ZER0ez

Hi all, this is my first post.

Picked up this 2011 G37S about a week ago.

I love the car but I do not like that it has Plasti dipped wheels. They are the 19" premium Enkei's.

I've been looking into getting them stripped and powder-coated but the shop that wants to do it wasn't sure if these wheels are safe to be sandblasted based on factory coating.

Getting them chemically stripped would almost double the cost overall.

Wondering if anybody else out there has gotten these OEM wheels stripped and powder-coated and what was the process like?

Can these wheels be sandblasted without causing a "wavy" effect?

Thanks in advance!

dmg6768

iTrader: (3)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if they are plasti-dipped can't you just peel that off? I've never used it so I'm not completely sure.

Regarding the sandblasting, I'm having my wheels blasted and powdercoated next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

ZER0ez

The plasti-dip is mostly irrelevant. Just the reason I want the wheels powder coated. It would strip off with some elbow grease, but I still want dark wheels. Probably a dark charcoal or gunmetal color.

Please let me know how it goes. You also have the black paint, right? What color are you doing?

dmg6768

iTrader: (3)

I painted my stock wheels myself with a charcoal color with some metal flake. I loved the color, but I just want something more durable.

For the powdercoating I'm going with metallic anthracite with a black base.

desertmike680

When I got my 08 G, the rims looked awful. I went through periods of paint can, painting in which never turned out well. So, I took my rims in to get sand blasted, but not to be powder coated. I wanted to see if I could sand and polish them to an almost chrome finish (sanding and polishing 4 rims absolutely sucks), in which its still a work in progress, but has turned out pretty well. I'll post some pics later.

Kris9884

iTrader: (3)

I thought this was a good question, so I found a well known wheel vendor on NSX Prime who answered..


Re: does powder coating rims weaken them?

ZER0ez

That sounds like a great color. Pics when you get it done, I'd love to see it.

ZER0ez

Good point. I think I'm up for taking the risk, though. Paint just seems like it would chip really quickly. I wonder if anybody who has powder coated their wheels can attest to them cracking later on down the line.

ZER0ez

That sounds like punishing work on the hands. I'm interested to see how they turn out. Could be a very unique look.

Kris9884

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, that all being said, there have been thousands of wheels powder coated after the fact and I have never heard of ill effects later. I'm sure you are fine, Enkei is just covering their ****.. In fact, I have never once heard powder coating was bad for a wheel until I searched for it today.

ZER0ez

That's funny. I've talked with people about powder coating a number of times and looked into it. Today is also the first time I heard the warnings about brittle wheels.

I'm sure it is theoretically true and Enkei has to cta. They make a nice wheel so until I hear of a first hand account of them cracking, I won't worry too much.

dmg6768

iTrader: (3)

Yeah I'll definitely post up some pictures when I get them back.

ianphampton

iTrader: (1)

When I wanted some winter wheels I got a set of Rays Alloys off the 350Z forum and had them blasted & powder coated.

The finish was excellent and you can get any colour you wanted, I had mine done charcoal grey with sparkle and think they look great, and it's much more durable than wet painting. They've been on all over winter and still come up a treat when I wash her (Not as often as I should)

Rybitron

Im no expert in wheels, but I took a metal working class in college, heating the wheels and letting them cool in the air should make them softer not harder/brittle.

Brian6t5

I just had my 18 inch 1o spoke oem enkei wheels powder coated last week and I'm very happy with the results. The company said they will sandblast them to get them ready for the powdercoat. I went with a gunmetal grey with a charcoal metallic in it and they look similar to the hyper silver, but a lot darker. I Will upload a pic if I can get it in the right light. Not too worried about warranty because there are plenty of new and used wheel choices for our cars.