POWDERCOATING RIMS

im considering powdercoating my polished rims

as they have dulled and because i dont have a garage they are in the elements all the time
and no i dont want to spend the rest of my life on polishing rims

my question is do i need to ask for a specific grade of powdercoat
due to being on a bike rim etc etc

i suppose ill get them sandblasted and the powdercoated black

any recomendations in vic would be appreaciated

mick

i manage a powdercoating plant in sydney so i'dont know anyone in vic but i done a fair few wheels in my time (see the thread about my zx6r) The 2 main brands of powdercoat are made by Dulux or Akzo Nobel but there are others but i've not used them so can't really offer any advice on the quality, be careful with the blasting no one actually uses sand anymore. You need them blasted with something quite soft (if its to coarse it can pit the ali to much for the powder cover smoothly) usually called Garnet but different places use different things. If the rims are already polished you could just scuff them up with some fine wet or dry paper or scotchbright a decent powdercoater with then give them an acid etch and a dip in a chromate bath this gives the aluminium some anti-corrosion protection.
The wheel bearings should be removed and the bearing faces and disc mounting faces should be masked up don't use normal masking tape is a right c$%t to get off after its been baked on, a decent powdercoater will have some heat proof tape.

Let me know if you've any more questions.