Wheel refurb. Powder coat v stove enamel

Currently looking at getting the wheels of my TE21 refurbished, and I've been looking into powder coating as opposed to stove enamelling. It is claimed to be a much more durable finish. Admittedly it is the people who offer this service that are making the claim. Can anyone advise whether this is the case?  One downside with powder coating seems to be a limited colour range, and metallics are apparantly difficult to reproduce. This means that I could probably not get a match for Alice Blue.  I was therefore contemplating having the wheels in a contrasting colour. If black, the wheel may 'disappear' against the tyre, similarly silver may look odd with a chrome hubcap. This leaves me thinking of a contrasting (dark) shade of blue. Any suggestions, or even photos, would be much appreciated,  thanks Clive Posted by greg124 09/07/2012 12:44:51

I have been told by a normally reliable source that powder coated wheels can subsequently be sprayed the same colour as the car. So as long as you powder coat to a similar colour, you can have well-protected wheels to the same colour as the body. As always, thorough preparation is the key.  Charles Van Ingen Posted by vaningen 10/07/2012 21:49:07

Re powder coating versus painting - I had two identical sets of wheels prepared  for my Bristol 409 -  One set powder coated - one set painted. Preparation in each instance was lengthy and carried out by the two separate companies.   I think bills in each case were between 300 and 350 pounds for each set of five wheels ex vat.  The painted wheels being slightly less.  Both sets looked jolly good but my preference was definitely for the painted finish.  So there you are someone who has been through the pain of indecision and has both sets of wheels sitting in Surrey for inspection, should you wish.   Adam Gilchrist Posted by Stagbeetle 18/08/2012 22:06:15

My 2 cents.  I have been down the road with painted wheel and also with powder coating.  I prefer powder coating but you will have trade offs.  I have had powder placed on a set of early Model T Ford Houk wire wheels and they turned out very nice.  I have also had a set powder coated for a 1923 Dodge Bros. touring car, wow I like them.  I have also had a pair of rear spoke wheels for an early John Deere tractor.......hmmm not so good.  The company that did the tractor was not a careful as the other coaters.  I will probably have them redone before they go on the tractor.  The finish is very robust and hard to nick or knock off, (even when installing new tires).  The main trade off, you loose the ability to adjust the spokes as the coating blinds the spoke threads and you are done.  Powder coating is very good for a vast number of other car related items.  I sure would not rule it out.  You can even get a home set-up and do small parts yourself. Regards, Alan Posted by alsfarms 29/12/2012 01:13:26

I decided to bite the bullet and have them powder coated in dark blue. The place that has done them for me use etch primer before applying the powder coating, and charged £40 per wheel. As these are steel disc wheels, and not wires, I do not need to worry about adjusting spokes. I am very pleased with the results, except where the tyre fitter removed some of the powder coating while fitting balancing weights, so I asked them to use stick on weights for the other wheels. Posted by greg124 13/05/2013 15:23:22