I am re finishing some 4th gen ws6 rims and was planning on polishing them but then I came across chrome powdercoat. I found a company within an hours drive that will do my rims for $12 each. I am looking for someone with first hand experience with chrome powder coat that can comment on how it looks.

I have had good luck with polishing but the powder coat looks nice and will be much faster than polishing.So, does the chrome powder coat look as good as polishing? I know that it will not look like real chrome, but all the on line pics I see make it look like polished Aluminum.

 

I Have seen some very nice looking chrome powdercoat...
and for the price you quoted, thats way cheaper, and much less time consuming than polishing will be, plus you wont need to repolish all the time, they will be more durable, etc.

i think the level of reflectiveness you will get out of the powdercoat will have a lot to do with how smooth the surface already is. polished will definitely be more reflective, but you can get a very close effect with the PowderCoat, I say go for it.

 

$12 sounds a little too cheap IMO.. but, if that's the case...

'chrome' powder is nice and all but, not chrome. It will also tarnich over time if not clear coated. Clear powder will dull it.



At best, a lightly polished look is the best you'll achieve with powder.

The runners are 'chrome' with no clear... the valve covers are the same with clear.

 

The price is for the faces only and I have to do all the prep work.

Your pics are some of the best I have seen and really show the difference in cleared and not. If un cleared, is there any way to clean the tarnish? The bare chrome looks much better to me.

 

the polish will be much more reflective (miiror like) than poweder coat.

I would polish, than you can Zoop Seal it, it won't need polishing again for 2 years or so...

My turbocast wheels were clear powdercoated, after bead blasting and having edges polished... but that was $100+ a wheel...



Polishing for these wheels is not an option... and from what I'm told, neither was chrome...

 

Unfortunatly, any sort of attempt at cleaning it (like a polish) will result in the opposite effect you would want. It will simply dull more.

Clearing with powder is what causes the dulling of it's reflectiveness.
I've yet to see what happens if an automotive clear is painted over it.

The cleared 'chrome' looks about like the foreground wheel below... lightly polished.
The background one was dug into a little harder.



Even though the 'chrome' powder is kind of nice, it still lacks the depth & darker contrast polished alum has.
Just my opinion though...

 

Thanks for the help. I'll go with polish then. The worst is the time as I have to start with about a 100 grit as the wheels are suprisingling rough under the paint.