dodgegtdart68
Well-Known Member
Whats the best ?? Cheapest ??? And where can I get factory color silver for a 1968 Dodge Dart RIMS.
Powder coat vers Paint
- Thread starter dodgegtdart68
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First they''ll need to be blasted, then painted(cheap) or powder coated(more durable not cheap). What's more important is making sure whoever mounts your tires doesn't gouge the paint off of the rim edges. I had mine blasted and powder coated and reminded the tire installer the price to have them repowder coated.
33IMP
Well-Known Member
Easy. Paint is cheaper, powder is better. There are hundreds, if not thousands of powder colors. If your powder coater can't match, he's not trying.
Professor Fate
Push the button, Max...
And one technical point- those aren't '68 Dart rims. Although they are a popular addition to earlier A bodies, the factory didn't start offering Ralley wheels until 1970.
Slowswinger
Well-Known Member
One man's opinion. I am running wheel covers and you will be running beauty rings. Over time, my wheel covers will come on and off along with wheel weights eventually scratching the rims. I chose to rattle can my rims because it would be easier to touch up.
As far as the wheel weights go, you can have them balanced with stick on weights. Most larger tire stores offer this service, IF you ask for it.
I would stay away from stick on wheel weights and go with Dyna beads.
Commando66
She's a beaut Clark!
Just my opinion. Dyna beads are small beadlets that are poured inside of the tire (tubeless or with tubes). Used them for years on Harleys because stick on weights (black or Chrome) are ugly on rims, and look cheap, again my opinion. No marks from tape on mags and no scratches from the hammer-on type. Same reason I don't use the same style tires from 30 years ago. It's an upgrade for me. The only reason we would put them on a balance machine was to make sure the rim wasn't bent or deformed as well as the tire. Line up the dot on the tire with the valve stem, inflate...done!
As a side note, you can imagine the importance of two properly balanced tires on a motorcycle.
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"Best" and "cheapest" don't always go together.
Though I don't really focus on wheels for various reasons (unlike the vast majority of powder coaters), you should know there are literally thousands of powder colors available in any texture you want. Silver, gold and even some red powders are NOT UV stable on their own so you'll want them cleared too; otherwise they'll oxidize over time and you'll need to polish them occasionally because there's real metal in the powder.
You can find locals willing to charge $30 apiece on up but keep in mind you'll definitely get what you pay for.
Though prep for paint versus powder overlaps a bit step-wise, powder prep is more invasive since it requires blasting to put the right profile on the metal. If you examine blasted metal under a microscope, you'll see hills and valleys. When powder is applied and starts to cure under heat, it "flows out" into a liquid momentarily and self-levels, creating not only a beautiful but long lasting bond WITH the metal rather than simply riding on top of it like paint does. Sure, powder can be sprayed onto a non-blasted surface too but it won't last as long if the prep wasn't done right. Some will merely "rough it up with a Scotchbrite," but I don't. I was raised to do it right or don't do it at all, and that applies universally to everything in my life from paid work to cleaning the litter box.
Note too that most shops will simply coat over defects, road rash, chips, dings, etc., rather than focusing on perfecting the metal first.
I'd address other important prep here too if your wheels were aluminum or alloy but it doesn't really apply to your steelies up there so I'll save it.
Feel free to give me a call if you have other questions. Even if you have no plans to ship them here, I still believe an informed consumer is the smart consumer, so let me know if there's anything else I can do to help with your decision.
Though I don't really focus on wheels for various reasons (unlike the vast majority of powder coaters), you should know there are literally thousands of powder colors available in any texture you want. Silver, gold and even some red powders are NOT UV stable on their own so you'll want them cleared too; otherwise they'll oxidize over time and you'll need to polish them occasionally because there's real metal in the powder.
You can find locals willing to charge $30 apiece on up but keep in mind you'll definitely get what you pay for.
Though prep for paint versus powder overlaps a bit step-wise, powder prep is more invasive since it requires blasting to put the right profile on the metal. If you examine blasted metal under a microscope, you'll see hills and valleys. When powder is applied and starts to cure under heat, it "flows out" into a liquid momentarily and self-levels, creating not only a beautiful but long lasting bond WITH the metal rather than simply riding on top of it like paint does. Sure, powder can be sprayed onto a non-blasted surface too but it won't last as long if the prep wasn't done right. Some will merely "rough it up with a Scotchbrite," but I don't. I was raised to do it right or don't do it at all, and that applies universally to everything in my life from paid work to cleaning the litter box.
Note too that most shops will simply coat over defects, road rash, chips, dings, etc., rather than focusing on perfecting the metal first.
I'd address other important prep here too if your wheels were aluminum or alloy but it doesn't really apply to your steelies up there so I'll save it.
Feel free to give me a call if you have other questions. Even if you have no plans to ship them here, I still believe an informed consumer is the smart consumer, so let me know if there's anything else I can do to help with your decision.
I had mine done locally here in Elizabethtown, NC because it's extremely cost prohibitive to ship or you would've done them. They did a very nice job and again it's not cheap.
dodgedifferent2
Well-Known Member
I went a bought a cheap harbor freight powder gun.
Blasted the rims in the sandblasting cabinet (could use the regular sandblaster, just messier)
Got the powder i wanted from prismatic powder plus clear coat.
I use a kitchen oven to bake the rims. I can only do up to about 18" rims due to the size of the oven. Go and buy the wife a new oven and use the old one in your garage ;-) (or local classifieds)
I probably spent more dollars in hydro to sandblast and cure.
I have done the steelies on the dart, winter rims for the caravan and just finished these for the 96 2wd rc dakota
Blasted the rims in the sandblasting cabinet (could use the regular sandblaster, just messier)
Got the powder i wanted from prismatic powder plus clear coat.
I use a kitchen oven to bake the rims. I can only do up to about 18" rims due to the size of the oven. Go and buy the wife a new oven and use the old one in your garage ;-) (or local classifieds)
I probably spent more dollars in hydro to sandblast and cure.
I have done the steelies on the dart, winter rims for the caravan and just finished these for the 96 2wd rc dakota
ir3333
Well-Known Member
i have a high regard for our modern paints! Properly prepped they a re very hard, will last forever on a muscle car ( no snow or salt) and are easy to do yourself! As a side note i don't believe powder coating is allowed in the aircraft industry due to corrosion under the coating after time, but i'm not sure.
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