That looks really nice. IMO, Track wheels are one of the nicest out there for the 350. Change the color and add some spacers and they look great.

I just so happens that I'm getting a set shipped to me today. I plan to power coat it the same brushed aluminum color which the door handles have.

 

I agree with you, I love the wheels, just wish they were 1" wider.
Nice job on the powder coating, I thought about doing this to my car, but imo the darker the wheel the smaller it looks. I may do this if I ever get around to buying some aftermarket wheels....

 

WoW!! Thats exactly what i want to do to my stock rays wheels! i really like that.

 

scubasteve,

Wheels look great. I'm picking up my wheels from the bead blasting tomorrow. I am taking them to be powdercoated in the next couple weeks(no rush since winter is almost here). Do you have some close up pics that I could get to take to the polish/powdercoat coat guy so he understands what they should look like? Don't like to leave any doubt in there mind Did you have the lip clearcoated or just leave it exposed? Any problems with the lip if you didn't clear it?
Thanks for your help.

Dan

 

That's very creative. Thumbs up!

 

gatorz,
Let me take some closer pics of the wheels and post them. The polishing was done after the stripping of the wheels. I forgot to mention earlier that the wheels were first chemically stripped and then bead blasted. They only bead blasted the area to be polished because the wheels are such a rough cast. When I saw my wheels stripped, I was amazed at how rough the texture really is. It looks like metal styrofoam with all the little bumps. Anyway, the coater wanted to leave the rough part of the spokes because he said that it really helps the coating to adhere well. I have to tell you that I was worried, but these are professionals. The finish on my wheels are excellent and I was amazed. The owner of the shop really liked the wheels and gave me a deal because it took so long. I am patient when it comes to these things and hate to rush people when quality is the goal.

-Steve

 

The guy I have blasting my Rays is using regular sand for everything except the lip and I partially sanded the lip so he could use the beads for that. It's hard to use the beads for the whole thing. Did you clear coat the lip or the powdercoat???

Thank again,

Dan

 

ok....no clear of the lip. You wouldn't to anyway because you wouldn't be able to polish away any potnetial defects. All you need is some nice aluminum polish and they shine! I just washed one of my wheels and did not polish it. It has been pouring the past week here.

Pics:

 

that's looks f_in awesome! been waiting to see something like this.

 

That is exactly what I wanted to see. Mine should be polished after Thanksgiving and powdercoated by X-mas. Thanks for the pics. Glad you put up this thread. I've been needing a kick in the $ss to get this done. Seeing how good yours turned out is all I needed. Will powdercoat just a little lighter than yours but darker than the original Rays color.


Dan

 

Have you had any vibration problems with your GT-C wheels?

 

Hey man...your Veilside body kit looks pretty sick! I noticed you hace Volk GT-C rims on your Z...I do too. Have you had any problems with vibration with your rims...I get some vibration at around 100 miles per hour. do you live in MD? I do and I need to find a reliable shop in MD to balance my wheels...you don't want anyone screwing up my wheels...any suggestions??

 

what about the issue of powder coating wheels weakening the wheel itself?

Some guy had a break in one spoke and it was attributed to powdercoating.

any more data on this?

 

I specifically ask about this. He said that 400 degrees is not enough to change any molicules in the aluminum thus he can't see any reason for damage. Also made a point that they are probably forged higher than this. They are only hot for about 40 minutes....(I think that was the number). He said he has done 1000's of wheels (probably not all aluminum) and has seen very few issues.

I'm not going to get to excited about this. I think this is one of those myth's that someone put out there and now people worry about it. Kind of like does the ECU reset it's self after every mod you do


DAN

 

HOTTT. Looks like I have an idea for my Track wheels!

 

[QUOTEAlso made a point that they are probably forged higher than this [/QUOTE]

You're exactly right. the forging process for aluminum occurs afound the high 800's to the low 900's and then the temperature is brought down from there fo greater strength. The temperatures of powdercoating are much lower than this and will not heat the aluminum to the point of plastic deformation. Just what I learned about the process. I have NO problems with my wheels.

-Steve