im thinking about painting my rays. i just put them on the car yesterday and i think they would look good black. i got a few questions about doing this though.. is it really that much better to powder coat them? if i do paint them and then decide later on to powder coat will they charge me more to sandblast the excess paint that i put on? after painting them can i ever get them back to factory look so i can sell the car stock looking? and if anyone has pics or links of the rays painted or powder coated in any color please post them. thanks in advance

 

Ok I own a powder coating shop! Yes powder is better than paint! It is stronger than paint! With paint you can sand and scuff up your rim and paint it! If you want to powder it then it need to be stripped to the metal. If you where to paint it then a powder coater may charge you more because he has to strip your paint an the factory to! I dont like blasting any wheel i use a very strong stripper! Blasting can pit up and ruff the aluminum! Take more work to smooth the aluminum out again!

No you can not go back to stock after you paint it do to you have to sand the wheel before you paint it! Say if you didnt sand it how would you remove the paint you put on without hurting the factory finish? You would have to re spray the wheels in a factory color to go back to stock!

Check my site out i may have 1 or 2 06 wheels on there. www.extremepowdercoaters.com.

If you want to go it black on the rays wheel I think it makes the wheel look smaller!

 

u do some nice work.. how much do you charge per wheel? too bad your not in the ny area

 

Thank You!!! I charge about $65 a wheel for inhouse colors! I have people ship me wheels and stuff all over the US! I just did a set of VOLK TE37 in my custom made shop color MAG BLUE for a customer in TX.

 

That's a great deal!! I wished you lived in Texas, I'd have you do mine in a heartbeat.

If someone shipped you wheels, how long is your turn around time?

 

Well I always say less than a week! If you give me the tracking number i can plan on doing them the day after they get to the shop! If that's the case I would say 3 days or less. If you shipped them and I dont know they are coming about a week or less!

Thanks Josh

 

If you do black, you'll need to polish the lip or do the lip silver. The wheel loses it look when it's all black.

Paint it and see how you like the colour before spending $250 on a PC.

 

True polish lip would look better to me with black center! Wont make the wheel look so small.

Why dont you tell him to have it photo shopped before he spends money to paint it then more money to powder coat it! Just doesn't add up in $$ in his favor!

 

Yea, a real polished lip will be best obviously.

Because painting them can be done for $50 by himself in his garage and is a tonne of fun lol

and photoshops never do it justice.

 

What if he paints them and doesnt like the look he just F up his nice stock 19".

I say photo shop will give him a good idea! once you paint it theres no going back!

 

Or a quick search on the forum and he will see the other 100 members that have painted/PCd their Rays.

I've painted wheels multiple times, that's what I love about. Change the colour very 2 months, just get good at sanding.

 

If you decide to paint those wheels have the lips polished first that way you'll have a major contrast between the lip and centers. I'm sure you'll like the look with the polished lip better than painting the whole wheel....
Gary

 

I powdercoated mine semi-gloss black and love it
Just a warning up front though, they are nearly impossible to keep clean. If you are meticulous about your wheels and wipe them down often then its no problem, but in order for them to continue looking good they need a quick wipe down i'd say every 48 hours if its your DD.
I highly recommend it, had them powdercoated more than 6 months ago and not a single nick or scratch from daily driving

Oh and for my center cap the guy painted it all the same black except the Mt Fuji, looks good

 

extremepowderco, I'd definetly hit you up but summer is approaching quickly this year etc etc. etc, plus I'm in Canada. Is there anyone you would highly recommend in canada specifically Winnipeg or Manitoba? I would also consider shipping my wheels to you and you ship em' back, but by the time shipping charges are taken in, were up over 100 bucks a wheel easily and I'd want a polished lip.


Also, i'm somewhat new to powdercoating, but is it completely or like 99% unaffected by brake dust, or is that still a big issue? Like, will the powder coat pit? Also, scratches from rocks and sand, are they more or less likely with PC versus stock...and yes I'm still talking about the Rays.

 

My PC'd semi-gloss black Ray's with 25mm all around.