My model of MX-5 is: 2013 Venture Edition 1.8 PRHT
I’m based near: Barrow-in-Furness
I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: kerbed alloy wheels
Hi all.
I need my wheels spruced up, and the quote I got was £340 for all 4 to be dipped, stripped, and powder coated, and for the rim of one of the wheels to be reshaped too (after I hit Ayers Rock on the M6).
I haven’t taken the plunge yet, because:
the technician has advised me that he won’t be able to get the wheels back to their original colour (a hue called “bright silver” in the Mazda brochure, but in fact more like a smokey silver);
I have read on the forum that the extreme heat involved in this process could crack the wheels in months to come;
I would be without Nugget for 5 days .
My alloys are apparently corroded. So, according to the technician, a cheaper touch-up would only be a temporary fix.
Have any of you guys got any experience of this thorough refurbishment process? Is it really better than the shorter and cheaper repaint option? How high is the risk of alloy stress?
Why would the Venture wheel colour be impossible to match?
Hiya, just seen your post. Over the years I’ve had many sets of wheels powder coated with great results👍 Never had any issues with the wheels giving up.
Nowadays, with so many folk getting their wheels done, if it was that big an issue, I’m sure there would be a lot more published evidence out there.
Colour wise, as you’re getting the full set done, how important is it to you that you get a perfect match? One or two wheels, then yes, but the whole set means they would at least match each other. You could take the opportunity to change the colour completely? Or get as close to OEM as practical. I appreciate you may want the car to remain OEM looking though.
Regarding a ‘cheaper’ option? A back to bare metal, repair of kerb scuffs/corrosion, then powder coat is the minimum you should be looking at. Plus, in your case the damaged rim to be repaired.
All this is only my opinion though and others may know far more than I do about the perils of wheel powder coating
Good luck and I hope you can get a satisfactory conclusion to your dilemma.
Barrie
I had my Venture wheels done last month. All four had be kerbed, some worse than others. They where all repaired, dipped and powder coated.
Colour wise I went a bit more grey (kind of wish I’d gone a bit more) but it was a personnel choice and the silver they had was very very close to OEM.
Your powder coated may not just have the colour you’d like in stock to give your your preferred finish. Don’t worry about stories of heat etc, any good refurbisher should know what they can and can’t do. Depending on how badly corroded the wheels are will depend on the finished job. It’s not like they’re the currently popular machined face wheels which are a slightly different proposition. I’m lucky to have a great contact for wheels and got these fully done in shadow chrome a couple of weeks ago. £160 plus vat (and I don’t pay the vat ). They were off my daughters Mazda 2, all kerbed and tatty, now like new and sold.
If you think yours were bad just look at one of the set I had refurbished. The finish colour is a bright silver with a metallic inclusion which pops in the sunlight. With regard to cracking this may have been a problem 20 years ago when powder coating wheels was done by regular coaters using high temperatures and some wheel makers suffered problems. Today specialist coaters use much lower temperatures with no problems providing of course that the wheels are sound. Mine were £25 each plus the cost of swopping the tyres over.
I too have had several sets of wheels powder coated by reputable wheel restorers over the past eight or nine years. I have never had any cracks develop despite the Jeremiah who always popped up to prophesy doom and disaster. It was reassuring to see Ferraris and other supercars having their wheels done by the same wheel restorer.
Hi Geoff, that’s a great price for a great finish! Can I ask who you used? I have no need atm, but that’s cheaper than the last guy I used for a tyres left on respray/ lacquer.
Thank you all for sharing your views and experiences.
I agree with your point on the colour matching, Barrie. It won’t matter if the colour of the wheels is slightly different, but I want it to to still be close to the colour of the hoops and dashboard insert.
There seems to be some major differences in prices though.
I know a resurfacing and respray is cheaper than what I need, but if some of you have had the full-on dipping/powder coating done for less than £50 per wheel, I clearly need to shop around.
Mind, the quote I got must include all the necessary tyre refit and wheel balancing too.
I hope it is easy to tell whether the wheels haven’t just been resurfaced/painted.
Depends on the original wheel condition. From a distance mine look ok but on very close inspection you can see where the major corrosion was, it’s not very noticeable but the wheels were not that good to start with. If you pay ££££ then I’m sure someone will get them back looking like new but on a £3-4K car what’s the point?
As with anything painted the final result very much depends on the preparation work. Dip, blast and prime are the minimum for a decent job. After that any re-work or surface imperfection correction will bump up the cost and price…You need to speak with a wheel refurbisher and see what they say about cost/ finish trade offs.
I think the issue with wheels cracking after powder-coating related to some NB wheels - others on the forum may have better info. Personally, I’ve had NC wheels powder-coated to refurb them with no issues whatsoever - £140 for all 4 (but no tyres to remove/replace).
Cheers Alben.
I have spoken to a restorer, hence this thread.
I guess the quote he gave me is quite high because the tyres will need to come off then be refitted, my wheels will each require attention all around their rims, and the balancing will have to be done too.
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). They were off my daughters Mazda 2, all kerbed and tatty, now like new and sold. 
