Re-Powder Coating Rims

By "Re"-powder coating I mean removing old powder coat in order to change color.

In my search for threads on this subject, I found only old threads. I've not found good answers for my need.

What I need is an answer for how or what to use to remove the very well done powder coat that I want to replace.

The most frustrating thing is that the stripper/ solvent chemical makeup has been forced to change (govenment regulations) over the last 10-15 years, so the products that were effective in the past are not as potent, and finding an inexpensive way to strip the powdercoat off seems impossible.

Are there any retail products currently available that you know of that would work well?

 

I took my wheels and them blasted by a local company. I don't remember what they used, but it wasn't sand, and didn't
roughen the surface any more than than it already was. I think it cost me $100 or so.

I had it done because the color of the powder coating was not what I wanted.

 

I spent 20 minutes blasting with sand in a blast cabinet and only cleaned off less than a 2 inch diameter area. So, yeah, I have found that sand is not very effective. I am still planning to sand blast whatever is left in the tight corners after stripping the majority of the powder coat off. If someone knows if glass beads, or something else can be substituted for sand, I would love that information.

 

I think when I had mine re-coated, they used walnut shell media to blast off the old coating. They did say it was difficult because the previous coater did a good job. Nice to hear comments like that from a coater rather than trashing the previous guy.

 

If it was such a good job and not a color like Lime Green, I think I would have just started over with a different set of wheels and then sold those.

I've blasted with walnut, I really can't imagine it being a time saving media. I use it when I want to be less aggressive but give me a good finish to accept paint.

 

And this is why:

Due to EPA Regulations as of 11/22/19, all products containing methylene-chloride must be purchased by a licensed business. As such we will require a copy of your company W9 before we will ship any product containing methylene-chloride.

All of the "older" internet search results when looking for successful solutions (pun intended) to remove PC have methylene-chloride as a main ingredient.
I can find many of the retail products that these postings recommend with the same product name and most times the same clamed advantages of said product. However, the chemical makeup or ingredents are not the same and are therefore not as effective. As evidenced by the lack of recent postings, youtube videos, etc showing or claiming success at removing PC.

 

I handed my crappy wheels over to my local powder coating business and for the princely sum of US$140 for both, they handed them back to me beautifully powder coated, and I didn't have to break a sweat!

 

I think I'd go talk to a powder coater and let them handle it...... I just did 4 - 19" car rims here locally and it cost me C$400 cash.

 

If you look on yootoob, there are plenty of vids showing PC removal. Most of the methods involve chemical stripping and not media blasting.

 

There are products like D-Zolve 1012 that are used in industrial applications for hook cleaning and other powder coating removal as opposed to burn-off ovens. I have a few gallons of Acrastrip 600 that may do it as well, but that formulation I think is specifically made for liquid coating applications. I'll see if I can find something laying around that is powder coated that I don't mind destroying the finish on.

The problem with doing it yourself is safety and waste management/disposal. While some of these newer "greener" solvent alternatives to MEK and acetone are less hazardous than their predecessors, they're still not very nice to be around. I always try to find the DIY method because I'm cheap, but I think you'll find it's actually more economical and far less stressful to let a shop take care of it.

 

I've watched so many youtube postings and found only one so far that is using a product unmolested and available to purchase without a chemical aplicator licence or whatever is required by the EPA. That one is found here: It costs 120 - 155 USD per gallon. All of the other research results so far have yealded postings that use the older chemical make ups with methylene-chloride, which in the States as of the end of 2019 is no longer availabe for retail purchase.
I am looking to strip the PC for the "less-than-$30" price of only two and a half years ago.

Bottom line: it looks like removing PC is no longer something that can be done by a do-it-yourself guy like me. And if that proves to be true, is paint the better alternitive? Automotive paint that can handle the abuse that a rim is subjected too is not envionmentally friendly either.

I am planning on contacting a local PC business to find out how much they will charge to do the stripping. I need to have a "winter project", and I don't want to pay someone else to do what I can do myself (can you say Stealership Service Department?).

 

Smarter not harder. Take it to a place that has experience performing the task.

 

I surfed around a bit too.. the chemical or heat strippers still require you to prepare the surface for the subsequent coating... best way IMHO is media blasting. So I'd just take it to a powder coater and have them prep for less cost and save the hours and $$ you'll have to put into it..
What to put on? Well, if powder it would be hard and durable..... judging by the condition of my Gen5's wheels, I'm kinda wondering if it's really powder. Maybe test a spot first?? MEK or acetone??

 

I’d be very hesitant to use chemical stripper on something I wanted to powder coat. It’s too easy for traces of the stripper to remain in the pores of the wheel and then lift the powder coat.

The place I use wants to do the stripping themselves so they get the right texture on the surface to be coated. I just got a set of VFR wheels back from them this week. $340, but look better than new.

 

A good powdercoater who does motorsports related coatings, and understands the possible pitfalls, will know exactly what to do to prepare the substrate. If you research a coater and they don't have a gallery showing extensive experience with motorsports related coating, move on. The ones that deal with a lot of resto type work will understand better than one that deals mainly with coating hand rails and lawn furniture.

 

I do appreciate the input and your experiece in what worked for you.

I've had a very busy week, so no movement in regard to a stripping purchase.
Did call the powdercoater, he must have been busy also because he didn't answer and his inbox was full.

 

What he said.

Here's an fyi example of a company that handles cars, bikes, motorcycles, airplanes and other industrial applications.
https://www.melrosepowder.com/
Chris the owner is "A good powdercoater who does motorsports related coatings, and understands the possible pitfalls, will know exactly what to do to prepare the substrate." He also rides motorcycles with his family.

I had Chris powder coat my 5th gen front wheel and re powercoat my new to me 3rd gen rear wheel. He told me my front wheel would be perfect, but was concerned about doing a vintage wheel for a 2nd time. The extreme heat (350-400) needed for powercoating could result in a brittle wheel. He was right. Five thousand miles after the powdercoat, the wheel developed 5 cracks on 4 spokes. One spoke was holding on by a few centimeters before catastrophic failure.

I posted some pics on instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CY2ftzcPdC5/

Good luck, be safe.

 

Very interesting. I bought an 8 spoke several years ago. It was white and I assume it was originally powder coated but not 100% on that. I had it cleaned up and stripped down, I believe with media, then re=powdered. I had my front done as well. I am not sure, but I think the 06 had a clear powder coat finish on it so that would have been media blasted as well. Skip ahead several years and a horrid trip over a Baja mountainous pass and hitting an outcropping of rock, which put me to the ground and the bike on top of me. I hit that rock hard and there are absolutely no signs of cracking on either wheel.

When I got back, I ordered new rotors for the front. There was an error made in coating the front that caused warpage on my original rotors, so I had the front stripped again and re-powder coated. Now I haven't put the miles on it that I used to but I would be up around 5K miles since it was done. And no signs on either wheel of cracking.

But having read this, I will be very diligent in checking both the wheels more regularly than I did before, which was often when you have white wheels. I was always washing those damned things.

SO thank you for posting that point up.

 

I've been so busy with work and doing my best to prepare for the riding season that I've not had time to post updates.
So, here we go.

I did get ahold of my Powdercoater- friend and discoverd why he wasn't able to meda blast the wheels. The owners of the building that he rents forced him to stop sand blasting because of the resulting dust. He is located in an area that has many other commercial businesses nearby.

I thought that I would see if I could remove the old powder coat manually. I won't sugar-coat it.....It was work and time consuming! Ended up using a die-grinder and a 2 inch flap sander to do most of the removal. I also tried a wire cup seen here in the photo, but it didn't work as well as the flap sander.


Before

 

In process



I did not feel that I needed to remove the area that the tire covers.