I picked up the MB's from DTD in bronze. I intended to powdercoat from the beginning. Due to my concerns about 400F+ on the rims (or any rims), a local PC shop agreed to cure at 350-375F and minimize the cool downs. I was very tempted to just paint and UV cure. But my stock rims havent held up well to brake dust, so the hassle of a low temp powdercoat was appealing.

Well, they didnt turn out all that great. They used Eastman Sparkle Silver and while it can cure at 350-375, this is probably the low end of the temp range to get a good cure. Because I asked them to minimize the cool down cycles, it got alittle rushed. While I feel alittle better than they never saw 400F (or more), I wished I had just painted.

My PC-er felt that the wheel problems people where having from powdercoat was that some use a 400-500F bakeoff oven to remove the old paint. I was adamant that my rims not be anywhere near that oven.. He concurred and showed me his 30ft oven didnt get that hot anyway.

Plus, by not going to 400F, I dont think they outgassed completely, so I got some minor bubbles in spots. Very minor, but still disappointing.

I'm only laying all this out because if you intend to grab a set from DTD (or A-techs from anywhere) and wish to heed their warnings about powdercoating any cast rim (not just these), low temp curing isnt all that good for these rims (which are already powdercoated and had a much better finish than I ended up with). Just paint 'em!

I wished I had polished the lip while I was at it. Since the rim was already powdercoated, it was going to be cost prohibitive to get them polished. : / Oh well. They still look great for the price. And a nice alternative to stock 18s.

 

Looks awsome.

 

Looks good man, you can't really see any bubbles in the pics, so I guess they're not very noticeable.

 

thanks..

I snapped that one side angle identical to the pic you posted

 

thx
yeah, they bother me.. but nobody else would notice at 2-3ft.. Like my clear bra, not attractive right on it.. a few feet away and nobody notices..