jimlab

Just curious if anyone has had their wheels polished and then clear powder coated to protect the finish and make clean-up/maintenance easier. If you have, did they end up looking polished still, or was the finish somewhat "matte" or "satin" afterward? How has the powder coat held up over time?

I'm considering having my new wheels clear powder coated after they show up... after having the original powdercoat (white) stripped off and having them polished.

DamonB

IMO the clear powdercoat looks slightly murky when it's on polished parts. Over painted parts I like it (though still not as glossy as a clear coat).

Powder coat does not leave a smooth, glossy surface like paint does and so it cannot match the brilliant shine of paint.

I would have my wheels clear coated by a good paint shop instead.

jimlab

Wonder if I could get Fikse to coat them with their SpeedSilver coating.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Those bastards won't even redo my FIKSE'S in speed silver... :-(

jimlab

Really?? Those bastards...

To be honest, for a vendor that is in the wheel business, I swear that Fikse makes it hard to want to buy their wheels. Did you buy them used? They're touchy about their registration bullshit.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

I did buy them used (although they are registered under my name), but it was never discussed when I called them... they simply told me couldn't be done!

Note my other post about re-clearing.... i'm having a VERY hard time believing that either route would be very difficult.

jimlab

I stumbled across this stuff in a recent Eastwood Company catalog...

http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp
http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal_steps.wvx

artowar

iTrader: (1)

I've seen zoopseal on TV. It sounds interesting, but I'd like to see more tests and/or testimonials before spending the $130+

Assuming that you can polish through zoopseal with no worries (just a guess), then maybe it's a better route than clearcoating with powder or liquid paint. If the clearcoat fails (clouds, flakes, peels, yellows, etc.), then you have to remove it, repolish, and recoat(paint). I'm guessing that if the zoopseal fails, you can just repolish and reapply zoopseal.

I'm also guessing that the $130+ for zoopseal is cheaper than clearcoating your four wheels.

Hmmm, I may be talking myself into trying this stuff...

jimlab

Sort of what I thought. Eastwood Company has it for $99, BTW. PN 10516 Z.

I'm really tempted. They were pimping it hard at SEMA, apparently, but my cousin doesn't know anyone who has used it yet, and he should... he designs cars, paint jobs, and wheels for a living, and knows a list of names in the industry that you'd trip over if he dropped them...

Seems like it's not that difficult to apply, and if it'd save polishing them more often, that'd be well worth $100. You couldn't powder coat them for anywhere near that.

artowar

iTrader: (1)

Heh, time for you to put that Eastwood memberscam to work

AMRAAM4

OK, dumb question...

I have some Eagle 077 polished 18's for my daily driver. They are a simple 5-spoke wheel, but obviously since they are polished they are a bitch to keep shiny. Is it possible to clearcoat these yourself with a store bought clearcoat in a can? I understand this is not the BEST in the world because a shop is not doing. but still.

jimlab

You know it. Free ground shipping for a year... wooo!!

It turned out that the extra charge came from 2nd day air delivery. They claim I selected 2nd day air, and I know for a fact that I did not, because ground was fine with me. The print out of my order shows 2nd day air delivery, but of course that's where I noticed that things were screwed up. I just didn't catch the change in shipping preference because I was looking at the change in total.

BC-FD3S

iTrader: (2)

Should try Clear Anodize on Alumimun Part. But the part need to be polished up very well to hide for the scratches.

BC

jimlab

Anodizing produces a matte finish, not shiny.

HDP

iTrader: (2)

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