I'm seriously considering powder coating a set of Kosie K-1 TS wheels in white.
A local powder coating company said $40.00 per wheel and even though they are new unused wheels, due to the fact they are painted wheels (I'm guessing),they would probably have to be sand blasted first at $45.00 per hour, estimated 2.5 hours to blast 4 wheels. That works out to $45.62 per wheel. Do you think this is a good price? I'm not afraid to try to negotiate a better price but, if it is a fair price going in, I don't want to insult the company.
Appreciate any knowledgable advice.

 

I think that is fair. I work in manufacturing and thus I would say that is not too much.
Cheers,
H
PS MCS
MMC#141

 

I calculate 68.125 per wheel (2.5hr x 45/hr = $112.5). Not worth it IMO, you could get some Kosei K-1 Racing that come in white if you wanted.

 

I build bikes and have had all sorts of stuff powdercoated. That price sounds decent to me. If it were me, I'd make certain that they mask the mounting holes and the wheel center hole before coating them, or at least brush the powder off those locations prior to baking the wheels.

Powdercoat is tough, but tightening the lug nuts on it will more than likely crush the powdercoat and it will chip off. If your wheels are hubcentric, you don't want the center hole made smaller by the powdercoat or they may not fit.

Show us pics when you're done. I like powdercoating. It's tough and when done right leaves a very nice finish that's easy to clean. Far superior to paint for wheels, IMO.

 

$40 is the exact same quote I got.

 

I went the powder coat method about 18 months ago and am very happy with the results. I bent a wheel at the track and no one in town could match the damn Hamman silver so the idea of power coating the set came up. I wanted something different and the idea of black chrome was suggested. It is a rather tricky process involving two different color applications but the results are almost identical to the dark silver of the Mini. I had always wanted to polish the lip on the wheels anyway so went ahead and had that done as well.
There was only one recommended shop in L.A to do this type of work so there price was on the high side but what the hell it was for the Mini The job came out to cost $ 250 per wheel but $90 of that was for the polished lip. The job was done perfectly and has held up for over 25k miles now and two track days. I no longer use them as the track set so as long as I stay away from curbs they should last a long time. $ 40 per wheel for one color is a hell of a price as long as they are prepped properly they should come out looking fine and last a long time.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Apexer those are fabulous prices! Much better than what I got mine done for in Connecticut two years ago! Where do you live that you got such great pricing?

Go for it

 

SW Pa. Powdercoater near Pgh.
xizor: Your correct on the math. Don't know where my head was. Was going to get the K-1s but they out of stock until Sept. plus the TSs about 2# lighter per wheel and include a better looking center cap. $267 still not a lot of $$ for a 14 lb. 17X7 wheel. Keep the feedback coming, I appreciate it:smile:

 

Where are you people shopping? I had 4 wheels sandblasted and powder coated black for $100. in Knoxville, TN. Another shop in Greeneville, TN said that it would be $100 for just the powder coating, but I needed to get the sandblasting done myself.

For sandblasting, I reccommend calling a monument (grave marker) company. If they do their own stone cutting they will have a sandblasting booth. Most places take in other items for sandblasting, like wheels, iron beds, etc. It's a lot cheaper than a place that is in the coating business.

 

As a point of reference I have a line on close out Ro-Ja LT-5's for $600 delivered to you . They are 17/7 and 14.5 lbs. Great for a second set of track tires PM me if interested. There are silver or white left . They originally retailed for 340 per wheel.

Randy

 

I would love to powder coat my wheel to for under $50 each. Please let me know how it turn out apexer
Also don't for get to post some pic of your wheel after it's finish.

 

$40 per sounds very reasonable to me here in Phoenix. Including blasting it's a fine price.

I agree on the taping of the lug holes and STRONLY encourage this. The reason less for chipping but for the fact that the lugs will loosen up in short order when put on fresh PC. Given the paint crushes it will not produce a proper torque value. And one day....a week later....when you least expect it....yup, one or more of those bolts is coming off.

 

Ok... whatever.

$40/wheel seems like a decent price. I've heard quotes considerably higher.

 

that's a good price

 

Thanks for all the feed-back. One more question Should I be concerned about sand blasting the wheels? I would think that if one wasn't careful, you could pit the wheel or at least really rough up the surface pretty bad. Would glass beads or nut shells be better? I'm sure that it would take longer which could add to the cost with labor for blasting @ $45.00 per hour.

 

My preference would be a chemical stripper. You could easily do it yourself with about two cans of aircraft stripper from your local auto parts store, at less than $20.

When the shop says "sand blast", I would assume they're talking about using a media that wouldn't damage the wheels. I'd ask to be sure though.

 

if you can trust them to powder coat it right, and they do wheels often, I don't think there'd be a problem w/ them blasting the wheels

 

JeffS: Good idea, I'll look into stripping with aircraft stripper.

xizor: I think their a good company but, I'll check more indepth to see how often the do wheels.

Love those TS on the Mini but, for my taste really want white on a CR/W mcs.

 

I WANTED TO ACTUALLY POWDER COAT MY ORIGINAL MINI WHEELS SATIN BLACK AND HAVE THE LIP PORTION MACHINED/POLISHED. THIS GUY FROM A SANTA CLARA, CALI WHEEL SHOP QUOTED ME $150 PER WHEEL & $25 JUST TO TAKE OFF AND PUT BACK ON MY RUN-FLATS.

IS THIS REASONABLE? LOVE THE RIMS YOUR SELLING MAXMINI!!

ANYONE KNOW OTHER SHOPS IN THE BAY AREA THAT I CAN GET A QUOTE FROM?

-POOKY13

 

I had Rota Slipstream's powder coated in Reno for $40.00 each, no extra charge for stripping the paint. I don't know how they do it but it's the third set of wheels I've had this company do. If your wheels are hubcentric you may want to carefully grind off with a Dremel tool, the powder coating in the inside of the hub holes, the extra thickness can make them stick and be hard to remove. Or see if the company can mask that part.

 

Talked with the shop owner today about powdercoating the Kosei K1-TS wheels. He gave me a better price of $35.00 per wheel, but still $45.00 hour for sand blasting. Said could take 2-3 hours to blast 4 wheels assuming the paint is baked on or has a hardner additive. That is if I'm OK with the white powder they have on stock. If I want a different shade of white, he would have to order the powder so that would cost extra. Said they do wheels all the time and usually takes 3 pounds of powder to do 4 wheels. I'm going to pay them a visit to check the shade of white to make sure it won't fight with the white on the Mini. Now I'm getting stoaked

 

you could probably just blast them yourself. see if you can rent a little blaster somewhere ( ihave my own, so i wouldnt ever pay to have blasting done) or try some chemical paint stripper. probably cheaper in the end.

 

I didn't realize it was so expensive.

Glad i have a PC machine at my house too. My dad got it for his choppers... and i just used "left over" powder coat on my rims. So it was completely free for me, i just did all the labor cleaning 14 y/o wheels, and dad helped me sandblast and powdercoat. It was extremely fun, and well worth the 20 hours put into them. Great father/daughter bonding time


Of course, i had an accident in the car i had the wheels on 2 WEEKS after i did them, and the wheels went with the car when i sold it :P But i have pictures on my computer at home.

*edit: thinking back on it, powdercoating aluminum wheels was a major pain in the booty. I'd charge alot for those just because of the extra sanding/bead blasting, and needing two coats to even it out.

 

He'll deny it I suspect but if you blast them enough to scuff the surface he can PC over what is there. It won't be as long term durable but it can be done. I've had former PC'd wheels done a second time this way rather than stripping them and they turn out fine. The paint is perhaps not quite as adhered to the aluminum so don't bump the curb.

 

Thanks for the post. Tell sonracer I said #$&@!* That, "I've fallen and can't get up" was my idea. He and I friends for over 40 years