Jon K. Powder Coating

[Tiger]

Hey Jon,
I know you got alot of experience with powdercoating... how does the chrome powdercoating comes out? I know you did the gold one. I got a set of classic Lorinser wheels and it have chrome on it now...

I am thinking... instead of sending it off to rechrome it... how about powdercoating it? Sandblast that thing and then powdercoating it chrome... will it work? What doe your buddy think?

[Jon K]

I have "xtreme chrome" from caswell plating and its the undercoat below the gold. It looks excellent in terms of shininess before I put gold on it. THe problem is you really shouldn't just powdercoat over chrome. You should sent them out to be chrome stripped (chemical process) and then go from there. THe thing about most chrome powdercoats is that once you use the powder, 95% of them require a clear coat or top coat... when you do the clear coat you typically half bake the the original chrome powder and shoot the clear hot and fully cure it the rest of the way. If you cure the chrome fully, then shoot clear, you get a duller finish. It's a process I'd recommend you experiment with.

[Tiger]

Mmm... can't sandblast or sand the chrome off? Leave the copper base... I don't know... I shopped real hard and the cheapest I came up with is nearly $900 to rechrome the wheels and repair one wheel. Local place is $1100

I'd like to bring it back to factory condition but one place told me wouldn't look good as the plating process ruins the metal that would be apparent after polishing. Factory wheels have polished dish and grey center... the 15 or so little holes spokes are also polished.

[Jon K]

Chrome is a true bitch. You could try scuffing the surface with a fine grade pad and cleaning the **** out of the wheel, then powdercoating over it. But as soon as the undercoat lets go the top will also. www.caswellplating.com go there and go to the forums then post under powdercoating forums. They know what they're talking about.