Before and After what we do for you!
 

I frequently get the question of what do I do before i powder coat parts do I clean the parts? do i media blast? is there any other process?

I figured i would take you guys through the steps of what you pay for when you drop your wheels off at LPC and not only just here at LPC but Any professional powder coating shop.

OK so my customer stopped by to drop his wheels off and picked his color which was Moondust Orange over Ink Black so here the process step by step.

Heres my costumers wheels when he dropped them off. he bought them from some one else and it looks like they used an automotive spray paint on the wheels. Not that i got anything against rattle canning your wheels i actually have seen some that came out pretty good but the longevity is not all that great but as for these wheels they came out looking like CRAP!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba3.jpg

First thing we do is wash the wheel off and get any dirt or grease off.
We then cut the valve stem off and remove any weights.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba4.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba5.jpg

Once cleaned we then submerge the wheels in a chemical stripper for 15 to 30 minutes to remove any rattle can or factory paints that are on the wheel.

your end results is a clean bare metal wheel and notice that before the crappy paint job made the spokes look like the the metal under the paint was scraped or damage well that is not the case.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba6.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba7.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba8.jpg

Now that the wheels are cleaned and bare metal we can now media blast the wheels to give it a slight profile. A light media blast profile will help the powder bond to the metal once cured.(Before we media blast we inspect the wheel for any minor curb rash that need to be fixed but with these wheels that was not the case)

As you can now see in the picture the wheel on the left is one that just came out of the chemical stripper and the one on the right was media blasted.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...20pics/ba9.jpg

Last step before we coat we spray an Iron Phosphate coat which will protect the metal from rusting and also improves the powder bonding to the metal and making it even stronger.

OK we are now ready to shoot the wheel.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...0pics/ba10.jpg

Since this is a two stage coating we first shoot the ink black powder.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...0pics/ba11.jpg

off to the oven it goes to flow out and cure

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...0pics/ba12.jpg

Once the ink black cures and cools off we can then repeat the same process with the moon dust orange which is a clear coat with a color changing flake in it.

I cant get the pics to come out as good since this color changes orange , red , green , gold pics do not do it justice but here is the final results

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...0pics/ba13.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...0pics/ba15.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...0pics/ba14.jpg

So there you have it these are the steps we take to give you a quality powder coating job in the end. This is what you pay for and this is how it is done by the Pro's Besides Bonehead and myself i do not know any other shop out there that will explain this process to you or if they even go through all the steps at all!

So i hope this helps and i hope this clears any questions for any of you guys who want to get your wheels or any parts coated at LPC.

And one last thing this is definitely not directed to any of the tristate community because you guys are always nice and respectfull when coming to my shop or commenting on tristate ( well except for that one member who has but 1 post and that 1 post was to just come here and register and to bash me .... yeah you know who you are and dont get it twisted i know who you are too IDIOT! and stop lying because i never did any parts for you!)

But anyway we take every step and process to give you a quality and durable finish at the end with that being said you must also take good care of your finish parts do not use chemicals to clean it! DO NOT bang your parts around! again powder is more durable and less prone to cracking or chipping but it is not bullet proof OK?

So if you cracked or chipped your parts dont go blaming me saying LPC did my parts and they chipped because you were not carefully or you just dont care.
( Again this is for a lurker or two who really dont contribute to tristate but to just start a mess in here to the rest of you i love you guys and i got some new stuff this winter to introduce to you all:))

Have any before, after, during shots of curb rash fix?

Thats freaking awesome and that color is amazing!!!

not yet but the next set of wheels i do that have curb rash i will post the before and after for you.:)

Thanks and yes man this color is bad @ss! especially in the sun!

xa bajillion. That color combo is off the charts.

Awesome, i look forward to it. Your write up was good so i figure me along with others would be interested to see what you can do with rash.

Sure thing man ill show you guys how i take care of minor curb rash. The process can be done by you guys as well with the right tools and time.:)

lol i say bajillion like every day! ill take pics of the wheels in the sun tomorrow :mrgreen:

Martin actually repaired curb rash on my BBS wheels, but since I bought them second hand, I didn't know. I came to his shop and after looking at my car he said "these are the wheels I repaired the rash on", I said "really?"

Matin then pointed to a spot on the wheel where the rash was repaired, I could barely see anything there, the repair was clean. If you ask me today to point it out, I wouldn't be able to find it for you.

Nice to see the process laid out step by step, keep up the good work!

thank you!!!!! :mrgreen:

They look awsome Martin! . . . I cant wait to see them in person

make sure you post pics with them on the car:)

lol is that a fact martin? hahaha sry to remind you of the pain you went through with my wheels but youu did a great job!!!

as always great work!

your wheels were the insperation to hunt down and find the ultimate stripping solution and i found it:mrgreen: i wish i had it when i did your wheels trust me that was not fun at all lol

do you add the valve stem back in, and re-mount and re-balance the wheels at all? or does one take them to someone else do to all that

I am the previous owner of those wheels. Give me a can of spray paint and I can **** anything up. :)

They didnt get really bad till I went to paint them back to bronze the last time and I thought it would be a good idea to use aircraft stripper. It got some of it so I started scrapping the paint off, well it made the paint underneath soft and that scrapped up.

I havent seen the wheels in person yet but from what I can tell they came out nicely. :)

Honestly if I were to do it all over again I would have taken the wheels down to you guys. LPC may even be seeing my brand new rotas in the future. I cant believe how easily the paint comes off. I suppose I got what I paid for. :(

how much does it cost to get you rims done? 18" ASA Ar1's, just to something simple like black

ah ok well you should see them now :mrgreen: like i said in this thread i have seen some wheels that where rattle can and look pretty nice but most of the time the longevity is not what one expects it to be. Brings them rotas when your ready and we will work our magic for you:)

pm sent:)