Heat Curing powder coated wheels, Stress cracks / Material strength concerns.. Options

[yarin]

A thread on the main board sparked a bit of curiosity regarding my plan of powder coating my Panasports this winter. I figured you race guys might have experience here. Wheels are Panasport (UL) Ultralights, aluminum with steel inserts for lug seats. The curing process consists of baking in an electric oven at 375F for 20-25 minutes. I obviously wouldn't want to compromise the integrity of the wheel. Would the steel/aluminium combo cause an issue when curing the powdercoat? Any thoughts on this? I've heard theories that heat treatments have led to wheel failures on the track due to stress cracks.

Also - I assume I should avoid powder coating the seating. what about the valve stem seat? I would imagine i don't want to touch the seating surface to the hub. right? Also what about the tire seat lip?

Here are specs on panasports:

*New, virgin aluminum alloy materials used throughout.
*Hub centric machining for every application, no universal sleeves
*Steel, tapered-face inserted lug holes for secure fixing and self-centering attachment
*Heat treated for high strength and durability
*The proper balance of designed material location providing a light weight wheel with intense strength

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

[Mugs914]

Just my .02, but I never liked the idea of powder coating wheels, especially if they will be used on the track, because the thick powder coat can hide cracks. Whether they come from the baking process or from banging over the rumble strips you want to be able to see any cracks that form sooner rather than later. Come to think of it, there aren't too many things that I powder coat on a race car, maybe the engine tin... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Of course street cars that see the occasional track day don't take the regular abuse that track cars do so powder coating is fine for suspension bits or whatever, but I still wouldn't mess with wheels unless they are for the street only. As for your Panasports, if you have any question at all about the heating affecting their integrity don't subject them to the process.

It may sound funny, but I use Krylon for things like wheels and suspension pieces. Clean whatever it is really well then just shoot it whatever color you like, no primer or anything. It looks good, its easy to spot damage, touch-ups are easy and it holds up a lot better than you think!

Besides that, its cheap... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

As I said, just my zwei pfennig...