasti-dip jobs are the bad ones, and I don't blame you for not liking it. However, a good dip job is cosmetically indistinguishable from powdercoat.

Recent photo I saw on here, RickB_7 used rustoleum peel coat followed by duplicolor matte clear plastidip. Looks awesome. Image1524078368.340104.jpg

GREAT example of peelable coating done right!!!

[EvolutionArmory]

See post 6. I would argue that the majority of dip jobs turn out like that after one season.

[CaptDS007]

See post 6. I would argue that the majority of dip jobs turn out like that after one season.

It looks like several avoidable rookie mistakes were made by whoever sprayed that wheel. The coats are uneven and WAY too thin, probably used 1-2 cans for all 4 wheels. Plasti dip (particularly black) is deceptively opaque, and to the naked eye it may look good after only a couple of coats, when 5-7 coats are needed to ensure durability. At minimum an entire can should be used per wheel. Just the chip marks on the surface in that picture are evidence of far too thin coats. Plasti dip is rubber and should not act like that when the coats are sufficiently thick. I promise you the stuff is indestructible when used correctly and many experienced users will back that up. You are probably factually correct in saying that the majority of dip jobs turn out like that after a season, but the reason for that is that the majority of plasti-dip users don't take the simple steps to make sure that they're using it correctly.

[Ashtonts]

See post 6. I would argue that the majority of dip jobs turn out like that after one season.

Idk man. I half-assed the shit out of my first dip job on my stock wheels and it held up fine after a season. As long as you spray it on thick enough, it’s pretty resilient against rock chips, etc. Black-dipped stock wheels look a million times better than ones that have been curbed to hell and back by a careless PO, and it’s much cheaper than a real refinish, especially considering a lot of people on here only run their stock wheels during winter months. Plus, they’re hardly “ruined.” Don’t like it? Peel it off as others have suggested.

[canadianA4B7]

Hahahahahaha ^ fair point. I think our pride/opinions aside though my rationale still stands right? I in no way mean to belittle or criticize people who choose to spend the money to powdercoat their wheels. It is obviously the longest lasting and highest quality result. However if done right plasti-dip looks (dare I say) just as good and is a tiny fraction of the cost and requires essentially none of the downtime required during a powdercoat job. I know plasti-dip carries quite a stigma in the car enthusiast community but if we're being objective its hard to deny the upside. Unless I'm missing something crucial here? Maybe I'm not worthy of owning an Audi after all...

Just saying if your planing on bouncing something off curbs maybe a lifted Sierra is a better option....... said while parked on a trail in a lifted Sierra...

[AudiKilla]

Plastidip is good, not like the picture above that’s a horrible plastidip job. It can last if done properly, I had it for 2 years without any peeling.

I however chose to powdercoat them this summer, should be ready by next week let’s see how they turn out. Cost was around $400 CAD

[dalmation53]

I mix plastidip and peel coat. What i do is put black plastip on first. 4 coats per wheel then 3 coats of gunmetal grey peelcoat since its thin as fock.

Sent from my G3313 using Audizine mobile app

[bwdysart]

I plastidipped the wheels on my old car (ironically I was 17 at the time) and that was like two years ago? My brother drives the car now so it doesn’t get washed, the wheels look dirty but the dip hasn’t peeled one bit. Even been through a tire mounting on all 4 rims. It’s durable if done right, and if you put a lot of effort and don’t rush it, it will look really good


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Audia483]

This Quickly became a Plasti-dip vs plasti-dip sucks thread. I will not be using plastidip on my rims. Its looking like it may be paint because apparently local powder coaters dont like business

[fR3ZNO]

May have to shop around a bit. The first place I contacted gave me an outrageous quote of $140/wheel ($560/set). Ended up finding a guy with a small home business and did it for $300 for the set.

To get on back on subject, here are pics of wheels my friend did with a proper gun and paint. Used a matte clear, and anthracite grey base:





Here are the wheels I had powdercoated with silver metallic and then gloss clear.







So you can get quality results with both paint and powder coat. The main advantage of powder is more durability versus paint, but has a higher cost.

[Audia483]

May have to shop around a bit. The first place I contacted gave me an outrageous quote of $140/wheel ($560/set). Ended up finding a guy with a small home business and did it for $300 for the set.

To get on back on subject, here are pics of wheels my friend did with a proper gun and paint. Used a matte clear, and anthracite grey base:





Here are the wheels I had powdercoated with silver metallic and then gloss clear.







So you can get quality results with both paint and powder coat. The main advantage of powder is more durability versus paint, but has a higher cost.

If I had an oven i would try to powdercoat myself . That paint job looks great. Also helped me see what the anthricite looks like. I want mine darker, either a graphite or straight gloss black.

[EvolutionArmory]

May have to shop around a bit. The first place I contacted gave me an outrageous quote of $140/wheel ($560/set). Ended up finding a guy with a small home business and did it for $300 for the set.

To get on back on subject, here are pics of wheels my friend did with a proper gun and paint. Used a matte clear, and anthracite grey base:





Here are the wheels I had powdercoated with silver metallic and then gloss clear.







So you can get quality results with both paint and powder coat. The main advantage of powder is more durability versus paint, but has a higher cost.

Now we’re back to the Audizine I love. People doing shit right.

OP, I think if you prep everything right, get your air as dry as possible, have decent work holding and set up your spray area to limit airborne debris, I think you’ll do alright with your home spray job.

[EvolutionArmory]

This Quickly became a Plasti-dip vs plasti-dip sucks thread. I will not be using plastidip on my rims. Its looking like it may be paint because apparently local powder coaters dont like business

Sorry for my part in it. I just HATE it due to trying to find OEM wheels that aren’t ruined by it. 😀

[fR3ZNO]

If I had an oven i would try to powdercoat myself . That paint job looks great. Also helped me see what the anthricite looks like. I want mine darker, either a graphite or straight gloss black.

Yeah, same here. I wanted to DIY powdercoat, but getting an oven big enough for wheels, blast cabinet, etc would be quite the investment to only to do it once or twice. So I just coughed up the money to have it done.

Darker like this?:

Now we’re back to the Audizine I love. People doing shit right.

IMO, there's nothing wrong with plastidip. All depends on the situation. I had a set of winter wheels I got from the junkyard (only ones I could find that would fit over HP2 calipers) and were curbed to hell. So I got 4 cans of black plastidip and glossifier. It hid the rash pretty well and held up fine in winter for multiple seasons.

But I gave those wheels to my brother.

So I had my stock wheels that were painted brown (not kidding) by the PO and I decided to get them powdercoated too and they mounted my new snow tires too (Rim Doctor in Syracuse).

OP, I think if you prep everything right, get your air as dry as possible, have decent work holding and set up your spray area to limit airborne debris, I think you’ll do alright with your home spray job.

I agree, painting is 90% prep, 10% actual painting. lol.

Sorry for my part in it. I just HATE it due to trying to find OEM wheels that aren’t ruined by it. 😀

Ruined? That's a bit of an exaggeration. It's easy to peel off if was done right. Otherwise take some WD40 and it'll wipe off easy or you can shoot more coats of plastidip on top of it, wait for it to dry and then it'll be easier to peel.

[csevans]

Sorry for my part in it. I just HATE it due to trying to find OEM wheels that aren’t ruined by it. 😀

If the plastidip peels off - how are they ruined?

FWIW - I plan on doing an Anthracite plastic dip with glossifier over the summer after I refurb my curbrashed rims. I like my stock split 5 spoke rims - but they need work ... and I really dont want to drop a lot of cash on rims for the time being.

[EvolutionArmory]

If the plastidip peels off - how are they ruined?

FWIW - I plan on doing an Anthracite plastic dip with glossifier over the summer after I refurb my curbrashed rims. I like my stock split 5 spoke rims - but they need work ... and I really dont want to drop a lot of cash on rims for the time being.

Because the ratio of people that don’t do it right compared to those that do is stacked high in the wrong direction. Spray it too thin and it doesn’t just peel off. I don’t have time to dedicate a whole day to peeling plastic off of wheels I want to buy. Lol.

[EvolutionArmory]

I think enough has been said about Plastidip. Since he plans on spraying real paint with real prep, I think talking about it more is just a waste of time.

About the wheel prep. Are you going to blast the wheels, prime, paint and clear or just scuff them up and shoot your paint and then clear?

[canadianA4B7]

I spoke to a painter about painting wheels this past winter. For some reason they are highly standing behind a 2 coat spray laying your colour over a slightly wet primer coat. Prep is as mentioned the biggest part. He was saying these new primers seem to have better bonding characteristics and seem to be harder then the paints so they spray primers wait till it’s “slightly more then tacky when touched” then spray the colour.

[Audia483]

I think enough has been said about Plastidip. Since he plans on spraying real paint with real prep, I think talking about it more is just a waste of time.

About the wheel prep. Are you going to blast the wheels, prime, paint and clear or just scuff them up and shoot your paint and then clear?

I plan to remove the tires/tpms, sand blast, Prime, and then Base/clearcoat them with the proper automotive grade 2k paint along with taking the time to sand and polish . I do prefer to powdercoat them but I am getting no responses from local powdercoaters.

[Audia483]

Yeah, same here. I wanted to DIY powdercoat, but getting an oven big enough for wheels, blast cabinet, etc would be quite the investment to only to do it once or twice. So I just coughed up the money to have it done.

Darker like this?:

I like that color grey. Where did you get those center caps? My wheel is a little different but with similar center caps

[fR3ZNO]

I like that color grey. Where did you get those center caps? My wheel is a little different but with similar center caps

This is the grey they used: https://www.prismaticpowders.com/col.../CRYSTAL-GREY/

They're factory wheels for B6 Avants with sport package, they came with my car.

[EvolutionArmory]

I plan to remove the tires/tpms, sand blast, Prime, and then Base/clearcoat them with the proper automotive grade 2k paint along with taking the time to sand and polish . I do prefer to powdercoat them but I am getting no responses from local powdercoaters.

Then there shouldn’t any reason why it won’t come out nice. That just leaves proper spray gun set up and a clean work space. Good luck man.

[Axis]

@fR3ZNO which Silver metallic was used on the USP wheels if you dont mind me asking?

[Theiceman]

everything has its place .

Plasti dip is fine if you are looking for a temporary solution , like maybe stopping road salt eating your nice aluminum rims, makes for a nice barrier, can be peeled off no issue. it will not stand up to sandblasting ( like highway in Canada after a winter of sand on roads ) but its not designed for that .

base /clear paint - lets face it 90% of car wheels these days are painted. if done right will last a very long time, its all in the prep and equipment

re anodizing . don't ask , did it on my Porsche , could have bought new wheels for the cost.

rattle can paint .. I wouldn't consider wheels " ruined after this , but certainly generates more work to remove after and would make them prohibitive to re- sell, unless they were already black. ( I painted my black Fuchs black again with Wurths Satin black as a feasibility study to see how they would look on my car, with the intention of having them professionally done later . 10 years later they still look great )

[AudiKilla]

This is the grey they used: https://www.prismaticpowders.com/col.../CRYSTAL-GREY/

They're factory wheels for B6 Avants with sport package, they came with my car.

Is that with a clear coat or just the grey?

[fR3ZNO]

@fR3ZNO which Silver metallic was used on the USP wheels if you dont mind me asking?

I don’t have an exact link, but the guy who powdercoated them called the color “Heavy Silver”

Is that with a clear coat or just the grey?

Clear coat

[Seal1968]

Just make sure you clear coat them to protect them from brake dust.

Prep is key for any painting projects on a car.