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Sat Apr 03, 2004 2:01 pm

Ok it's time for new tires, but that is another story. Any way the stock 14" rims aren't looking so nice, so I'm thinking of either:
A) Painting them (silver/beige I believe) back to stock or
B) Get them powder coated?

Please help as I could go either way on this one. I currently have powder coated stock rims on my bug and haven't had a problem despite hearing Linds story of how they don't hold their torque.

Sat Apr 03, 2004 2:23 pm

8) Well unless you're a purist, powdercoating is the way to go!

If they are treated properly, they should last "forever"...
I've never heard of any damages due to the heating during powdercoat..

Sat Apr 03, 2004 4:19 pm

if you do powdercoat the rims, be absolutely sure you remove all of the coating where the wheel bolts seat on the rim. i have heard too many stories about people losing wheels and crashing vehicles because the powdercoating let the bolts "slip" and come loose and fall out.
just a word of warning.
i prefer paint, but that's just me.

Sat Apr 03, 2004 4:19 pm

I've never had a problem pulling my wheels off, giving them a good sanding down and then painting them myself.

-Taylor

Sat Apr 03, 2004 4:35 pm

i am a purist.

Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:06 pm

Powdercoat and forget it.

Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:59 am

I just sent a set of crows to be powdercoated traffic white. That will be my 3rd set done, but 1st set at traffic white. Regular rattle-can paint is great until you get some brake fluid on it.

Sun Apr 04, 2004 4:52 pm

Why not do both? Sand blast and powder coat black for example and THEN lightly sand, prime and spray the correct colour from can or gun when you do the bumpers. Black powder coat was sort of how they did the bug wheels at factory but am not sure for bus wheels? Linked pic shows wheels in various states of finish.

Im tempted to powder coat my bus 14's white so if there is a chip or scratch the white will show through less than black. What do you reckon?

Thx,
Al

http://thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=68438

Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:04 pm

hazetguy wrote: if you do powdercoat the rims, be absolutely sure you remove all of the coating where the wheel bolts seat on the rim. i have heard too many stories about people losing wheels and crashing vehicles because the powdercoating let the bolts "slip" and come loose and fall out.
just a word of warning.
i prefer paint, but that's just me.

word.

nothing but original paint for me from here on out.

Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:10 pm

I used to powdercoat all my wheels black, then paint them the proper color. I've gone back to: blast, epoxy prime, shoot black urethane, then finish with enamel for the finish coat, whatever the color may be.... usually L82 silver white. Seems to work well. Hazetguy has a good tip if you decide to powdercoat.

Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:51 pm

I powercoated the rims for my '57 black and them painted the faces two tone green. When I masked between the colors the paint kept wanting to peal off.

Mon Apr 05, 2004 8:45 am

I just blasted and painted my wheels over the weekend with og paint color. Not that difficult at all. And for my first paint job they look great.

Cheers-

Mon Apr 05, 2004 9:26 am

ok time for the second part of this question. Where do I purchase original paint for my '67 bus wheels? I checked Wolfsburg West site, but didn't see anything. suggestions?

Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:12 pm

I just had mine powder coated, and am pretty happy with the results. It is brittle though, and you can chip it if you bang them around too much.

I think the tales of wheel bolts coming loose are BS ..... unless the coating under the bolt heads flaked off somehow, leaving the bolts loose by the thickness of the coating ..... I torqued mine, drove it about 250 miles, and then checked them ..... all were tight.

Regards, Mike G.

Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:17 pm

oldngray wrote:
I think the tales of wheel bolts coming loose are BS ..... unless the coating under the bolt heads flaked off somehow, leaving the bolts loose by the thickness of the coating ..... I torqued mine, drove it about 250 miles, and then checked them ..... all were tight.

Regards, Mike G.

BULLSHIT.

I torqued mine, they held fine for 5000 miles. the last 40 feet wasn't that fun. take a look at that 23 window in my avatar, now imagine it upside down rolling down the fucking highway. have fun with your powdercoat. it lasted 5000 miles before it came loose on me.

Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:19 pm

Wow --- any expanation as to why that happened? MJG

Mon Apr 05, 2004 2:38 pm

oldngray wrote: Wow --- any expanation as to why that happened? MJG

the way that torque works is that it is actually stretching the threads just a tiny tiny bit. if the powdercoat has any thickness which it usually does, it can compress over time. this could also happen with paint if it was thick also. if, for instance, the podercoating is 10 thousandths thick and the stretch of the metal for the torque is 1 thousandth, and over 5000 miles, the podercoat on one wheel compresses 10%, that wheel loses all of its torque. it a lugnut doesn't have torque, it takes only a dozen revolutions of the tire for the wheel to work its self off. I have heard of other people having simillar experiences with powdercoated rims, not with quite as bad results as mine though.

I won't even paint wheels now. it is only original paint for me. I know that is not for everyone, so if you powdercoat or paint your wheels, clean the seating surfaces for the lugnuts.

Mon Apr 05, 2004 2:58 pm

Hmm --- I guess I stand corrected .... sorry about your bus, by the way, Lind.

I went to http://www.normarkindustries.com/CausesEffects.htm and they seem to confirm what Lind is saying ... down near the end of the page.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and all of the torque values we call out for machinery we make is based on bare metal to metal contact, and we don't recommend painting on surfaces that must be torqued to specific values.

I plan to pull off my hub caps and give a yank on my wheel bolts before I make any more trips ......... better safe than sorry.

Thanks a lot for the posts ....

Mike G.
Thomasville GA

Mon Apr 05, 2004 3:17 pm

oldngray wrote:
I went to http://www.normarkindustries.com/CausesEffects.htm and they seem to confirm what Lind is saying ... down near the end of the page.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and all of the torque values we call out for machinery we make is based on bare metal to metal contact, and we don't recommend painting on surfaces that must be torqued to specific values.

usually the torque values are for dry metal to metal contact.
I believe it is 72 ft/lbs for lug nuts.

another thing mentioned in that the article that you linked to is overtorqueing. I have come across a couple axle nuts that were so overtorqued that they pulled the threads so instead of having a profile like /\ they looked like |\. the axle is ruined there and it will only work with the matching ruined axlenut.

Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:29 am

I powdercoated my wheels in '97 and have never had any problems with them coming loose. Maybe i'm lucky , who knows but after long trips I always check the lugs to make sure they are torqued properly.