The most durable coating offered for automotive parts is powder coating. It’s the same beautiful finish you may see on an expensive Ferrari and is the finest finish that the industry has to offer. Linear Automotive's Auto Body Shop offers affordable wheel powder coating. The powdered paint containing particles of pigment and resin is applied electrostatically and cured under heat to form a complete skin covering the part. The paint powder is a thermoset polymer process that once heated cannot be melted again or reshaped. It is primarily used for coating metals.
There is an extensive pretreatment process before being powder coated. The type of metal, previous finish and wheel/rim determines the best and most effective prepping method for powder coating. It starts with either a chemical cleaning or an abrasive mechanical cleaning to prep the surface for best results. Previous coatings and/or rust must be removed prior to powder coating. The materials coated are primarily metals, since it must endure the baking and curing processes. The wheel rims or car parts are hung on racks so that the powder coating can be applied uniformly and there is no handling of the parts during the process. The parts are grounded electrically during the electrically charged powder spraying which adheres tight to the metal when completed.
After powder coating, it goes into a curing oven where the paint turns to a gel forming a smooth finish. When the coating reaches peak temperature there is a chemical reaction called cross-linking where the paint becomes finalized and can be removed from the oven and let cool gradually to air temperature. The product is now finished and ready for use. The finished result is a product that is attractive, durable, and tough, which resists cracking, scratches, rust and UV rays. It comes in a wide variety of colors and finishes to choose from black, grays, bright iridescent colors, metallic and more.
Powder coating a metal wheel vs painting a plastic center cap is a different process. If there are plastic pieces then they will not be an exact match to the wheel even if they are both painted the same color. Power coating a wheel vs painting plastic parts are totally different processes. speak with one of our expert painters for more info about this. Give us a call or stop by our state of the art facility and find out why people all over North Texas choose to do business when they need quality powder coating for automotive wheels.
