Alloy Wheel refurbishment and powder coating
 

I've been quoted just over £300.00 to refurbish my Volvo alloys in the original colour; tyres off, full strip, powder coat and 'baked' including a lacquer final finish and 12 month guarantee.

What are other members experiences of the costs and processes? I understand you can have a mobile service which'll ease the tyres back a bit and give the wheels a 'paint' finish but understand this is not as durable as powder coating.

Brother in law got his Pug 407 wheels done to a similar spec in Birmingham, about £250 I think.

Some practical experiences:

When I had my V70 (quite a long time ago now), I had the wheels resprayed as the paint was a little shabby. They were non-Volvo, but, apart from that, just wheels. I think that cost about £250? They started showing signs of age within a year! So... Bite the bullet time again.

I decided to go for a powder coat. And, to heck with it, a went a little radical and decided on chrome/shadow. The company let me down a little in the length of time they took to get the job done (I was without the car for four days!) and I can't remember the price, but I suspect it was about £300?

I kept that car like that for about three years and when I sold it, the wheels still looked like they had only just be done.

I sold the V70 coz I treated myself the a C70 convertible. That has BBS Propus split rims on it. The wheels were a little shabby; so I went to a local place (different to the first one above - which had gone out of business quite a time back anyway!) and the guy assured me that he would actually split the wheels. He did the job (I was without the car for three days as the place was a bus ride away and he needed the whole of a day to do the job).

So, I went to pick up the car. Cost again about £300 (because they were 'splits'). TBH, not a particularly brilliant job; but at least they looked clean and tidy. And I was a lot less than 100% sure that he did actually split the rims.

Now some 2+ years later, they are looking distinctly shabby again and the quality (or lack of) of the respray is really showing with bubbles and lifts.

So, somehow, to keep the car looking good, I again have to fork out for a refurb. But this time, it will be a powder coat job again (and I need to find a good local one!). I've had my fill of resprayed wheels. Ok as a quick 'cover up' if the car is going to be sold, but not a lasting job in my experience!

I looked into powder coating my XC wheels, local firm quoted £40 a wheel, then a mate warned me that their work was not the best. As they had only just started up I decided to tolerate the scabby wheels for a bit and see if their reputation improved. A bad powder coating job is a lot harder to rectify than a bad paint job.

I will get the wheels powder coated, but will find someone with a decent reputation that has been going a few years before parting with my money.

Paul.

I had the wheels on my V40 powder coated in original finish at The Wheel Clinic in Northampton and that cost me £60 per wheel.

I bought a pair of wheels as spares and had the tyres taken off so they were bare rims. The Wheel Clinic checked them for true and stripped the old paint and then refurbed them - done one pair at a time. Very pleased with the result. My son had a set of XR3i wheels powder coated several years ago to concours at a place in Woburn Sands - they were £400 for the set but as you would expect absolutely superb and still are today.

I had my very scabby V90 wheels done nearly six years ago,they were very corroded and would not hold air,
I had them done at the wheel centre in Birmingham they told me that they could not remove all the pitting but they did a really good job and still look smart.£50 per wheel.

Alloy wheel refurb
 

Had the wheels on my CLK done by 1st Aid Wheels in NW London, they were powder coated did a brilliant job and cost me £225 for the 4.

Now what they do is they exchange your alloys for an identical set from stock and coat them in the colour of your choice, so you just turn up and they remove the old ones from your car and fit the new ones to your car, they swap the tyres in the price so time taken is the length of time it takes to remove wheels and tyres and fit tyres and wheels.

Will take my S80 will go there when it’s needed..

There's a mobile wheel refurb outfit that does the rounds of local dealerships-a fairly busy outfit as they also cover Doncaster,Rotherham,Sheffield and Hull to my knowing so possibly even more places-they "pop" the tyres off the rims flat and paint/laquer then re-inflate tyre.Their work is guaranteed for 3mths and costs about £35 per wheel I believe.They do make a good job of them as such but of course they only paint the "face" of the wheel.Powder coating is an altogether different and more durable process that will paint the whole wheel[if done correctly]but is of course more expensive because of this.

Powder coating is more durable over time but can crack if on low profile tyres and you find a good pot hole.
Spray paint doesn't crack and is easier to touch in if scratched, though isn't as durable to stone chips. A nice glossy finish can be attained by both methods.

Question is, does powder coating stop the corrosion under the paint ?
My xc wheels have paint bubbles where corrosion is active under the paint, as these are behind the spokes it cannot be mechanical damage and has to be poor paint work from new which we all know is an issue with Volvo wheels.
Sand or shot blasting is the only way these areas will be effectively cleaned no matter what method of refinishing is used.

Paul.