rusty old wheels powder coated, new tires, pictues

[Guest n1gzd]

Here are the pics of my new wheels/tires. I know that red is not correct but I wanted to have red showing just outside of the wheel cover so I powder coated the wheels red.

[Guest imported_JPIndusi]

A really beautiful looking car. The paint on those wheels is the best I have seen.

Good luck.

Joe, BCA 33493

[Guest my3buicks]

They look great, and you il be pleased to know that Buick did indeed offer "Dante Red" as an optional wheel color in 1950 - so red wheels are perfectly legit.

[Guest n1gzd]

I am glad to hear that it is not a wrong thing to do. I have not tried the wheel covers on yet. I hope that the powder coating does not make them hard to put on (and stay on).

Rebecca

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I hope that the powder coating does not make them hard to put on (and stay on). </div></div>I powder coated the wheels on one of my 54's last spring. Everytime I put the wheel covers on while the wheels were cold and got out on the highway and they would heat up, the covers would all pop off, sometimes all at one time. I was told that the process of heating the wheels while they were being powder coated changed the molecular design of the old steel and caused it to deform with heat and high speed.

Now then, if you believe that, then I've got a blue and white 53 Buick Roadmaster once owned by Howard Hughes that I'll sell ya for $500.

Bwaa ha ha . Just kiddin. The wheels look fantastic and should perform great.Just curious, did you do the PC or what's a ball park figure to have them done.

[Guest n1gzd]

Ha ha. I paid $60 per wheel for the powdercoating which including cleaning up the rist (sand blast etc).

[imported_buick5563]

SWEEEEEET.

I was on the fence about doing that on my 55. You may have tipped me over...

Mike

[50jetback]

Rebecca,

The wheels look great, but a word of caution!!!!

I had the wheels on my 50 Jetback powdercoated ( in black ) and was pleased with the job. After they had been on for awhile and after several checks on tightness of wheel studs I had a wheel come off.

Luckily I was only travelling real slow at the time, had my head out the window trying to work out where the bearing noise was coming from which of course was the wheel studs which had already worked their way out rolling around in the hubcap.

The powdercoating is much thicker than normal paint and when you tension up the wheel studs the first time the coating cracks. Then as the car is driven it begins to turn back to powder and the total thickness of the paint turns to dust and falls out, leaving your wheel stud loose.

In Australia at least this is not rare. After it happened to me I had three other people tell me the same thing happened to them, some with far worse consequences than in my case.

There is a solution though. Grind the powdercoating away from where your wheelstud contacts the shoulder of the stud holes in the wheel so it is metal to metal contact.

I have done this and have not had any problem since.

I am still happy with powdercoating and have again had the wheels on my current project done ( in red this time!!! ) but I have already ground the powdercoating away from the contact area with the studs.

Have included a photo of just what can happen.

[Rooster]

Very , very lucky !!

At speed who knows what could have happened, suffice to say Delys would not have been impressed.

Besides, it saved me from a panel beating job !

Ken

1929

1954 (Ir)

[michaelmis]

Rebecca, I have had the full size wheel covers fitted to my present car for some time.

My current rims are painted, but I did have powder coated wheels and full size covers on my previous 50 for a spell.

Problem with the covers is not so much that they pop off (I think that has happened twice in 15k miles over the two cars) but that they slowly rotate around the rim. This is not so much of a problem bar they swallow up the value stem. and if you are really picky the logo is not in the same spot when the car is parked.

I know Stuart has dog dish hub caps and dress rims, rather than the full covers. These look just like the full covers, possibly better as the combination has slightly deeper lines, and do not have the problem of rotation.

[Looey]

The guy who runs the tire shop where my dad gets tires puts a blob of clear silicone adhesive, like you buy at the hardware store, on a couple three spots on the wheel before he puts on the old fashioned wheel covers. He says he doesn't have people coming back mad because their covers fall off or a air stem gets ripped from the cover working around.

[Guest n1gzd]

I will watch out for these problems. I did have to file three of them in the area of the hub to get it to fit on. I have been driving my Desoto with powdercoated wheels done by the same people for a couple of years and have not noticed any of these problems. However, I will do an extra special check now that you have alerted me to it. The Desoto has full wheel covers. I mean completely full (Buick has an inch of wheel showing the Desoto has none). I will remove all of my Desoto wheel covers and check the nut torques (it has studs not bolts like the Buick).

[Guest kevinshea]

n1

who did you use for powdercoat -- $60 each seems good.. did you deliver them sand blasted.

Kevin

[Guest n1gzd]

they did the sandblasting, straightening (but not much was needed but they verified it, and the painting. It was a company called RimPro in Tewksbury MA. I delivered them. They tried to mount the tires for me as well but ended up telling me to bring it to a tire place because they were unable to do it with their equipment. The tire place had trouble too but got it in the end.

Rebecca

[Guest kevinshea]

Rebecca

Sandblasted AND powdercoated for $60 each.. now that's is a good deal. I'll check them out.

[Matt Harwood]

FYI, the alloy wheels on any new car are also powdercoated, so I don't know that the powder itself is the cause of lug nuts getting loose. Like any maintenance item, make sure your lugs are properly torqued and check them several times a year.

This is a serious problem if it happens, and I'm heartbroken to see that car up above. But I just can't believe that the powder vaporized (it won't turn back to powder under any circumstances--it melts into a semi-solid coating). It's true that the powdercoat compresses when you torque your wheels, and you might note that in many new car owner's manuals they do state to recheck wheel torque after the first 500 miles or something like that; this is why. After putting a few miles on those beautiful wheels, be sure to re-torque them.

Happy motoring!