Hi, Lloyd. Let me offer my OPINION, and my EXPERIENCES concerning wheel
coatings ;-)
I had a set of alloy wheels powder-coated by a professional. They looked
great. The car was autocross-only, trailered everywhere. I rotated the
tires after every 2 events to maintain smooth wear, dismounted and
remounted the tires and rotated across the car after every 4th event.
One season's worth of use saw the wheels chipped in several places, even
around the rim where the plastic tire-bead tool ran. The powder coating
chipped around the lug nut seats, clogging up the lug threads and making
them bind, ruining the anti-sieze I had applied.
I painted a set of steel wheels for my 4x4 Blazer with Krylon Rust-Tuff
enamel out of a can. They didn't look quite so good, but after five
years, they look as good as my $powder-coated$ wheels do.
I have a custom-painting friend who sand- or bead-blasts wheels
(depending on the material), paints them with an etchant, a polyeurethane
basecoat and a eurethane clearcoat with a flex agent mixed in, and his
wheels look better than any others I have ever seen. Also, they are
apparently very durable due to the flex agent in the clear coat. The
drawback is that this process is even more expensive than professional
powder-coating, therefore usually relegated to custom and showcar
applications.
Hope that helps!
Jon FP 73
TCB Racing Datsun 260Z
TLS #73
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