Wrapping and powdercoating - need some info (San Diego)

Okay - I have a few questions for those who are in the know and/or have done this sort of work to any of their cars in the past:

 

1) Do you know of any reputable or recommended vehicle wrap places/individuals in the San Diego area?

 

2) Is there anything I should be looking for with regard to vinyl wrap material or questions I should ask the installer about how the work is done?

 

3) What should I anticipate paying for a well done wrap job?

 

4) I was thinking of powdercoating the wheels a shiny black to go with a matte black wrap or a clear frost wrap (over black paint on the car). Is powdercoating the best option for wheels, or is painting better? Is there a quality or appearance difference between powdercoating and painting on a wheel?

 

5) What should I be looking for with regard to quality of work on wheel painting? Any questions to ask the person doing the work? What should I expect to pay for said work?

 

 

Thanks a lot.

Someone can correct me if I"m wrong, but I've heard that you shouldn't powdercoat wheels because the baking can weaken the wheel.

Someone can correct me if I"m wrong, but I've heard that you shouldn't powdercoat wheels because the baking can weaken the wheel.

 

False.

 

Good friend of mine powdercoats for a living and that is definitely not the case.

 

http://www.thepowderpro.com/

 

He is near Chicago but ships everywhere.

 

Powder is pretty much always better than paint (except in price).

 

I'd ask to see if they have a sand blaster or how they prep their work. Then if they have a "clean" room for doing the spray. Kitchen oven or industry oven for the bake.

"You have to ensure the time/temp cycle is kept low and short enough otherwise you will affect the heat-treatment of the forgings. You can powdercoat, if you're careful. We do it everyday. We switched all of our standard colors to powdercoat once they developed metallic powdercoats and got the cure temps down to an acceptable level, so these days it is possible if done properly. We find powdercoat to be more robust, but you get more color options with paint so we still have to use paint for color matched wheels unless we've had a custom color developed in volume (Arctic Silver for example).

__________________

Alan Peltier - HRE Performance Wheels"

"You have to ensure the time/temp cycle is kept low and short enough otherwise you will affect the heat-treatment of the forgings. You can powdercoat, if you're careful. We do it everyday. We switched all of our standard colors to powdercoat once they developed metallic powdercoats and got the cure temps down to an acceptable level, so these days it is possible if done properly. We find powdercoat to be more robust, but you get more color options with paint so we still have to use paint for color matched wheels unless we've had a custom color developed in volume (Arctic Silver for example).

__________________

Alan Peltier - HRE Performance Wheels"

 

Awesome.

Any feedback on wraps? My wife wants the SL wrapped in matte black. I was thinking of doing it and then getting the emblems painted gloss black and the wheels powder coated gloss black.

False.

 

Good friend of mine powdercoats for a living and that is definitely not the case.

 

http://www.thepowderpro.com/

 

He is near Chicago but ships everywhere.

 

Powder is pretty much always better than paint (except in price).

 

I'd ask to see if they have a sand blaster or how they prep their work. Then if they have a "clean" room for doing the spray. Kitchen oven or industry oven for the bake.

 

Unless it is a monoblock, i would never powder coat a wheel for 1 reason: You cannot see any cracks in the centre piece if powder coated.

I would prefer paint. If you "ding" the wheel, you can easily repair paint, with powdercoating, you would have to repeat the entire process.

Thanks for the input. Anyone have any San Diego recommendations for this sort of work?

Unless it is a monoblock, i would never powder coat a wheel for 1 reason: You cannot see any cracks in the centre piece if powder coated.

 

^^^This!!!

 

The other thing to consider is powder is not consistent batch to batch and can vary a good amount. This can make matching or repairs difficult if parts are side by side.

 

I've used Olympic in OC with great success over the years.

you guys are making too big of a deal with powdercoating, Ive done it, once i curbed the rim, I had it redone only a couple days later.

 

and it looks SO CLEAN!

 

I suggest go for shiny gloss black

 

 

you guys are making too big of a deal with powdercoating, Ive done it, once i curbed the rim, I had it redone only a couple days later.

 

and it looks SO CLEAN!

 

I suggest go for shiny gloss black

 

THAT'S the problem. It has to be "redone" as opposed to "touched up"

 

No further questions your honor

I guess it all comes down to personal tolerance, the black wheels +cheap price vs buying new wheels is worth it to me

 

Goodluck and post pix when you do something LSV

Will do!

Someone can correct me if I"m wrong, but I've heard that you shouldn't powdercoat wheels because the baking can weaken the wheel.

Maybe it was in the context of magnesium-based wheels? I can see where a magnesium wheel could suffer structurally during baking (or be a fire hazard) whereas aluminum would stand up a helluva lot better to the treatment. Paints/epoxy paints have come so far in durability that I agree with that option...more colors and finishes to choose from too.

Okay - I have a few questions for those who are in the know and/or have done this sort of work to any of their cars in the past:

 

1) Do you know of any reputable or recommended vehicle wrap places/individuals in the San Diego area?

 

2) Is there anything I should be looking for with regard to vinyl wrap material or questions I should ask the installer about how the work is done?

 

3) What should I anticipate paying for a well done wrap job?

 

4) I was thinking of powdercoating the wheels a shiny black to go with a matte black wrap or a clear frost wrap (over black paint on the car). Is powdercoating the best option for wheels, or is painting better? Is there a quality or appearance difference between powdercoating and painting on a wheel?

 

5) What should I be looking for with regard to quality of work on wheel painting? Any questions to ask the person doing the work? What should I expect to pay for said work?

 

 

Thanks a lot.

 

In SD, I'd only trust my friend Mark who runs http://www.chapparoneautobody.com/

 

He's also a member on here although I'm not sure how often he logs on.

 

Reviews:

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/chapparone-auto-bo...nting-san-diego

 

 

I've read some mixed reviews about chapparone online - some amazing and fantastic, other absolute nightmares.

 

Besides being your friend, has he done any work for you?

I've read some mixed reviews about chapparone online - some amazing and fantastic, other absolute nightmares.

 

Besides being your friend, has he done any work for you?

 

I'm on the east coast but visited SD a few months ago. Him being my friend aside, the shop is sick. Much different than how some bodyshops operate around here. Computer controlled paint rooms, etc. I'd go visit and make your own judgement.

 

 

Cool - thanks a lot man...

Cool - thanks a lot man...

 

I just wrapped the roof on my CL. They did a great job!

Call Casey at San Diego Wraps 858-566-4241

 

Here's some of his work http://sandiegovehiclewraps.com/gallery.html

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

In SD, I'd only trust my friend Mark who runs http://www.chapparoneautobody.com/

 

He's also a member on here although I'm not sure how often he logs on.

 

Reviews:

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/chapparone-auto-bo...nting-san-diego

 

What's up man? You don't call, you don't write? Ill shoot you an email. We need to have drinks in NYC when I make it out.

Thanks Jeff - I've spoken to Casey and he seemed very knowledgable. I'd have this work done by now if I wasn't traveling so much for work in the last 2 weeks.